Opinion ID: 1981497
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Escape Indictment

Text: After Edison was arrested on 6 November 1986, he was confined in the Baltimore City Jail, on a no bail status, pending trials for the murder of Ellis, the attempted murder of Kane, and conspiracy to distribute narcotics. He was housed on the fourth floor of a therapeutic community annex within the jail area. Passes could be obtained to visit the other three floors or the main jail building, connected with the annex by a tunnel. The officer on duty on the fourth floor on 9 February 1987 made a head count about 2:00 p.m. The count indicated that all the inmates in the fourth floor dormitory were accounted for although the officer did not know Edison by sight. The officer on the next shift discovered during his tour that Edison was missing. He notified his supervisor, the floor was shut down and a search for Edison was instituted. He could not be found. The Police Department was notified that Edison had escaped and recapture procedures were instituted. Edison's version was that about 12:15 p.m. on 9 February 1987, he got a call from the officer that [he] got a court release. I packed my clothes and I left.... The officer wrote me a pass, you know, signed it, and I packed my clothes and everything and I went out the first floor, we walked from the fourth floor to the first floor, walk through the tunnel, showed the officer my pass, went upstairs through the grille, showed the officer my pass, and another grille, showed another officer my pass, then they opened the door at receiving, and showed him my pass and they put me in the bull pen then they called me, and I had to sign my name in front of the control center and give them my fingerprint, and I went to the rear gate where I had to sign my name and social security number. He was out at that point. After they lift the red gate up, you come out on Madison Street. Edison remained free until 17 September 1987 when he was apprehended. He said he was on the way to the Police Station to give himself up when the police stopped him. The State adduced evidence to the effect that Edison had not been officially released on 9 February 1987. It introduced testimonial and tangible evidence that the records had been falsified. The records did not disclose the documents Edison claimed he signed, nor did they reflect his passage through the four grilles and two steel doors through which he would have to pass on his way to freedom. It appeared that pertinent records at the time, such as destination sheets or activity sheets, were kept, not by officers, but by inmates, referred to as inmate clerks. The destination sheet allowing him to leave the annex, was false. [3]