Police Seek Murderer After He Is Mistakenly Released

A convicted murderer was mistakenly released from custody because juvenile authorities failed to notify the Men’s Central Jail of the murder conviction, Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies said Sunday.

Authorities are seeking Juan Espino, 18, who was freed Wednesday after he was brought to court in an unrelated robbery case, only to have those charges dropped. “His custody records were free of any additional charges or warrants, and he was in fact legally released,” the Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.

The confusion leading to Espino’s release can be traced to his being a juvenile when he was convicted of murder in November. Deputies said they would not have details of that case until they can examine court records today .

Espino was held at Central Juvenile Hall after his conviction. A month later, he was brought into court to face robbery charges. By that time, however, he had turned 18 and was transferred from juvenile hall to the Men’s Central Jail.

For an unknown reason, deputies said, papers documenting Espino’s murder conviction did not go with him when he went to court on the robbery charge. “All knowledge of his murder conviction remained concealed within the juvenile justice system,” the Sheriff’s Department statement said.

After Espino had made several trips to court between December and last week, the robbery charges were dropped. With no records indicating that he should be held on the murder conviction, deputies said, he was released.

An anonymous caller contacted the Sheriff’s Department on Thursday, asking why it had released a convicted murderer, deputies said. It was only then that an investigation turned up the conviction.

Juvenile authorities could not be reached for comment Sunday.