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Subscribe to RSSPolice are offering a reward to help track down a convicted murderer who was pardoned by former Gov. Haley Barbour, R-Miss. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood joins NewsNation to discuss the situation.
Mississippi's attorney general is asking for the public’s help in tracking down a convicted killer who vanished weeks ago after being pardoned by former Governor Haley Barbour.
“I hate the fact that our former governor has unleashed this guy on the U.S.,” Attorney General Jim Hood told msnbc.com on Thursday. “I equate this to having a manhunt with one arm tied behind my back.”
Authorities began looking for Ozment after the former inmate did not appear on Monday at a court hearing related to the pardons. Hood said he has offered an unspecified cash reward for information regarding Ozment's whereabouts.
Barbour, a former Republican National Committee chairman, sparked controversy by granting some 200 pardons, commutations and suspensions, generating debate about how much power a governor should have to pardon criminals convicted of serious crimes.
Barbour has defended his clemency decisions and said he was confident they were all valid and blamed political opponents for much of the controversy.
Ozment, 40, had been serving a life sentence for the 1993 robbery and shooting death of a store clerk in northwest Mississippi. He was one of five prisoners who had worked at the governor's mansion who saw their life prison terms lifted after receiving full pardons by Barbour.
Hood is seeking to void most of the pardons granted by Barbour because not enough public notice was given in the communities where the crimes were committed. He received a court order to temporarily block the pardons.
A judge allowed the five freed men, including Ozment, to remain out of prison while the matter was pending but required them to report daily to authorities. Ozment was the only one who has not done so, Hood said.
Hinds County Circuit Judge Tomie Green has scheduled a hearing for Feb. 3.
Hood asked anyone with information to call a confidential hotline at 1-800-281-4418.
Msnbc.com's Sevil Omer and Reuters contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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Lovely. That didn't take long for him to break the law. I hope they find him before he hurts anyone.
The man received a Pardon from Governor.
What law did he break??
Make it:
WANTED ...... DEAD OR ALIVE.
It won't take long.
Just how do you figure he broke the law? He was never contacted about the hearing served a court summons and did not break the law by not appearing. He was lawfully released from prison. He has not been personally served legal orders rescinding his pardon. Nothing in the law says a pardoned individual can't disappear and seek out privacy. He is not the one who granted the pardon, merely the recipient. Whatever his previous criminal convictions, the situation as it stands now is not one of his making. So you should quit posting fiction. The attempt to nullifying the pardon hinges on the questionable technical grounds of the time frame for public notification being to short. I have no knowledge of his past nor am I condoning any criminal activity he may have perpetrated in the past. That said, even with all the political rhetoric and media melodrama, he really hasn't done anything wrong. It is not hard to understand that he does not want to return to prison. What this guy needs right now is a good attorney to defend his release.
Failing to appear at a court-ordered hearing is a crime. Avoiding court officers so as to not be served with a court order does not excuse you from appearing when ordered to do so.
the guy gets a "Get out of jail free" card, after committing murder...DUH...he's in another country by now.
This whole thing stinks. However a pardon is a pardon no? Maybe not anymore. I think anyone who commits a violent crime such as murder should NEVER recieve a pardon. They should serve 100% of the sentence they got. However I also believe a pardon should be a pardon PERIOD.
Time to consider criminal charges against the gov. something is not right! Maybe he was low on henchman
No sundiver, failure to appear at a court ordered hearing is not a crime--unless you were served personally with a notice to appear. This is a criminal matter, not a civil matter. A notice in the paper or on the Internet usually is not sufficient for the serving of a "notice to appear". Fully understanding that the state laws differ, please advise what "law' has he broken. Not knowing the Mississippi law, it appears that the Governor had the authority to do what he did, within the limits of the Mississippi law. Now if the Governor violated that "law" or authority, then that is something for the courts to decide. I feel the current sitting Judge did the right thing by instructing those released by "mistake" to report in daily until the "whole mess' is cleared up. But to say any of those have violated the law at this point-well, I just am not sure about that. Sounds like a "loophole" in Mississippi law that needs to be filled.
Maybe he is truly repentant for the crime he committed and decided to start his life over somewhere else in the world and he is long gone.
sundrenched of the brain
One has to be served notice to appear before a law is broken by not appearing.
This man should get a lawyer and sue the sh-- out of CNN for defamation, harassment, whatever!
Barbour is responsible, he should serve the time now.
Would have to agree, anyone that is hurt or god forbid murdered by any of the people he pardoned is on Barbour. Any blood spilled will be on his hands. He should spend some time in prison thinking about that instead of whining that he is being shown in a negative light.
jerry the clown
and then we pursue President William Jefferson Clinton for all his pardons where he actually received money for the pardon
and then there is Roger Clinton ( President's brother) who was given a pardon by bubba for drug trafficking (cocaine)
To god lyrica and her judgement;
Reminds me of song by Kinky Freidman and Texas Jew-Boys
My feet stinck
I got dandruff
and I don't love jesus.
