The man accidentally released last week by a Kanawha County Circuit judge is back in police custody.
But as Carter finds himself back behind bars, questions remain into why he was released last Thursday to begin with.
Kanawha County Circuit Clerk Cathy Gatson says her office followed procedure last week when it processed the jail release form for Carter.
Kanawha County Circuit Judge Carrie Webster originally took the blame for Carter’s release after her decision to dismiss his case but Webster has since said she didn’t dismiss the felony charge of the case and the circuit clerk’s office misinterpreted the action she took.
Gatson says criminal cases are given various case numbers during the life of the case. She says when judges decide to dismiss a case they have the county prosecutor’s office prepare the order, which fully vets the decision. She says Judge Webster didn’t do that.
“She was attempting to clear cases from her docket and prepared the dismissal orders exclusive of the prosecutor’s office, that’s my understanding,” Gatson said.
Judge Webster originally took the blame when she spoke with the Charleston Gazette last Friday.
“I’m very upset,” said Webster to the Gazette. “I own that, is what I mean. It is extraordinarily regretful that it happened, and it shouldn’t have happened.”
But Webster had backtracked by Sunday night when she put out a three-page statement explaining what had happened.
“I inadvertently took responsibility for the mistaken release of Jeremy Carter,” Webster said.
Webster says she dismissed a case where Carter’s attorney had asked for a psychiatric evaluation, not the attempted kidnapping charges.
The judge went on to say, “It is abundantly clear that the Court DID NOT enter an order directing dismissal of 12-F -2685 or authorizing Mr. Carter’s release on that charge. It is equally clear that his release resulted from a document other than the Dismissal Order, and was specifically authorized by someone other than the underlying judge.”
Webster’s dismissal removed the bond that was holding Carter and he was released from the South Central Regional Jail last Thursday.
South Charleston Police Chief Brad Rinehart says Carter was arrested last Oct. after trying to take a child from a stroller near the South Charleston Indian Mound.
“We had some issues at the time of the arrest,” the chief said. “He became pretty violent when he was advised of what he was charged with. He had to be pepper sprayed at that time.”
Several agencies had been searching for Carter since his unintentional release.
Carter’s case had already been bound over to a grand jury and could be indicted this spring.
