Release process to begin for 5 inmates

Release process to begin for 5 inmates

A two-month ordeal is nearly over for the five pardoned state prisoners whose fate was in the hands of the state Supreme Court.

After Attorney General Jim Hood challenged the 203 pardons then-Gov. Haley Barbour issued during his last week in office, Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green ordered that the five offenders should stay in prison until the matter was resolved.

In a 6-3 opinion Thursday, the Supreme Court upheld Barbour’s pardons.

Afterward, Hood said the prisoners would be processed for release.

“This should mean she will be going home in 24 to 48 hours,” said John Colette, attorney for Katherine Robertson.

Clarion Ledger
3/8/12