During his brief release, the board issued an arrest warrant for parole violation, arguing that the two drug accusations against Sneed this year violated his parole — even though he was still incarcerated and not actually paroled.
“This latest illegal and retaliatory move by the Board of Parole—yet another foul blow in their Javert-like pursuit of Mr. Sneed—is an effort to prolong Mr. Sneed’s unconstitutional detention,” Sneed’s lawyer, Thomas Frampton, wrote in a federal court filing in response to his rearrest.
Sneed has served 47 years in prison for his role in a fatal robbery in 1974. Sneed was a lookout and was not present during the killing, but was convicted of principal to commit second-degree murder because he was involved in the crime that led to the murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
In mid-March, the parole panel decided Sneed was no longer a threat to society. He suffered a stroke in 2005 and had to be rehabilitated.
“I don’t believe that there’s any threat to public safety….By keeping him incarcerated, at his age and with [his] medical conditions, it’s more costly with very finite taxpayer dollars to keep him [locked up] than to help him get substance abuse treatment,” Kerry Myers, deputy director of the Louisiana Parole Project, told Reason.com. “What’s at stake is: What’s the best use of resources?”
Although the disciplinary committee cleared him for the positive urine sample, the parole board voted to revoke Sneed’s parole in May. However, a judge later ruled that the parole board did not afford Sneed the due process he was warranted to receive in a parole revocation hearing.
Neither Sneed nor his lawyers saw the evidence against him or got to cross-examine or call any witnesses during the hearing.
“Because it is undisputed that no such procedures were followed when Mr. Sneed’s parole was stripped…this Court finds that [he] was deprived … of due process of law,” wrote Judge Ron Johnson of the 19th Judicial District Court in East Baton Rouge Parish.
Only one member of the parole committee signed the warrant that was issued based on a write-up Sneed received on Nov. 9, when he was found unresponsive and allegedly in possession of an eyedropper containing PCP.
While Sneed’s fate remains in limbo, state and federal lawsuits are pending on each side. The Louisiana Supreme Court on Dec. 16 ruled that the lower court was wrong to order Sneed released on parole. The Supreme Court contended that the district court should have sent the case to the parole committee for a revocation hearing.
Frampton filed a federal motion to hold the state officials in contempt. He claims that Sneed could not have violated his parole because he was still incarcerated and not on parole.
Article Appeared @https://news.yahoo.com/illegal-retaliatory-louisiana-man-already-191100329.html