Convicted upstate NY killer released from prison on a technicality

A New York man convicted of killing another man in a brazen daylight drive-by shooting has been released from prison on a technicality.

Terrence Lewis had been convicted of second-degree murder for the killing of Johnny Washington in Rochester on May 26, 2015.

Lewis was sentenced to 22 years to life and was serving time at Five Points Correctional Facility in Romulus, about 50 miles southeast of Rochester.

But while he was awaiting trial, Lewis had been illegally transferred to a different prison, violating a federal law and voiding his conviction.

When Lewis was indicted in November 2017 for the murder of Washington, he was already serving time for a drug conviction at a federal prison in Allenwood, Pa. When Lewis was indicted in the murder case, he was brought to Monroe County Jail in Rochester.

In May 2018, before Lewis stood trial, he was sent back to Pennsylvania. Two months later, he was returned to Rochester, and in October 2018, he was convicted.

However, Lewis’ two-month transfer back to federal prison in Pennsylvania violated the federal Interstate Agreement on Detainers Law. The 1970 law says that any prisoner charged with an unrelated crime in another jurisdiction must be held and tried in that jurisdiction before they are returned to their original prison, or else the second case must be dismissed.

Lewis had not been tried in New York before he was shipped back to Pennsylvania. New York State Supreme Court Judge Stephen Miller ordered Lewis’ release in a Feb. 5 decision.

“To be absolutely clear as day, we should have been aware,” Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter told local NBC affiliate WHEC on Tuesday. “The repercussions are so great.…We overturned a murder charge. We overturned justice. We have a family that is grieving here in Monroe County; we have people that are probably nervous and scared.”

With News Wire Services