There's some finger pointing in the political fallout of a murder suspect's release from police custody in Broward County.

On Tuesday afternoon Broward State Attorney's Office public information officer Paula McMahon released a statement asserting prosecutors followed the proper procedures in notifying the Broward Sheriff's Office and the Broward Clerk of Courts that defendant Eric Vail was still facing a first-degree murder charge. Vail, who has been accused of murdering Wadarius Harris in October 2018, was indicted for second-degree murder before a grand jury opted to upgrade the charges in April.  He was mistakenly released from jail on Thursday after it was learned the second-degree murder charges against him had been dismissed.

Although the second-degree murder indictment was dismissed, Vail was supposed to be held to stand trial for the first-degree murder charge.

McMahon said a review of public records affirmed the Broward State Attorney's Office communicated that “Eric Vail still had a pending first-degree murder charge active after the second-degree murder charge was dropped.”

“For clarity, it is common for prosecutors to file a second-degree murder charge to ensure a defendant is jailed while an investigation is pending and prior to taking the case to the grand jury,” she said, noting a grand jury has to approve first-degree murder indictments. “It is the responsibility of the Broward Clerk of Courts office to notify the Broward Sheriff's Office of new court filings, but our prosecutors and staff also sent notifications to both the clerk of courts and the sheriff's office that the first-degree murder — with a no-bond hold — was still pending against Vail.”

McMahon also said prosecutors had reached out directly to the sheriff's office to inform them of the new charges pressed against Vail, and added prosecutors received a receipt indicating “the sheriff's office took some action after receiving the file from us.”

“The State Attorney's Office has a tracking/auditing system in place on this program,” she wrote. “If our office receives no response from the sheriff's office computer server within two hours, our information technology department receives an email notification. As of today, we have received no such emails for all of 2019.”

Broward Sheriff's Office senior public information officer Keyla Concepción told the Daily Business Review the department “is not in possession of the documentation notifying us he was to be held on another charge” on Tuesday. In a statement released Monday, the law enforcement office laid the blame for the mistake with “an ongoing communication issue within the court system” and asserted their detention deputies are only responsible for the care and custody of inmates.

“It is the responsibility of the Broward County Clerk of Courts to distribute official documentation between all the essential parties about court proceedings, to include communications involving inmates in custody,” the statement said. “At the time Vail was scheduled for release, the jail had not received any documentation from the Clerk of Courts stating the subject was to remain in custody to face another charge.”

Dian Diaz, chief operating officer with the Broward County Clerk of Courts, provided the Daily Business Review with a statement disputing the claims of the BSO after being reached for comment on Tuesday.

“In order to release a prisoner from confinement, a directive from the judiciary is required,” the statement read, adding Vail's case does not contain any instructions concerning his release. The statement noted that a case docket displaying Vail's first-degree charge was sent to the sheriff's office and noted hearings following his most recent indictment are “void of any instruction that Mr. Vail should be released from the care, custody and control of the Broward Sheriff's Office on the first degree murder charge.”

Vail is being represented by attorney Erin Veit with the Broward Public Defender's Office. The head of the department, Howard Finkelstein, said “nobody gets in or out of that jail without the sheriff's permission, period.”

“Whether it has been complicated because we have an incompetent clerk as well as an incompetent jailer, that I don't know,” he said. “But the joke in my office today is it's better to have an incompetent jailer than a good public defender some days.”

Finkelstein added, “If he contacts us we'll tell him to surrender himself, but its not like he was illegally released, he was wrongfully released.” The attorney said his biggest concern was “no one from the sheriff's office informed the public for days.”

“This is not something that should be kept a secret, because what that says is we're protecting our political asses rather than the community,” Finkelstein said.

Vail had not been apprehended as of press time on Tuesday afternoon.

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