A man charged with wounding Chattanooga Police Officer William McMillan on March 12, 2013 will finally go to trial.
Jury selection in the case of Celvin "Squeaky" Houston begins Tuesday in the courtroom of Federal Judge Sandy Mattice.
Houston at one time entered a guilty plea, then he later withdrew it.
The earlier agreement was that Houston would serve seven years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release.
He has been in jail since his arrest following the shooting at the East Lake Court projects.
Houston also earlier agreed to plead guilty to attempted murder in Criminal Court. That term was to be worked out by the district attorney's office and defense attorney Amanda Dunn, who is Houston's fifth lawyer. But it never has due to issues about transferring the case between federal and state courts. The next court appearance before Criminal Court Judge Barry Steelman is set for Oct. 19.
Houston's earlier plea in Federal Court was to being a felon in possession of a weapon.
Officer McMillan was shot multiple times in the thigh, buttock and groin areas.
At the time of his arrest, Houston had two additional warrants from a prior incident for attempted murder and aggravated robbery.
Houston has a lengthy criminal record, including a conviction in 2012 in state court for being in possession of a handgun with felony convictions. He got a two-year suspended sentence.
He got another two-year suspended sentence in 2004 when he was charged with unlawfully possessing a weapon.
Police said Officer McMillan was responding to a call from an anonymous caller saying there were 30 people hanging out in the East Lake Housing area and they wanted them checked out.
As the officer walked up to the group, one of them pulled out a gun and began shooting at the officer, the report says.
During the investigation, officers learned that "Squeaky" was the person who shot the officer. Investigators found his cellphone at the scene.
They identified "Squeaky" as Celvin Houston and began to look for his associates, Alisha Houston and Moniek Johnson. They were brought to police headquarters.
Both said they had spoken with Houston and he told them that he "messed up by shooting an officer."
Police said, "The search ended quickly due to the cooperation from the public, media, and the following law enforcement agencies: Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office, Collegedale Police Department, East Ridge Police Department, Lookout Mountain Police Department, Chattanooga Housing Authority, Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Marshals Service. The assistance from three local pastors was also greatly appreciated. They are Pastor Ternae Jordan Sr., Pastor Kevin Adams and Pastor Tim Sykes."
Officer McMillan, a six-year veteran of the department, was shot on 4th Avenue near the East Lake Courts. He is in stable condition at Erlanger Hospital.
The incident happened at 6:11 p.m.
A large number of police officers converged on the scene.
Members of the SWAT Team were out in force as well as the K-9 unit combing nearby streets. A large area was blocked off with yellow crime scene tape.
Chattanooga Police had responded at 6 p.m. to the theft complaint.
Police said at the time, "Once on the scene, the responding officer encountered a male suspect near 2219 E 26
th Street Court. The suspect was armed with a firearm, shot the officer, and fled on foot.
"The officer was transported to a local hospital for treatment of the non-life threatening injury. It is unclear at this point if the suspect was involved in the original theft complaint. Officers from multiple agencies are assisting in searching for the suspect."
Prosecutor Chris Poole said Special Agent Allan Jason Dobbs will testify as an expert witness in the area of firearms and ammunition manufacture and identification.
He said an expert with the TBI will testify about her comparison of the defendant’s DNA with DNA found on several items of evidence recovered from multiple locations, including a cell phone recovered at the scene of the shooting as well as a hat found near the area of the shooting.
Judge Mattice has set aside Wednesday and Thursday also for the Houston trial.