[ad_1]
According to Broward County Court Clerk, Eric Alexander Vail Jr. was originally imprisoned on a charge of Second Degree Murder, filed on January 29th.
On Tuesday, while prison and court officials as well as prosecutors sought to blame the defendants, the sheriff's office had stated that he was still trying to locate the accused. "Our goal remains to apprehend this dangerous criminal."
On April 3, a grand jury indicted Vail of a charge of first degree murder and ordered that he be detained without bail, according to a statement from the clerk's office. On April 9, the defendant pleaded not guilty to his appearance in court. The calender audience was set last Thursday.
The confusion apparently began when prosecutors decided to dismiss the charge of lesser importance that day in order to proceed with a first degree murder case.
But when this charge was dismissed, there was no documentation indicating that Vail should be kept in jail, according to the sheriff's office.
"The prison did not receive any documents from the clerk of the court stating that the detainee was to remain in custody to face another charge," Sheriff spokeswoman Keyla Concepcion said in a statement.
Prosecutors do not agree.
The public prosecutor claims that the public records show the actions taken "to ensure that the Broward Sheriff's Office and Broward Clerk of the Courts are independently informed that Eric Vail is still in possession of a first degree murder charge, "the office said in a statement.
"The Clerk of the Broward Court is responsible for informing the Broward Sheriff's Office of the new material filed by the court, but our attorneys and our staff have also sent notices to the clerk of the court and the sheriff's office that the Charge of first-degree murder – with a no-obligation detention – was still pending against Vail, "says the prosecutor's statement.
The statement of the prosecutor included as "evidence" a copy of the indictment of first degree murder filed with the clerk, a notification to the clerk informing him that the accused had been imprisoned without bail, as well as an electronic file and an acknowledgment from the sheriff's office informing them of serious accusation.
The Broward Clerk of the Courts is ultimately responsible for distributing official documentation "among all parties essential to the judicial process", including communications involving detainees in custody, Concepcion told the Sheriff's Office.
In his own statement, the Clerk of the Courts stated that the office "had properly distributed the documentation" to the requested parties. The Registrar stated that a "directive from the judiciary" was necessary for any release and that the record of the proceedings showed that no such directive had been filed. He also stated that electronic notifications indicating the number of the first degree murder had been forwarded to the Sheriff's Office Detention Unit prior to the Thursday and April 9th hearings. .
"He is innocent until proven otherwise," she said.
[ad_2]
Source link