A Cobb County judge decided Wednesday that Raymond Franklin should serve a life sentence for two 1979 armed robberies only after he finishes his life sentence of a murder committed 10 days after he took a 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle at gunpoint.
“This is a bad case for everyone involved,” Superior Court Judge Lark Ingram said.
But, she continued, her decision was to go with the prosecutor’s punishment recommendation that Franklin get a life sentence “consecutive to the sentence he is now serving.”
Now this unusual case gets complicated, said both the defense attorney and the prosecutor.
Franklin, 53, is already serving a life sentence for the 1979 murder of Claude Collie. Franklin was charged with two armed robberies when he escaped the custody of Cobb County deputies on Jan. 17, 1979, and moments later killed Collie with a shot through the front door of Collie’s house and into the chest of the 72-year-old man.
Franlkin was convicted and sentenced to die for murdering Collie and the two armed robbery charges were put on the “dead docket.” Those cases remained in a state of suspension even after Franklin's murder conviction was overturned and he was retried, convicted a second time and sentenced to life in prison.
In 2006 Franklin was told he would be paroled but five days before he was to walk out of a Macon halfway house, District Attorney Pat Head revived the armed robbery cases and that parole decision was retracted. Head said he wanted to ensure Franklin was never freed. Since Franklin was indicted for the armed robberies soon after his initial arrest prosecutors had kept open the option to pursue him. The statute of limitations has no bearing.
“It’s a very unusual case,” defense attorney Jason Swindle said after the brief sentencing on Wednesday. “I’ve never seen a prosecutor bring a case this old … up for prosecution while the person is in prison for another case.”
Said Chief Assistant District Attorney Jesse Evans: “There were lots of twists and turns” and there are “still another couple of twists and turns” to come as the matter either moves to the appeals court or is reviewed by the Department of Corrections and the State Board of Pardons.
Evans said the victims of the armed robbery, including one of the deputies who had taken Franklin to a local dentist’s office that was the scene of the escape and the dental hygienist taken hostage, didn’t want to comment. But they are happy with Ingram’s decision, Evans said.
“They were terrified of the man,” Evans said. “They are keenly aware of how dangerous he was back then.”
Franklin’s family also declined to comment. Swindle said they were, of course, disappointed.
The major issue now is if and how the time Franklin has been in prison will be counted against his armed robbery sentence.
The rules that will be applied are the rules in effect 32 years ago. At that time, inmates sentenced to life in prison could be considered for parole after serving seven years.
Swindle and Evans both said they didn’t know if the time Franklin has spent in prison since the case was reopened would be taken into account or only the nine days he spent in the Cobb County Jail before he escaped and committed a murder.
“It’s entirely up to the Parole Board,” Evans said.
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