Saturday, December 10, 2011
LaDondrell Montgomery
It took a feat of spectacular incompetence on the part of both prosecutors and defense attorneys, but a court in Houston, Texas, managed to convict a man for armed robbery even though he was in jail at the time of the crime.
During his trial, 36-year-old LaDondrell Montgomery, a repeat offender, told jurors he was not the unidentified suspect shown on surveillance video taken at the scene of the robbery. He failed to provide an alibi, claiming he could not remember where he was when the crime occurred.
Montgomery was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.
Weeks later his defense lawyer, Ronald Ray, made a startling discovery: his client was already in custody for another crime, suspicion of misdemeanor domestic violence, on December 13, 2009.
Once this fact was brought to the attention of the trial judge, Mark Kent Ellis, Montgomery had his conviction tossed.
“It boggles the mind that neither side knew about this during trial,” Ellis said. “Both sides in this case were spectacularly incompetent.”
Montgomery remains in custody because he still faces five other counts of robbery.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Convicted Man Was in Jail When Crime Occurred (by Brian Rogers, Houston Chronicle)
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