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| Three Corrections Workers Suspended |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 02/27/2006 |
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The Michigan Department of Corrections suspended two managers - including one who heads the parole supervision unit in Lansing - and a clerical worker last week as part of an investigation into the release of an accused killer who should have been in prison. Corrections officials said one of the managers made the final decision to release Patrick Alan Selepak - despite nothing in state policy requiring his release. The department would not identify the employees. Corrections Director Patricia Caruso said no one intentionally made mistakes, but that's not an excuse. "It doesn't cut it to say 'I dropped the ball' when the public expects us to meet a standard," Caruso said. "Our mission is to protect the public, and dropping the ball is not protecting the public." Selepak, 27, and his fiancee, Samantha Jean Bachyn-ski, 19, were arraigned on murder charges in the deaths of a man and his pregnant wife last week. Selepak and Bachynski also are suspects in the slaying of another man. Selepak was arrested Nov. 8 on parole violation charges. His parole officer recommended that Selepak go back to prison, but no parole hearing was scheduled within 45 days of his arrest. He was released Jan. 10. Department policy calls for a hearing to be held within 45 days unless it is waived or delayed by the parolee. Caruso said the department's policy is not to release suspected parole violators who haven't had a hearing after 45 days. She said the department is reviewing the policy to make sure it is clear. The state Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that prisoners accused of parole violations need not be released if they do not get a hearing within 45 days. The department's 2005 policy directive related to parole issues, reviewed by The Associated Press, does not say what should happen to an alleged violator if a hearing is not scheduled. One employee who was suspended leads the department's parole supervision unit in Lansing. "We believe our employees in that unit were aware of that Supreme Court decision," Corrections spokesman Russ Marlan said. There has not been another alleged parole violator released under similar circumstances in at least the past year, he said. Marlan said it was unclear why Selepak was released. Caruso and Marlan said their understanding is that Selepak told prison staff that he had been held for more than 45 days. Gov. Jennifer Granholm said the error was unacceptable. "It was a human error inside the Department of Corrections that led to a human tragedy," she told reporters in Detroit. Granholm said she has asked the department to investigate and make policy changes "to ensure that kind of error never occurs again." |
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