Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 14, 2006 11:34:35 GMT -5
Ex-con's stroll ends back in a jail cell
A former death row inmate who recently walked out of prison is back behind
bars because of an unscheduled bathroom break.
Martin Allen Draughon, 43, was arrested Tuesday at his home in Livingston
after being accused of violating his parole, said Joy Weathers, his
fiancee.
The arrest came less than 3 weeks after Draughon was freed from prison on
mandatory supervision. He had served almost 20 years on death row for a
fatal shooting in Houston.
Weathers said she and Draughon had walked to a Wal-Mart on Monday to buy
groceries and had notified his parole officer about the trip a week in
advance, as required under conditions of his release.
Along the way, however, they stopped at a Burger King restaurant to use
the restroom. That visit had not specifically been approved.
Draughon must wear an electronic device that tracks his whereabouts with
the global positioning satellite system. On Monday, along with the
unauthorized stop, he had an equipment violation, said Bryan Collier,
director of the Parole Division of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice.
Collier said Draughon's monitor lost its tracking signal, and he did not
follow instructions it gave him to re-establish contact.
Draughon was sent to death row for the 1986 killing of Armando Guerrero
after a botched restaurant robbery in Houston.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal overturned the conviction in September
2004, saying a ballistics expert presented evidence in an appeal hearing
showing Guerrero was killed by a bullet that had ricocheted.
Draughon will remain in the Polk County Jail without bail pending a review
of the incident and a hearing, which Collier said must be completed within
40 days after the arrest.
(source: Houston Chronicle)
A former death row inmate who recently walked out of prison is back behind
bars because of an unscheduled bathroom break.
Martin Allen Draughon, 43, was arrested Tuesday at his home in Livingston
after being accused of violating his parole, said Joy Weathers, his
fiancee.
The arrest came less than 3 weeks after Draughon was freed from prison on
mandatory supervision. He had served almost 20 years on death row for a
fatal shooting in Houston.
Weathers said she and Draughon had walked to a Wal-Mart on Monday to buy
groceries and had notified his parole officer about the trip a week in
advance, as required under conditions of his release.
Along the way, however, they stopped at a Burger King restaurant to use
the restroom. That visit had not specifically been approved.
Draughon must wear an electronic device that tracks his whereabouts with
the global positioning satellite system. On Monday, along with the
unauthorized stop, he had an equipment violation, said Bryan Collier,
director of the Parole Division of the Texas Department of Criminal
Justice.
Collier said Draughon's monitor lost its tracking signal, and he did not
follow instructions it gave him to re-establish contact.
Draughon was sent to death row for the 1986 killing of Armando Guerrero
after a botched restaurant robbery in Houston.
U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal overturned the conviction in September
2004, saying a ballistics expert presented evidence in an appeal hearing
showing Guerrero was killed by a bullet that had ricocheted.
Draughon will remain in the Polk County Jail without bail pending a review
of the incident and a hearing, which Collier said must be completed within
40 days after the arrest.
(source: Houston Chronicle)