Crazy News: Defendant Bolts

Shocking news moments ago from the Wise County courthouse. In the case I have been following (see below), the jury announced they had reached a verdict --- but during the break before they could be brought back into open court, the defendant, James Carroll Franklin, 47, of Azle, bolted from the building during a bathroom break. Here's the kicker: the verdict was for six years to do BUT WITH THAT SENTENCE PROBATED! Yep, the guy took off when he would have been free to go home any way. The verdict had been reached, so that's a done deal. The cops caught the Defendant out on 730 and he's in the Wise County Jail tonight. He'll be brought up to the courthouse tomorrow morning at 10:00 for sentencing and, you guessed it, he'll get probation -- no one has any other choice. (But the judge can hit him with a bunch of conditions including 180 days in jail.) This is bizarre. And there really isn't an "escape" charge that he can be hit with because he wasn't in custody during the trial. Developing.