A parole officer recommended a revocation hearing for an eight-time parole absconder eight days before the death of a Fayetteville teenager the parolee is accused of killing, an e-mail shows.
But Darrell Dennis’ parole was not revoked until June 5, two weeks after his May 22 arrest in the May 10 shooting death of Forrest Abrams, 18.
According to a Department of Community Correction e-mail, Dennis’ parole officer requested a revocation hearing for Dennis, who reportedly had racked up 14arrests and 10 new felony charges since leaving prison in late 2008. Dennis was paroled after serving less than a third of a 60-year sentence for aggravated robbery.
Dennis, 47, was arrested on May 1 and booked at the Pulaski County jail on his seventh absconder warrant.
On May 2, the parole officer, Debra James, e-mailed a supervisor, Jim Cheek, asking that a parole revocation hearing be scheduled for Dennis before the Board of Parole.
Listing summaries of Dennis’ parole violations, including a domestic-battery arrest as well as one of two drug arrests, James wrote:
“He should have gone to his [revocation] hearing previously and didn’t because he claimed Act 3, was released and no one looked closer to see that he should be rescheduled. This officer formally requests a hearing for this offender.”
Act 3 refers to a provision in state law that requires a mental evaluation on a criminal suspect to determine if he is fit to stand trial. Once a suspect asks for an Act 3 hearing, the court and parole processes can drag out for months, Community Correction officials say.
James declined to be interviewed about the Dennis case but confirmed that she had sent the e-mail to Cheek.
Dennis had been scheduled for a revocation hearing in August 2010, several months after a second drug arrest at his residence, but according to agency records, he never showed up for it and an absconder warrant was issued for his arrest.
Dennis had asked for Act 3 hearings in both of his drug cases. He eventually withdrew the requests last December, and he has yet to go to trial on his years-old drug charges.
Four days after James’ request, Cheek responded to her e-mail, saying that “Per [Assistant] Director [of parole/probation] [Damian] McNeal. We will send Dennis to [a technical violators center]. Thanks. Please schedule Dennis for [a conference with parole administrators]. Thanks.”
On May 8, Dennis, who was in jail on a parole hold, met with an area assistant parole manager, Violet Renee, to discuss his “goals and decision making.” Renee reportedly told him that he would have to go to a technical violators center. Such centers are where parole violators can be sent for 60-90 days instead of back to prison.
Renee also reportedly told him that he needed to meet with James within 24 hours so she could “serve his paperwork.”
Dennis was released from his parole hold and from the Pulaski County jail later that night.
According to parole records, he never showed up for the meeting with James.
Early on May 10, police found Abrams’ body at West 11th and South Woodrow streets in Little Rock.
Rhonda Sharp, a spokesman for the Department of Community Correction, said she didn’t know whether Dennis would have remained in jail if he had been scheduled for a revocation hearing. She said she was not familiar with James’ e-mail to Cheek and that most such requests are filed into the agency’s electronic system.
As of Friday night, Sharp’s office had yet to fulfill a Freedom of Information Act request for more e-mails sent or received by James concerning Dennis.
When asked why James’ e-mail wasn’t included with other e-mails released to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette under a previous Freedom of Information Act request for any correspondence discussing Dennis’ case, she said she was not aware of James’ e-mail.
James’ request for a revocation hearing, among other actions and correspondence, will be discussed at a special Board of Corrections meeting Monday, according to board chairman Benny Magness.
“We’ll have a meeting Monday to go over the status of the investigation, but I don’t have any comments right now,” Magness said last week. “I’m aware of the e-mails. That will be part of this status review.”
On June 17, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette published an article detailing 4 1/2 years of new arrests and parole violations racked up by Dennis.
That same day, Gov. Mike Beebe met with Community Correction director David Eberhard and announced that his office would review Dennis’ case and other policies or procedures within the state’s parole system. Beebe cited the newspaper article for calling his attention to the parolee’s history.
Days later, the Arkansas State Police launched an administrative investigation into Dennis’ case and others with similar circumstances, according to state police spokesman Bill Sadler.
The Legislature’s Joint Performance Review Committee also has requested records and correspondence in Dennis’ case and plans to meet in July to discuss the case as well as other issues facing the state’s parole system.
On June 21, the Board of Corrections announced six immediate policy mandates, including automatic parole revocation hearings for parolees who amass any new felony charges, and fewer absconder violations that can be accrued before a parolee must appear at a revocation hearing.
Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor’s office is aware of James’ e-mail and that it is a part of the “chronology” of events his office is reviewing.
“That’s one example that will be looked at especially closely,” DeCample said. “I think it’s one piece of what you have to look at, what opinions people have expressed or what actions people have taken or not taken, and what caused the results that we see or don’t see.”
Sen. David Sanders, R-Little Rock, who is a member of the Joint Performance Review Committee and has been a vocal critic of the state’s parole system, said the e-mail exchange is a part of his committee’s review, as well. He said he thinks the parole agency isn’t decisive enough when it comes to revocation hearings.
“I think that’s standard operating procedure over there because they clearly have an interest in not revoking people, they want to send them to a [technical violators center], which increasingly, is nothing more than a slight slap on the wrist,” Sanders said. “I think it’s inadequate. I think that needs to be revisited.”
Although his parole was revoked June 5, Dennis remained in the Pulaski County jail Saturday awaiting transfer to prison.
Police are still looking for two men suspected of being with Dennis during Abrams’ abduction, robbery and slaying.
Homicide detectives said they are looking for two black men in their late teens to mid-20s, one of whom is dark skinned and goes by “Lil E.”
They are known to travel in a 1987-to-1993-era sky-blue Buick Century that has a “loud exhaust pipe” and frequents the area of Asher Avenue and Maple Street, police said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 06/30/2013