Murder of 4 Officers Spurs WA Gov. to Turn Away Arkansas Parolees Reported by: KARK 4 News
Wednesday, Dec 2, 2009 @02:44pm
Washington Governor Christine Gregoire today accused Arkansas of violating rules about the transfer of prisoners. The governor also declared her state will no longer accept Arkansas prisoners, while expressing concern about emails she said surfaced Tuesday.
Those messages show Arkansas officials refused to keep a warrant in effect for Maurice Clemmons that would have kept him in jail in Pierce County.
Clemmons was released from jail 6 days before investigators in Washington say he shot and killed 4 Lakewood, WA police officers who were doing paperwork in coffee shop.
Gregoire says Arkansas violated the interstate compact agreement that allows states to accept parolees from each other.
At a Farm Bureau annual meeting, Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe told KARK he had just learned about the situation and had no comment.
Rhonda Sharpe with the Arkansas Department of Community Correction says her department has not been made aware of this situation and would not comment on any specifics.
I don’t understand the thing from Gov. Fraudoire of Washington. I thought Clemmons had been in Washington since 2000. At any rate he didn’t just arrive there a few days before the murders. It sounds like she’s trying to pass the buck.