Boo Radley
DP Veteran
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2009
- Messages
- 37,066
- Reaction score
- 7,028
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Liberal
[h=1]Accuser recants, but innocent jailed man waits[/h][h=2]Judge in Hampton Circuit Court orders verdicts vacated, but state Attorney General's office blocks release, saying judge had no authority to rule[/h]According to Montgomery's lawyer, Deputy Hampton Public Defender Ben Pavek, the Attorney General's Office contends that the Circuit Court judge on the case, Randolph T. West, didn't have the authority to order Montgomery's release.
That didn't sit right with Pavek, who slammed both the Department of Corrections and the Attorney General's office and said that West had authority to rule.
"This is a purely innocent man being held in custody under no legal basis whatsoever," Pavek said. "They are defying a lawful, valid court order to release an innocent man who has been held in custody based upon a total fabrication for four years."
The Department of Corrections and Attorney General's Office couldn't be reached for comment late Friday, but the Attorney General's Office has previously asserted that only higher state courts, not Circuit Courts, can order a defendant's release more than 21 days after a trial.
Going to a higher court, such as by filing a "writ of actual innocence," could extend Montgomery's date of release by months, according to lawyers familiar with the process.
Man's convictions wiped clean - dailypress.com
I know someone who knows someone who knows this family. Never met them myself. But this type of problem should be handled more swiftly I would think.
That didn't sit right with Pavek, who slammed both the Department of Corrections and the Attorney General's office and said that West had authority to rule.
"This is a purely innocent man being held in custody under no legal basis whatsoever," Pavek said. "They are defying a lawful, valid court order to release an innocent man who has been held in custody based upon a total fabrication for four years."
The Department of Corrections and Attorney General's Office couldn't be reached for comment late Friday, but the Attorney General's Office has previously asserted that only higher state courts, not Circuit Courts, can order a defendant's release more than 21 days after a trial.
Going to a higher court, such as by filing a "writ of actual innocence," could extend Montgomery's date of release by months, according to lawyers familiar with the process.
Man's convictions wiped clean - dailypress.com
I know someone who knows someone who knows this family. Never met them myself. But this type of problem should be handled more swiftly I would think.