By Brendan Kirby
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MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) – A man released on bail for murder was released on bail after being arrested again this month despite rules that should have held him until he appeared before a judge.
The day after Michael Lee Lambert was arrested this month, the Mobile County District Attorney’s Office asked a judge to vacate his bail in the murder case. By that time, however, Lambert had already been released from prison and did not appear for a hearing on the revocation of the bond on Tuesday.
“As of this writing, we don’t know where he is,” Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood said.
Police first arrested 20-year-old Lambert in July 2021 and charged him with the shooting of Jamartez Tucker in May of that year. Lambert had been free on a $100,000 bond.
On February 1, according to court records, mobile police officers spotted a car in a church parking lot with Lambert in it. At first officers thought the car was going to sink, but then the driver pulled away, leading officers on a chase that ended in Prichard, according to court records.
Police charged the Mobile man with two counts, fleeing and escaping, and second-degree possession of marijuana. The jail booked him at 10:07 p.m., and less than two hours later he posted $1,000 bail. That shouldn’t have happened, Blackwood told FOX10 News.
“There is an identification process in prison and we have no control over that,” he said. “It happened in the middle of the night.”
This process is known as the “Graddick Rule,” named for former Mobile County Presiding Circuit Charles Graddick who implemented it. Prison guards should be notified when someone who is already on bail is booked on a new charge so they can keep the defendant locked up until a judge reviews the case.
According to the Mobile County Sheriff, it is up to the arresting officer to notify the jail. This did not happen in this case, according to a copy of the admission form provided to the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.
Cpl. Katrina Frazier told FOX10 News that an investigation conducted by the arresting officer failed to uncover Lambert’s bond status.
“We review our logs to ensure that we perform our due diligence when reviewing such information in the future,” she wrote in an email.
Lambert’s attorney, Jeff Deen, said he had no indication his client would not be present at Tuesday’s hearing.
“I don’t know why he didn’t show up,” he said. “He might have had problems with the car.”
Deen said it is “fundamental” to the American justice system that everyone is presumed innocent and entitled to bail. He said the judge could evaluate the prosecutors’ latest request based on the new arrest, but must give the defendant an opportunity to respond. He said the country fought the Revolutionary War for the rights now enshrined in the Bill of Rights, which protects citizens accused of a crime.
“He was arrested for a couple of offenses that he may or may not have committed. … The judge can look at it and make an informed decision on whether he should be jailed,” he said. “But we need something other than just a howling mob saying, ‘Lock him up. lock him up Throw away the key.’ That’s not how it works.”
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