MARION — Late last month former Alabama State Trooper James Fowler, who pled guilty in November to the 1965 shooting of Jimmie Lee Jackson, cited deteriorating health conditions when he asked for a hearing to cut short his jail sentence

Wednesday, attorneys for Fowler, withdrew the request just one day ahead of the hearing before Circuit Judge Tommy Jones.

“We are glad he made a wise decision in withdrawing his request,” district attorney Michael Jackson said. “Mr. Jackson’s family would have been absolutely outraged if the request had been granted.”

Fowler, now 77, in pleading guilty to the killing of Jackson at a civil rights demonstration in Perry County, was sentenced to six months in jail for a reduced charge of second-degree manslaughter. His sentence is expected to end in May.

According to an Associated Press report in March, a letter from Fowler’s doctor said Fowler is incapacitated by diabetes and arthritis.”

“He is a sick man,” Jackson said at the time, strongly opposing the early release. “But it would be an outrage to release him early. Not just because he plead guilty or the importance of this case in history, but it would be an outrage to Jimmie Lee Jackson’s family.”

Prior to the start of the six-month sentence, Fowler had requested to not serve any time in jail as he was former law enforcement and feared for his safety in jail. Fowler is currently being housed at the Geneva County Jail.