A man convicted for a 2015 killing in New York has been released and his indictment has been dismissed solely because he was held at the wrong prison.
Terrence Lewis was serving a sentence of 22 years to life for second-degree murder in a maximum-security prison. In a February 5 decision, Judge Stephen Miller wrote that Monroe County, NY officials violated the federal “Interstate Agreement on Detainer’s Law” when they sent Lewis back to a federal prison in Pennsylvania—where he was serving a sentence for a drug conviction—as he awaited trial in the New York murder case after his indictment. The agreement says a prisoner charged with an unrelated crime in another jurisdiction must be held and tried in that jurisdiction before being returned to the place of their original imprisonment, or else the case in the other jurisdiction must be dismissed.
According to the county sheriff’s office, Lewis was arraigned on the murder charge in January 2018 and was detained in Monroe County for five months. In May of that year, he was returned to the Pennsylvania federal prison and was brought back to Monroe County in July 2018 for the murder trial. The sheriff’s office said it was a traditional practice to return prisoners to their “home” correctional facility. The charges have been dismissed with prejudice, meaning that Lewis cannot be retried in the murder case.
Need for speed. A 13-year-old driver is in custody after leading officers on a high-speed chase through multiple counties. According to deputies, the encounter began in Bladen County when a person reported a man in a ski mask took their car in Elizabethtown. A Bladen County deputy tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver sped away, reaching speeds of 100 mph. The boy eventually crashed into a power pole and was taken into custody. He was not severely injured but was taken to a hospital as a precaution and will face juvenile charges once released.
Louisiana lawmakers consider alternatives to lethal injection. On the heels of the nation’s first nitrogen gas execution that took place in Alabama last month, Louisiana lawmakers are looking to expand the state’s methods to carry out the death penalty. Louisiana’s electric chair was last used for execution in 1991, when the state moved to lethal injections as the sole method to carry out capital punishment. According to this article, lawmakers are exploring adding the nitrogen gas method and bringing back electrocution. Roughly 60 people currently sit on death row in Louisiana, but there has not been an execution in the state since 2010.
Kentucky lawmakers get tough on teens. On Wednesday, the Kentucky Senate passed a bill under which youth charged with gun-related felony offenses would be tried as adults. It would apply to youths who are at least 15 years old and for offenses that include robbery or assault. Those who are convicted would be held in a facility for juveniles until turning 18. Opponents of the bill argue that it doesn’t consider factors like the youth’s prior record, the likelihood of rehabilitation, whether the child has a serious intellectual disability, or there was evidence of gang participation.
Lawmakers up the penalties for harming or killing police animals. Legislators across the country have certainly been busy this week.
US News reports that on Monday, the Missouri House gave initial approval for a bill that would increase the maximum penalty from four years in prison to seven years in prison for harming dogs and horses used by law enforcement. Colorado’s House passed a bill that would require people convicted of aggravated cruelty to a law enforcement animal to pay a minimum fine of $2,000 and reimburse an agency for its costs in caring for the animal or replacing it. Those penalties are in addition to the maximum six-year prison sentence they already face.
Under existing laws in Kansas, it is a felony to kill dogs used by police, arson investigators, game wardens or search and rescue teams. The maximum prison sentence is one year, and the maximum fine is $5,000. On Wednesday, the Kansas House passed a bill that would allow judges to sentence first-time offenders to five years in prison and mandate a fine of at least $10,000 for killing dogs used by police, arson investigators, game wardens or search and rescue teams, and for killing police horses.
Similar bills have been filed this year in Hawaii, South Carolina, and West Virginia.
Durham releases 2023 gun data. On Tuesday, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office released gun data from this past January and all of 2023. According to the data, 262 firearms were seized last year, up from 243 seized in 2022; 34 firearms were reported stolen last year, up from 31 reported stolen in 2022; and 17 firearms were recovered or found last year, down from 18 that were recovered or found in 2022.
In just January of this year, 21 firearms were seized, three firearms were reported stolen and one firearm was recovered. Durham Sheriff Clarence Birkhead said most firearms are stolen from unlocked cars.
Husband jailed for drugging pregnant wife with abortion pills. A Texas lawyer was sentenced to 180 days in jail and 10 years of probation after he pleaded guilty to slipping abortion-inducing drugs into his pregnant wife’s drinks. As part of a plea agreement, Mason Herring pleaded guilty to two crimes: injury to a child and assault of a pregnant person. He was initially charged with felony assault to induce abortion. Despite his failed attempts, Ms. Herring gave birth to a girl who was born 10 weeks prematurely and spent 117 days in the hospital after birth.
A gift for your ex? In celebration of love day, the Bladen County Sheriff’s Office offered a “Valentine’s Special” for criminal exes on its Facebook page. Valid for ex-Valentines that have warrants or recently committed a crime, the announcement went on to say that the special includes “free transportation, free nights stay in our luxurious jail accommodations, a Valentine’s happy meal dinner and a special set of bracelets.”