Sentencing Put Off for Pullum

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge delayed sentencing Wednesday for Kevin Jerome Pullum, the man convicted of attempted murder who escaped from Los Angeles County Jail on July 6 and eluded police for 16 days.

Pullum, who had been scheduled to be sentenced last week, was on the lam at the time. He was finally recaptured on Sunday.

On Wednesday, Pullum told Judge John S. Fisher that he now has an attorney handling his case; he had been representing himself in the attempted murder case.

The attorney, Dermot Givens, said he will examine the court records and interview Pullum to determine whether he can seek a reduction in Pullum’s sentence. Pullum faces up to life in prison under three-strikes sentencing rules. Givens hopes to persuade the judge that the Sheriff’s Department mistakenly released Pullum. A sentencing hearing was set for Aug. 30.

“Our position is that he was released from custody--not that he escaped,” Givens said after the brief hearing in Van Nuys Superior Court. Three things could have occurred, Givens said: Either Pullum was officially released; he was able to leave jail because of negligence by the Sheriff’s Department; or he “is the greatest magician since Houdini.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Jane Winston, however, said it is clear that Pullum escaped, especially since the department has security camera videotape showing him leaving with what appears to be a fake badge around his neck.

“The D.A.’s position is that there is no possible way he was released from custody,” Winston said after the hearing. “That would be a ridiculous defense.”

Winston said she was “shocked and amazed” that Pullum had escaped and that she is glad he is back in custody.

Security in the courtroom was unusually tight on Wednesday. Five deputies were posted in the room and another scanned those entering for weapons. Pullum’s feet were chained and he was handcuffed. He was dressed in an orange and blue jail outfit.

“This [escape] was unusual, certainly,” Winston said. “It took a great deal of planning on Mr. Pullum’s part.”

Pullum is due to return Aug. 3 to a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for a hearing on a felony escape charge.

Pullum walked out of Twin Towers Jail after being returned from the Van Nuys court where he was convicted in the May 1999 attempted murder. He apparently wore street clothes under his jail uniform, which he dumped in an unguarded tunnel between the Inmate Reception Center and Twin Towers. He left through an employee exit, apparently wearing a fake badge with a picture of Eddie Murphy from “Dr. Doolittle 2” on it.

Pullum spent his 16 days of freedom mostly on the streets, hanging out with transients. He was apprehended by Los Angeles police officers Sunday afternoon in downtown’s skid row area, where they had noticed him sitting on a milk crate and attempting to sell beer to transients.

His attorney said Pullum complained that he was injured by sheriff’s deputies since his arrest Sunday. Givens refused to provide details except to say that the Sheriff’s Department has refused to allow Pullum to see a doctor.

Capt. Richard Adams, who oversees Men’s Central Jail, said he had not heard that Pullum was injured. But after being contacted by The Times, he said Pullum had been checked by a doctor Wednesday afternoon. He appeared to have a blister on his foot, Adams said, but he was claiming he was stepped on.

The department had a lieutenant and a sergeant present when Pullum was booked Sunday and a deputy videotaped the entire process. No injuries to the inmate were reported, Adams said.

The Sheriff’s Department is conducting an internal investigation into Pullum’s escape.