Busy lawyers. Balky victims. Botched logistics.

"When you have McMahon in that room, you try the case," Erdely said.

Moreover, Erdely's other witness, Cedric Porter, was present. He could testify about two of the shootings, the initial attack on Green and the time he was the target.

Porter was not exactly thrilled to be there.

After he agreed to cooperate, Porter and his family enrolled in the witness-relocation program run by the District Attorney's Office.

Trouble was, they were unhappy in it, unhappy to be marooned in a hotel rather than put into permanent housing.

On the day of the trial, Erdely said, police had to drive to get Porter and "drag him in."

According to detectives, Porter had picked Jackson out of a photo array as the shooter in both incidents. But on the stand, Porter said he could not identify Jackson.

In an interview, Porter's mother, Julleen Dunbar, said her son had been a reluctant witness. For one thing, she said, Jackson's friends were in the courtroom.

"I was petrified," she said. "They was sitting so close. I was looking out the corner of my eye."

After the trial and months of relocation, she and her family were left cynical.

"The main thing around here is to mind your business," Dunbar said. "The less you know, the better off you are. That's how it is around here."

In the judge's hands

In the end, Common Pleas Court Judge Steven R. Geroff split the difference.

Hearing the case without a jury, Geroff acquitted Jackson of wounding the absent Green. But the judge found him guilty of shooting at Porter, evidently crediting Porter's initial statement to detectives - and discounting his disavowals on the stand.

At his sentencing in September, Jackson testified briefly.

"I took some time to think about my actions. I apologize," he said, his voice a mumble. "I've got family at home. Please take it into consideration."

His mother, Stacey Jackson, took the stand. She wore a T-shirt showing three people shot to death, including Craig's brother. "3 soldiers gone," the shirt read.

"My son, Craig, is a very good guy, but he has a lot of issues," she told the judge. "He has a lot of anger. . . . I just believe Craig needs a lot of help."

In his remarks, Erdely read the names of all eight people he said Jackson had shot at.

"They're going to learn about this," he said. A tough sentence would send these young men "a message that the system is serious and that the system can protect victims."

Geroff was tough.

He sent Jackson away for six to 12 years.

Contact staff writer Craig R. McCoy at 215-854-4821 or cmccoy@phillynews.com.

Inquirer staff writer Emilie Lounsberry contributed to this article.