FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Broward Sheriff's officials say they've mistakenly released a murder suspect from jail.
A sheriff's statement says they received "unequivocal direction" from the state attorney's office Thursday that the second-degree murder charge against 28-year-old Eric Vail was dismissed. They didn't have any indication that he was to be held on a first-degree murder charge after being indicted in the same case by a grand jury in April. So he was released.
But the state attorney's office responded that sheriff's officials should have known about the charge because they took Vail to court Thursday on the upgraded charge.
Vail is accused in the drive-by shooting of a 27-year-old man in October. He was arrested in January.
Public Defender Howard Finkelstein, whose office represents Vail, says they haven't heard from him.
The full Broward Sheriff's Office statement:
“On Thursday, the Broward Sheriff’s Office received unequivocal direction from the State Attorney’s Office that the second-degree murder charge on Eric Vail had been dismissed. We did not have and have not yet located any documentation stating the subject was to be held on another charge. Our main priority at this time is to locate and apprehend this dangerous criminal. Anyone with information on his whereabouts should contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-8477."
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