Then he ran for gov. of Tejas
This is the problem his release had conditions; conditions which he has failed to adhere to he did not need a summons telling him to be in court the judge said that when he released him and the 4 other individuals (SEE BELOW). Who by the way have been in compliance with the conditions of their release. Failure to appear is a crime and at this point he has broken the conditions of his release plain and simple. If the pardon is upheld then yes he is free and clear to maybe kill someone else's family member maybe even one of yours who are so hell bent on not seeing anything wrong in his failure to appear in court daily as part of his conditional release. Or he could go become a productive part of society but his actions at the present make it hard for me to believe he will (my opinion). I hope this issue will be resolved before any innocent people are harmed in any way.
But remember this:
A judge allowed the five freed men, including Ozment, to remain out of prison while the matter was pending but required them to report daily to authorities. Ozment was the only one who has not done so, Hood said.
What an unconsciounable act- pardoning this killer!? What idiocy!! Now this animal will probably unleash some murderous wrath on many people because of the incompetence of this former governor. Hope he's proud of himself now
I would expect he will lay low and not break the law for a while. He is a fugitive and will try to stay hidden. Problem comes when he gets desperate for money and falls back on his old ways. The former governor should be considered an accomplice to any crime committed by anyone he pardoned; as should anyone granting pardons.
Agree that crazy Governor should be held responsible for anything this murderer does. Horrible, stupid man, that Governor!
This guy is an idiot. If he would have just showed up and waited for this to be resolved, he probably would have walked. I doubt if any court is going to overturn a gov's pardon as it is a constitutional issue. Like it or not (and I don't) we are stuck with it.
He legally walked out of prison a completely FREE man. He didn't break any laws by not contacting anyone after the fact. He probably isn't interested in watching the news or reading papers and probably doesn't have a phone. He's off the grid. It wasn't until after he left, the rules to the game changed and now they're saying he 'broke the rules' by not contacting the court. Pardoned means a 100% clean record. He's gone and regardless of his past, it's illegal to re-convict a man of a crime who has been pardoned. The state dropped the ball. If this man is smart, he will play the rest of his life clean and stay out of trouble.
What !!!!! A Republican governor granting pardons ???? Has Hell frozen over ? Do pigs fly ? Are dogs and cats living together ? What happened to kill them all and let God sort it out ! Maybe these are the last days after all !!!! I guess he never heard of Willy Horten.
Perhaps his victim's family has already found him?
That's possible. Hope it's not the other way around.
Former Governor Haley Barbour and the judge both should be tried and imprisioned for this gaff... You know, these are not the only idiots that hold government and/or judicial positions...
In the words of the great Homer J. Simpson-
"Doh!"
He killed a store clerk in NW Mississippi? Where? Was he from the area?
Good ol' boy Haley B. should be forced to put up the reward money. What an idiot!
Big surprise here. I'm sure there will be more of them disappearing.
Why should a man whom's been pardoned for his crime(s), be forced to show up for some court hearing by a new governor who dislikes the fact that he and many others like him, were pardoned by the previous governor. Reward for his capture??? The man hasn't committed any crime since his pardon, so why offer a reward for his capture. If this man gets arrested for being pardoned, then I guess that anyone pardoned under all of the past presidencies can also get arrested and thrown back in prison! @!$%#ing pathetic government!
Seems like a case of double jeopardy if he's rearrested and sent back to jail.
I really think that all of the people who are backing this guy up and saying that he has not done anything wrong would be pretty pissed off right now if it was their family member that he murdered!!
From a simple legal standpoint I understand that the Governors pardons are of absolute authority.
Is this fact or not.
Well now, all of those backing this guy up obviously haven't given a second thought to the family of the victim of his crime and/or have never been a victim of a crime. How would you feel if you went through all of the court proceedings, etc. and finally received justice only to find out the perp was set free cause they had a chance to get to know the governor, something the dead victim will never have the opportunity to do. There is nothing ok about what Barbour did and it was a big screw you to the Attorney General, prosecutors and the justice system. This guy wanted to be president. Like Huckabee and the rest too, he probably destroyed government owned hard drives and documents on his way out. He's proved himself to be a criminal at heart which is why he did what he did. All of the victims and/or the families of these 200 criminals should gather and protest on the sidewalk in front of his private residence and hold at least one vigil of the victim of this murderer. I'm sure Barbour's next stop will be DC to join K Street and that gang of criminals to facilitate the rubbing of elbows with the criminals on the hill. Barbour should be arrested for crimes against humanity. I don't see any difference between what he did and what Fidel did.
I'm sure all of these released felons have not delivered any cash to Barbour, but that is because most of them were released as a smoke screen. You can probably find only one or two of them, the ones with very rich families, who have made this whole ridiculous release of very dangerous people worth the Governors while.
