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| Keith Odell McCourt |
A Webster County inmate at the Central Regional Jail was released Thursday because he was not indicted by a Grand Jury within two terms of Court.
Keith Odell McCourt, age 43, had been incarcerated since his arrest on August 26, 2012 for failing to register as a sex offender.
On Thursday, McCourt had a hearing before Circuit Judge Jack Alsop on his request for a new lawyer. When Judge Alsop saw that the Prosecutor's office had not indicted him before a Grand Jury as of the date of yesterday's hearing, the Judge ordered him released from jail.
Although McCourt has been released from jail, he can still be indicted by a Grand Jury on the original charges that landed him in jail back on August 26, 2012. He is expected to have his case presented to the next Grand Jury in May, 2013.
The jail bill to Webster County for McCourt's incarceration from August 26, 2012 to February 21, 2013 amounted to $8,735.20 (179 days at $48.80 per day).
The law regarding how long a person can be held in jail without being indicted by a Grand Jury is known as the "two term rule." Below is the full text of the law:
§62-2-12. Discharge of imprisoned person upon failure to indict within certain time; person not indicted by reason of insanity.
A person in jail, on a criminal charge, shall be discharged from imprisonment if he be not indicted before the end of the second term of the court, at which he is held to answer, unless it appear to the court that material witnesses for the state have been enticed or kept away, or are prevented from attendance by sickness or inevitable accident, and except also that, when a person in jail, on a charge of having committed an indictable offense, is not indicted by reason of his insanity at the time of committing the act, the grand jury shall certify that fact to the court; whereupon the court may order him to be sent to a state hospital for the insane, or to be discharged.
So because the Prosecutor dropped the ball the county was charged $8700.00 plus dollars to house this person? It should come out of the Prosecutors pocket since he failed to file the necessary charges. Tax payer money being wasted again.
ReplyDeleteIt's a crying shame that this man was allowed to walk out of jail free, and the county has to pay the housing, AND he's a REGISTERED SEX OFFENDER!!! when so many people are doing time for possession (not the sale or manufacturing) marijuana, for traffic violations, for not being able to pay a fine on time, etc. I could go on and on, but this man abused someone in the most indecent way possible, didn't bother to register when he moved here so no one would have to know that he'd done this, AND HE GETS OUT FREE!!!!! I just don't understand this.
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