The State - News from Aug. 9, 1989

Authorities are blaming a computer problem for allowing a convicted rock cocaine manufacturer to escape from Sacramento County Jail. Gregory Adams, already sentenced to five years in prison, was to appear in Municipal Court to respond to a Nevada fugitive warrant. But he never showed up because apparent misinformation fed into the jail’s computer caused Adams to be released. It happened this way: At his sentencing, the judge learned that Adams needed surgery. To permit it, he delayed until Sept. 5 the usual order calling for delivery of the convict to prison. Somewhere between the court and the jail, the stay of the judge’s “order” became a stay of Adams’ “commitment.” Sheriff’s Capt. Phil Murphy, the jail commander, said the new $1-million computer system is only as good as the data it receives from the people who feed it.