System under siege after murder suspect removes ankle monitor

By Andria Simmons

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The escape of a 23-year-old murder suspect who was under house arrest with an electronic ankle monitor over the weekend has exposed a troubling gap in Gwinnett County's notification system.

There is no after-hours or emergency notification when a defendant escapes house arrest, Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter said.

"We get notified during regular business hours, and it's up to us to file a motion to revoke the bond, which we did," Porter said. "There is always a delay, which is why we oppose bond in these kinds of cases."

Porter said the private monitoring company, Lee's Home Confinement, responded appropriately according to the notification system that is currently in place, which he called inadequate.

Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Michael Clark granted Joseph Hunter Hayes $125,000 bond in October 2008. As a condition of his release, Hayes was to remain under house arrest at his Dahlonega apartment with an electronic ankle monitor. Clark declined to comment about the case because it is still active.

Authorities said Hayes removed the device and left his home Sunday. A tip from an undisclosed source helped deputies track him to a residence in Dawson County after the judge signed an incarceration order Monday, a spokeswoman for the Gwinnett County Sheriff's Department said.

Contacted by phone, Wanda Lee of Lee's Home Confinement said, "I'm not willing to participate in this conversation about one of my clients." Then she hung up.

Problems with ankle monitoring programs have caused headaches for several metro Atlanta counties in recent months.

In August, a 17-year-old murder suspect in Fulton County cut off his ankle monitor and left his Fairburn home. Police allege that before the teenager was recaptured he shot a woman in the face and beat her son. A former DeKalb County sheriff's deputy also escaped from house arrest in April, about a month after he was charged in the shooting deaths of his wife and a day laborer.

Hayes is charged with murder in the 2007 beating death of 55-year-old Lloyd Lee Harrison of Buford.

Hayes' defense attorney, John Steakley, said the judge acted reasonably in granting a bond because there were unusual circumstances surrounding Harrison's death. Harrison was treated and released from Gwinnett Medical Center shortly after he was assaulted. Two days later, Harrison inexplicably collapsed, lost consciousness and died.

Steakley said Hayes was not trying to flee when he cut off the ankle monitor and "he was willing to surrender to authorities if requested."

Hayes is being held without bond at the Gwinnett jail.