‘Violates the principles of justice’: Murderer facing life sentence released after prisoner transfer error voids conviction

A New York judge on Feb. 5, 2024 vacated the 2018 murder conviction of Terrence Lewis after it was determined Monroe County officials violated the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD) Law (inset via Rochester Police Department; background via WHEC/YouTube).

A man sentenced to 22 years to life in prison for a murder suddenly found himself a free man after a New York Supreme Court judge vacated his conviction because of a legal technicality.

Judge Stephen Miller wrote in a Feb. 5 decision that Monroe County officials violated the federal Interstate Agreement on Detainer’s Law (IAD) and thus Terrence Lewis’ 2018 conviction had to be thrown out. A jury convicted Lewis in the May 26, 2015, drive-by shooting death of 29-year-old Johnny Washington in Rochester. A judge then sentenced Lewis to 22 years to life in prison.

After the murder but before state officials indicted him, a federal judge in October 2016 sentenced Lewis to five years in prison on charges relating to drug distribution. State officials indicted Lewis for second-degree murder in Washington’s death in November 2017 as he was serving his federal sentence at a correctional facility in Allenwood, Pennsylvania. Lewis was transferred to the Monroe County Jail to be arraigned on the murder charges in January 2018 and Monroe County officials returned Lewis to federal custody a few months later as he awaited trial.

This violated the IAD, Miller wrote. The agreement, approved by Congress in 1970, says a prisoner charged with an unrelated crime in another jurisdiction must be held and tried in that jurisdiction before being returned to the place of their original imprisonment, or else the case in the other jurisdiction must be dismissed.

“The harsh reality is that despite a jury of 12 members of our community determining, after hearing all of the evidence set before them, that defendant is guilty of the murder of Johnny C. Washington, this administrative jail decision made based on jail population and timing, not the law, unequivocally entitles defendant to dismissal of the murder in the second degree indictment with prejudice under the exacting requirements of the anti-shuttling provisions of the IAD,” Miller wrote, according to The Associated Press.

After Lewis’ conviction, he was returned to the feds where he served out his sentence at the Pennsylvania facility. When that was complete he entered the New York state prison system in the fall of 2020.

Amy Young, spokesperson for the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, said the agency was made aware of the issue in January. After Miller vacated the sentence earlier this month, Lewis was freed from the Five Points Correctional Facility in Seneca.

Sheriff officials reached out to Washington’s family.

“To the family and friends of Mr. Johnny Washington, there are no words to take away the pain you are justly feeling that undoubtedly comes with the lack of fairness being served based on this decision, which violates the principles of justice,” Monroe County Sheriff Todd K. Baxter said in a statement. “I extend my sincere apology.”

According to the statement, the sheriff’s office took the following measures to ensure it does not happen again:

Conducted an audit pursuant to IADs to identify whether there were any individuals, currently or formerly incarcerated at the Monroe County Jail, dating back to 2018, in on an IAD; the audit revealed there were no other incarcerated individuals held on an IAD
Conducted a review of our transfer procedures
Provided training on the IAD Law to appropriate staff responsible for transferring incarcerated individuals; implemented a new procedure that indicates anytime MCSO transfers an incarcerated individual out of state, awaiting trial in Monroe County, MCSO notifies the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office and the judge assigned to the case prior to the relocation

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‘Violates the principles of justice’: Murderer facing life sentence released after prisoner transfer error voids conviction

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‘Violates the principles of justice’: Murderer facing life sentence released after prisoner transfer error voids conviction

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