Jailhouse furloughs questioned after attack

Posted at: 11/24/2009 5:59 PM | Updated at: 11/24/2009 6:27 PM
By: Stuart Dyson, Eyewitness News 4, and Kurt Christopher, KOB.com

One New Mexico district attorney says a legal loophole allowed a man to walk out of jail and attack his former girlfriend.  Now he wants to change state law to tighten up the rules for judges granting jailhouse furloughs to violent criminals.

Police say Amber Simpson's boyfriend, Moses Earl Ingram, attacked her at hour house in Tucumcari last April, yanking her by the hair, choking her and punching her in the face over and over again.  He was sent to jail, but he didn't stay there.

To Simpson's surprise, Ingram turned up at her front door in July, out of jail on a furlough from a judge.  This time police say Ingram beat Simpson's face to a bloody pulp, breaking several bones and nearly killing her.

Authorities say Ingram dragged Simpson into her car and sped away from police in pursuit.  The chase ended with a crash and Ingram escaping on foot.

For two weeks, Ingram was on the loose until he was finally captured in Clovis.

"We were living in fear," said the victim's father, Scott Simpson.  "She didn't leave my side for the two weeks.  If there was a time I couldn't be with her, we had her stashed away where no one knew where she was at.  We were living in hiding, and honestly I was walking around armed."

Mr. Simpson says his daughter was never notified until after the furlough hearing - a violation of state law.

The district attorney in Clovis, Matt Chandler, says Amber Simpson should have had seven days' notice before the hearing.

"There's some compassion which is needed from the courts to let people get their affairs in order and everything is set before they go to prison.  However, we also have to understand that there's a community that's been damaged and property that's been destroyed and there's people's lives that have been wreaked havoc on by some of these people," said Chandler.

Ingram now faces additional charges, including attempted murder, kidnapping, and assault and battery.

The judge who ordered Ingram's furlough, Albert Mitchell, has said he regrets the decision.

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