Posted on 06/02/2022 11:44:59 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A convicted killer was accidentally released from a Western Washington prison earlier this week. A prosecutor who first handled the case scrambled to get a warrant and contact the U.S. Marshals Service, and that inmate has since been returned to custody.
The victim's family calls the release a colossal mistake but a spokesperson for the state Department of Corrections (DOC) says they did nothing wrong.
Jeremy Bennett pleaded guilty to killing Lawrence Howse, 54, in 2015. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
However, Pierce County officials say there was a contested hearing last Friday where the court decided to resentence Bennett to account for his youth when the murder happened. Bennett was 17 at the time of the crime.
Pierce County said it appears the DOC misinterpreted the order and released him.
However, the DOC said it was not done in error and in fact, because his sentence was labeled as vacated, he had no more time to serve.
"To me it's just wrong. You let a murderer out on the streets by mistake? There was no official order to release this man from prison," said Travis Howse, who was a teenager when his dad was shot and killed during a robbery in the parking garage of a Tacoma apartment complex in 2013.
Police used surveillance footage to identify Bennett and Andrew Boyd as the prime suspects. Both ended up pleading guilty to murder.
"Throughout my entire life I hold this burden with me that is a challenge and you work through it every day," Travis Howse said. "And then to get to a point 10 years later where you are forced to relive the entirety of this nightmare. It's brutal and it hard for every single person in my family."
Deputy prosecutor Bryce Nelson, who originally handled the case, first learned of the release through a VINE notification. Nelson immediately contacted the DOC, local law enforcement, the U.S. Marshal’s Service and Bennett's defense attorney. He also requested a warrant to get Bennett back into custody.
Bennett then showed up at his attorney's office to surrender. Prosecutors said it is their understanding that Bennett and his parents told DOC officials it was a mistake to release him, but he was set free anyway.
The victim's family said they filed a complaint with the governor's office and are demanding a full-scale investigation and policy changes to keep this situation from every happening again.
Ominous that the convicted murderer behaved more rationally than the entire justice establishment.
I sense a disturbance in the force....
They did nothing wrong? That’s a joke, right? Of course they did something wrong. They let a dude out of prison. Perhaps they define “wrong” differently. Or, they may have thought, if they admitted wrong doing, the upcoming lawsuit would be easier for the plaintiffs.
If they claim they did nothing wrong, then he wasn’t released accidentally.
It was intentional.
It was intentional.
Good point, but this is the stuff lawsuits are made of. Unfortunately, the state will pay it out, and not the dude who messed it up.
Where I was, however, the one who let him out, could be prosecuted too. That is a mistake, one is not allowed to make.
Keep on reading and the article explains:
However, the DOC said it was not done in error and in fact, because his sentence was labeled as vacated, he had no more time to serve.
Also of interest is this little tidbit:
Prosecutors said it is their understanding that Bennett [the perp] and his parents told DOC officials it was a mistake to release him, but he was set free anyway.
None of us have seen the actual order as far as I know. So we don't know if the order was written wrong (as the DOC asserts) or if it was misinterpreted (as the prosecutor asserts). In this day of Soros-backed leftist prosecutors who see criminals as the victims, I'm not going to assume that the prosecutor was right.
At least the convict wasn't stupid: he didn't start going on another crime spree or run. Everybody involved in that mess owes him...because it could've turned out to be a disaster rather than an embarrassment.
I need to freep mail you. I can’t really talk much about it in public.
Insert video clip of Idiocracy where the hero is in the wrong line.
The murderer is black, the victim is white. They released him on purpose because of “equity” I’m sure.
There is absolutely nothing that the incompetent government cannot screw up and make worse. Extreme incompetence at every level.
To me it’s just wrong. You let a murderer out on the streets by mistake?.
Cheap hit man for hire???.
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