A South Florida man convicted of attempting to murder his girlfriend was released from jail just hours after a judge ordered him held without bond, Miami-Dade Corrections documents show.
A detailed report obtained exclusively by NBC 6 says that inmate Dexter Davis, when he was told he was being released, even asked his guards if they were sure because he had just been convicted.
Davis, 36, was convicted of attempted murder last October after he stabbed his girlfriend 15 times with a butcher knife in Opa-Locka in 2009.
Judge Daryl Trawick made clear after his conviction that Davis was to stay in jail on no bond.
But he was allowed out on the street hours later. In a report, investigators said, “Inmate Davis’ release was an error as a result of common practices and inadequate procedures.”
“There was some miscommunication between the court and my officer, and what was put down was not totally accurate,” said Timothy Ryan, the Miami-Dade Corrections director.
The report says Davis stated that several unidentified officers came to his cell and told him that he was being released. Davis asked the officers if they were sure because he and just gone to trial and had been convicted. The officers checked and confirmed the information they had was correct and let him go, the report says.
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Ryan said that Davis had been charged with four crimes and served time for one. But the jailer mistakenly applied timed served to all of Davis' convictions, including attempted murder, Ryan said.
“It was misinterpreted at the release area and interpreted that the individual should have been released, and in fact should not have been released,” Ryan said. “The Corrections Department takes this very seriously. We work very, very hard to ensure that we do everything as properly as we can.”
Davis was taken back into custody in the psychiatric ward at University of Miami Hospital and is back in jail. An internal investigation is ongoing.
Ryan said some changes have been made, including that the supervisor has to check all of the details on the forms now, and there has been additional training. Everything possible is being done so that no one dangerous walks out of the jail again, he emphasized.
