Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter is apologizing to the family of a murder victim for a procedural lapse at the County jail that allowed the convicted killer to be cleared.
Defendant Terrence Lewis was already serving a sentence for a federal crime in Pennsylvania in 2018 when he was returned to Rochester to face trial for the 2015 killing of Johnny Washington.
While awaiting trial, he was returned to federal custody in Pennsylvania, in violation of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers.
It's a law that applies to transfers of sentenced prisoners between states or between state and federal custody.
Baxter says his office has begun a review of its transfer procedures and has provided training to staff on the Detainers law.