Clerk's Error Keeps Freed Atlanta Man In Prison For 7 Months
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mon December 17, 2007
Area: Atlanta
An Atlanta man sentenced to four months in jail languished in state prison nearly a year because a clerk made an error recording the sentence and no one noticed.
David Glass, 44, spent months trying to win his release before finally getting a hearing Thursday in Fulton County Superior Court. He was ordered immediately released.
Magistrate Richard Hicks apologized, gave Glass some new clothes and sent him on his way, a transcript shows.
"I'm going to give you the choice of, we've got some clothes here for you. If you want to just put them on, I'll let you walk out the door right now," Hicks said.
"Yes, sir," Glass responded.
"Or you can go to the jail and be released from there," Hicks said.
"No, sir. I am ready to walk out the door now," Glass said.
The mistake has horrified Fulton County court officials scrambling to understand how such an error could have been made and not caught sooner and to prevent it from happening again. The case manager who recorded the sentence in April has been demoted and more changes may be coming.
"We were all shocked and terribly upset," said Judith Cramer, court administrator. "No one had ever seen anything like this before. I've been here 10 years. I've never had this happen before."
Kramer has ordered a review of how sentences are done and mandated her staff to come up with written rules for how sentences are to be recorded. She blamed the county's paper-and pen-system as contributing factor.
"We are years behind," Cramer said. "This kind of error would not have been possible [with an automated courtroom]."
The mistake happened in April when Glass, who also goes by the name Roderick Carter, was in court before Hicks to be sentenced for selling cocaine to an undercover police officer in January.
Hicks, a magistrate appointed to hold routine hearings for the elected Superior Court judges, sentenced Glass to five years with four months in jail and the balance on probation. That would have freed him in six weeks with credit for time he'd already served.
However, the case manager recorded the sentence as five years, to serve four years four months in state prison. So, Glass was taken to Dooly State Prison to serve out his time.
The only signatures on the sentencing form from April are by Hicks and a superior court clerk. Hicks did not return messages by phone or by e-mail.
The judge's signature makes the oral sentence handed down in court an official court record. The clerk's office also dated, stamped and signed it as officially accepted and entered into the record.
Neither the case manager, who Cramer would not name, nor prosecutor Melanie Schoenfeld nor Glass' court-provided attorney Kathryn Jones signed the sentencing form to show they had reviewed it and it was accurate. Jones could not be reached for comment. District Attorney Paul Howard said through a spokeswoman that his office had no role in ensuring the sentence given in open court is recorded accurately.
It's unclear what Glass did during his eight months in jail to try to win his release.
He sent a letter -- using abbreviations and misspellings -- to Clerk Tina Robinson in July saying his sentence had expired and he should be released.
"Instead of 5 yrs serve 4 mnths, I have received 5 yrs serve 4 yrs + 4 mnths," he wrote. "I would like a copy of my transcript so that it will show my time is up on my sentence."
He signed the letter as David Glass and was sentenced under that name. However, he was in state prison as Roderick Carter. He also has a lengthy arrest record as Carter. And at his resentencing, he told the judge he was Carter.
The clerk's office referred Glass to the court reporter, who did not finish the transcript until September. Glass also sent her a letter asking for the transcript.
"I would like a copy of my transcript so that it will show that I have already serve (sic) my time on my sentence. I would be most appreciative of any assistance you may render to remedy this situation," he wrote.
Eventually, his written pleas reached the conflict defenders office, who brought the issue to Hicks almost two weeks ago. Court officials quickly huddled to find out what happened. Hicks then ordered Glass brought to Atlanta for last week's hearing. Glass, who listed an Atlanta boarding house as his last address, could not be found Tuesday.
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