Let us PRAY that this man will not do any harm to anyone because of the stupidity of the governor!!
Seeing some REAL stupid comments here...let's try to break through the wall of nonsense, shall we? First of all, while this man WAS convicted of a crime almost 20 years ago, he apparently had an exemplary record while he was a prisoner, which is why he was made a trustee in the first place, and undoubtedly had a great deal to do with why the governor gave him a pardon. Second, regardless of what anybody thinks about his crime, the fact is that he walked out of that prison a free man, and no more subject to "checking in" than you or I would be. Third, it is not a "crime" to avoid being served with a civil summons, and until and unless he HAS been served, the court does not have what is called "personal jurisdiction" over him, and he's under no legal obligation to appear at a "hearing" - or anyplace else. To those of you that are holding the opinion that a person, once guilty of murder, can never change and should not receive a second chance, make sure you stay out of Minneapolis' "twin city", as well any churches which might be named "St. Paul" - remember that BEFORE he was Paul and a apostle of Christ, he was Saul, the murderer of Timothy! Oops, sorry, he can't be forgiven; so ... let's start by burning down all the churches that carry his name! That'll show that smart-aleck, Jesus! Who does he think he is, pardoning a killer? We should, like, crucify the jerk or something!
Boy it is amazing how understanding of what's right or wrong is crystal clear when the subject is 'white.' If this was a Black man and he was innocent, spent 20 years in jail and was released....your comment probably and I said probably would have been the same as everyone else. Although, I do agree with you that once he is a free man he should be treated as such, but you can save the Bible analogies. Those stories don't have anything to do with this. Just like you said Paul was a murderer that changed his name...who said he changed anything else? The Bible is full of stories of ill-repute. It has also come to my attention that the city 'Sodom and Gomorrah,' is a fable. Look it up. So using the Bible as an example is not good especially when it has been tampered with just to control the minds of some people who don't know any better.
If the Governor wants to pardon these men that's just fine, he needs to also be responsible for all future crimes that they commit.
Being released probably caused this ex-con to receive a lot of hostility by friends and family of his victims. If I wanted to start anew, I would leave also. However, has anyone thought that this man may have been a victim himself. Someone holding a grudge just may have ended his life.
Grow a mustache, wear a sombrero, give up bathing for a month and hide out in SANCTUARY CITY!!!!!
Same thing happened in the corrupt state of Illinois by a gov. that was corrupt, caught and on his way to federal prison his last act in office was to release hundreds of convicted felons most of which ended back in the penal system, IL had an increase in homicide and our good Gov. went to Federal prison and is still costing IL by feeding, housing and providing his health care. Sometimes people are wrongly convicted but the majority are guilty. Once a person has been imprisoned it changes his whole being, rehabilitation is a temporary fix and it isn't long until they find that they can not live on the streets as constructive human beings because of too many prejudices in this world and eventually they find their way back into the system. Maybe this man will be different, maybe not the only ones that can know that for sure is him and his maker.
"Once a person has been imprisoned it changes his whole being, rehabilitation is a temporary fix and it isn't long until they find that they can not live on the streets as constructive human beings because of too many prejudices in this world and eventually they find their way back into the system."
There are many ex-felons that have productive lives including me. A blanket statement like yours is incorrect.
In short.........governor releases man, man has done no crime, GOVERNOR fails to follow procedure, in essence BREAKS THE LAW, governor deserves to be held to the same LAW as we all are, man has done nothing more THEREFORE he should be LEFT ALONE unless he does not follow the LAW and then is subjected to the consequences of HIS decisions. A REWARD? or is that just another word for BOUNTY. we will reward you for finding someone, dont bounty hunters get the same thing? I feel this is a very misfortunate event that should be seen in that manner, cut your losses and Hope that Mr. Ozmet felt remorse for what he HAD done and decides to live the straight and narrow, and continues in that truly rewarding path.
Actually, rogerbeard, the article was clear that the pardon was blocked by a court order and as a condition of his remaining out of prison, he was to report in daily. It's his failure to report which has sparked the man-hunt because he in fact violated a court order.
god wth:
It would be better for u
to keep mouth closed and let people think u are stupid
than to open it and remove all doubt.( quote by uncle Samuel Clemmons)
(1). Gov. gives pardons and prisoners released.
(2). Atty. General of the other party ( Democrat) sees the hullibaloo caused by CNN's continuous coverage
(3). 2 weeks later trys to get pardons stopped.
(4). Judge takes case under review. ( He can not do anything. Technicalities apply to justice not pardons.
(5). Tells men that showed up to report till decision reached.
(6). one man pardoned does not show up. Has not been given notice to appear.
At this point (refer to opening statement) it is all politics.
The man pardoned has a clear record and should sue CNN for everything he can get.
anderson gooberhead and his wars against Libya, syria, and now Haley Barbour a man of good character and honest attempts at being decent.