Jan 31, 2008 10:52 pm US/Central
Man Who Helped "Texas Seven" Out Of Jail Early
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
There is outrage over the release of a man who helped seven inmates escape from a Texas prison in 2000. Those escapees would later kill an Irving police officer.
Raul Rodriguez provided the car that allowed the 'Texas Seven' to roll into Dallas on Christmas Eve in 2000.
Officer Aubrey Hawkins was killed during a robbery of a sporting goods store.
Rodriguez is a free man after a controversial, and possibly illegal, decision by a judge.
"The State of Texas has let me down again," said Lori Hawkins, Officer Hawkins' widow.
She said she is still angry seven years after seven dangerous criminals escaped from a maximum security prison in south central Texas.
Now she's convinced the state has allowed another escape right under its nose.
This time it's by the father of one of the escapees, Michael Rodriguez.
Rodriguez was finally serving a ten year sentence for helping the 'Texas Seven' when a Karnes County judge granted an immediate release called 'shock probation' after only five months behind bars.
"It's made me angry that all the work that we've done to fight for the honor of Aubrey is now a slap in the face," said Hawkins.
Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins said the judge's decision is not only absurd, it may also be illegal.
"I think it's a travesty," said Watkins. "I think our justice system has been slapped in the face."
Attorney Toby Shook prosecuted the surviving escapees, who are now on death row.
"It's unbelievable that someone whose actions really allowed these men to really go on the run is only spending four or five months in jail," said Shook.
But no one is more bitter than the officer's widow, who says Rodriguez is just as responsible for murder as those who shot him 11 times that Christmas Eve night.
"He should be sitting in a jail cell right next to his son," she said.
We were unable to reach the Karnes County judge behind this decision, but unless Rodriguez violates his probation, we're told it could be irreversible.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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