A good citizen of Laramie, Wyo., gave us a good tip, Hood said. The attorney general said he hasnt decided how much to pay the tipster.
Miss. AG: Pardoned killer found in Wyoming, joseph ozment,Mississippi Attorney GeneralJim HoodsaidJoseph Ozmenttried to flee when investigators arrived at a hotel in Laramie, Wyo.
Hood is challenging the legality of dozens of Barbours pardons. Hood said about 170 people who got them did not meet the Mississippi Constitutions requirement that a notice be published in a local news for 30 days. Ten of the pardons went to people who were incarcerated.
Barbours spokeswoman,Laura Hipp, said the trusties were minimum security prisoners and were allowed to have visits from relatives and friends. Hipp said those policies are formulated by corrections officials and their attorneys, who are assigned to MDOC by Hoods office.
Barbour has defended his pardons. He recently told CNNsJohn Kingthat Ozment and the others have been rehabilitated.
Some published notices for four weeks in weekly newss. Hood said four weeks is only 28 days, not the 30 days specified in the constitution, and that they should have published for five weeks. Others were published in daily newss but the ads didnt run for a full 30 days before the pardon was signed. Hood has said about two dozen people published the proper notice.
As part of a tradition that went back decades, the most trusted prisoners in Mississippi were given jobs at the Governors Mansion. Governors often gave them some type of early release when their terms ended.
There wasnt a warrant for Ozments arrest, but the summons will require him to show up for court hearings and check in every 24 hours with theMississippi Department of Corrections.
According to material provided by Hood, Ozment and his fiance had been planning a sunset, beach wedding in the Florida Panhandle in March. A subsequent notice said the couple would have a small, private wedding at an undisclosed location due to personal circumstances.
During a news conference in his office, Hood handed out copies of a wedding announcement for Ozment and his fiance,LaChina Tillman, whom Hood described as an engineer for a national defense contractor. Hood said the pictures that accompanied the announcement were taken at the Governors Mansion. He said the woman visited Ozment at the mansion 15 times.
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Hood said Ozment initially drove away in a Mercedes and the vehicle bumped one of the investigators. Ozment returned later on foot and was served with court s. Hood said his investigator was standing behind the car when the vehicle hit him and he decided not to press charges.
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Barbour, who considered running for president in 2012 before backing out, has accused Hoojoseph ozmentd of partisan politics. Hood is the only Democrat in statewide office. Hood said Thursday that the issue has nothing to do with politics and thats its a matter of the law.
Hood said he had a hard time finding Ozment and announced last week that his office was willing to pay confidential informants for information. Hood said the ct that there was no warrant for Ozments arrest made it harder to find him because friends and relatives were not legally compelled to cooperate and couldnt ce charges for harboring him.
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Ozment was sentenced to life in prison inMiss. AG: Pardoned killer found in Wyoming, joseph ozment 1994 for the slaying ofRicky Montgomeryduring a robbery at a store in Desoto County.
Ozment and the four other inmates, including three other convicted killers, had worked as trusties at the Governors Mansion. A judge had ordered them to check in after Hood requested a temporary restraining order. Ozment was the only one to miss a court hearing last week, but the judge said she could not issue an arrest warrant because he hadnt been served a summons.
Most of the people pardoned by Barbour pardoned had already served their sentences and been out of prison for years. Some were convicted of drug charges or other comparatively minor crimes as r back as the 1960s and 1970s.
An attorney for the other four inmate trusties pardoned by Barbour filed a motion Monday asking the Mississippi Supreme Court to issue a stay that would prevent theHinds County Circuit Courtfrom holding Fridays hearing or ordering the men back to prison. The ruling could affect five other pardoned inmates who are being held in prison because of Hoods restraining order.
It was very unusual circumstances, for murderers, as to the freedoms they had at the Governors Mansion, Hood said.
Gov.Phil Bryantsaid last week through a spokesman that he has phased out the trusty program at the Governors Mansion. He has also said he has no intentions to grant pardons.
He has no obligation to do anything, Barbour said of Ozment. Hes been pardoned. Hes a free man.
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) A convicted killer pardoned by former Mississippi Gov.Haley Barbourwas in Wyoming with his fiance and initially drove off when he was located Sunday by investigators seeking to serve him with a court summons, authorities said Monday.
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Hood, a Democrat, wants to invalidate dozens of the 198 pardons that Barbour, a Republican, handed out before his term ended Jan. 10. A Hinds County, Miss., judge scheduled a hearing on the matter for Friday. However, an attorney representing four other former prisoners who were pardoned filed a motion Monday that seeks to block the judge from issuing a ruling that could send them back to prison.
