This is just a major tragedy for 4 families. My condolences go out to them, i could not even begin to comprehend the hardship their are going thru.
As the suspect in the ambush execution of four police officers remains on the run, questions are swirling as to how and why Maurice Clemmons — an ex-con who at one time faced more than 100 years behind bars — was allowed to live free.
Clemmons, 37, of Tacoma, Wash., has an extensive, violent criminal history marked by volatile and unstable behavior, according to court records and news reports. His criminal history includes at least five felony convictions in Arkansas and at least eight felony charges in Washington, according to The Seattle Times. He had a lengthy prison sentence commuted in 2000 by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who cited Clemmons’ youth.
Rhonda Sharp, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Parole Board, said then-Gov. Huckabee commuted Clemmons’ 108-year prison term to a sentence of 47 years, five months and 19 days.
“[Huckabee's commutation] made him eligible for parole at that point,”Clemmons later violated his parole and was returned to prison until his release in 2004. Should he be found to be responsible for this horrible tragedy, it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State. Huckabee said in a statement issued Sunday. The former governor, who ran for president in 2008 and has been a leading contender in polls for the 2012 Republican nomination, currently hosts a show on Fox News Channel.
Huckabee said the criminal justice system “failed miserably” in Clemmons’ case. “If I could’ve known nine years ago, looked into the future, would I have acted favorably upon the parole board’s recommendation?” Huckabee told Fox News Radio on Monday. “Of course not.” Responding to his critics, Huckabee said, “Politics is the last thing on my mind. It should be the last thing on anybody’s mind. To me it’s repulsive that people are trying to bring something like that up in the midst of what ought to be a concern for these officer’s families.
“The criminal justice is far from perfect and in this case it failed miserably on all sides.” Clemmons is wanted in connection to Sunday’s shooting in a suburban Seattle coffee shop that killed Lakewood Police Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and Officers Ronald Owens, 37; Tina Griswold, 40; and Greg Richards, 42. His gun was recovered at the scene, police said.
Clemmons, who was released from custody in Washington just seven days ago, had been jailed in Pierce County on a pending charge of second-degree rape of a child. Using a bail bondsman, Jail Sucks Bail Bonds, Clemmons posted $150,000 — only $15,000 of which was his own money — and secured his release on the pending rape charge.
In 1989, Clemmons, then 18, was convicted for aggravated robbery, burglary, robbery and two counts of theft of property, said Arkansas Department of Correction spokeswoman Dina Tyler. A year later, he was convicted of burglary, theft of property and possession of a firearm, she said.
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