Fulton Jail Woes Mount
Rap Video, Inmate Escape Has Raised Questions
Posted: 5:47 am EDT June 18, 2004Updated: 5:02 pm EDT June 18, 2004
ATLANTA -- The Fulton County sheriff's department was trying to determine Friday how a woman who was wearing a nurse's uniform was able to escape from the Fulton County Jail undetected even as an unauthorized rap music video was being filmed inside. Cara Williams, who was being booked, got out Thursday night by going through a door used by jail employees. She was later recaptured about six hours later at a gas station.
Lt Clarence Huber, who initially denied that a video was being filmed, confirmed to Channel 2 Action News later that it was occurring while the woman escaped. The video shoot was unauthorized and it was not clear who gave permission for it to be filmed inside the county facility."There are a lot of unanswered questions here," Huber said. "The sheriff will be asking some of those questions."Fulton County Sheriff Jackie Barrett said she had no idea a rap video was being filmed inside her jail. Deputies apparently allowed "four or five" men up to the seventh floor with a hand-held camcorder, Barrett said. They filmed Harris and other inmates, then left with the camcorder and video. "I am very bothered about it. For the deputies involved, discipline will be meted out as quickly as we can," Barrett told reporters late Friday.
The rapper, who served time in the Fulton County Jail previously, is now in the nearby Cobb County Jail on a work release program, said Cobb County Chief Deputy Sheriff Lynda Coker. He was checked into Cobb County's facility on March 31 on a probation violation stemming from a 1997 drug charge, Coker said. He was sentenced in April to one year. Harris requested a leave from jail on Monday to film "an introduction to his show," Coker said, and he told Cobb County he would be shooting the film at the Fulton County Jail. "We felt that the Fulton County Jail was not an inappropriate destination for him to be," Coker said on the request being approved. It was not immediately clear what the show was or what the film would be used for. Harris reported back at the Cobb County Jail at 6 a.m. Friday, she said. Harris' second album, "Trap Muzik," was a best-seller on the charts last year. The best-known song from that album, "Rubber Band Man," includes the lyric, "Call me trouble man/ always in trouble man." Harris' first album, "I'm Serious," was released in 2001. An Atlantic Records spokesman for the rapper did not immediately return calls for comment. Barrett insisted the video shoot didn't help Williams escape. Williams was being processed on a probation violation and was already wearing blue scrubs when she entered the jail.
"They were absolutely not related," Barrett said.It was unclear how far away Williams was from the video shoot. Huber promised those details would be disclosed later.Williams, 23, was wearing blue scrubs and a white shirt when she was brought to the jail on a probation violation. As a deputy was accompanying her and eight other women who were being taken to the area where inmates are dressed in prison garb, Williams slipped down a staff corridor to a section where civilian employees enter and leave, officials said. "Because she was dressed in hospital scrubs, the deputy on duty assumed she was a staff member and didn't think anything of it," Huber said. Acting on a tip, police recaptured Williams around 2 a.m. Friday morning. Williams is the latest in a number of escapes and accidental releases from the jail in recent months. It also comes after a monitor released a report last week saying conditions at the jail were becoming increasingly dangerous and unhealthy because of crowding and inadequate security. Fulton County Chairwoman Karen Handel, who has long been critical of Barrett, blasted the sheriff for not knowing a rap video was being filmed in the 3,200-inmate jail. "You're going to have a video crew roaming around the jail? I don't understand why that was even remotely considered," Handel said. "I don't care whether she knew or didn't know. The buck stops with her, and this should've been an automatic 'No."'Channel 2 Action News reporter David Bodden contributed to this report.
The rapper, who served time in the Fulton County Jail previously, is now in the nearby Cobb County Jail on a work release program, said Cobb County Chief Deputy Sheriff Lynda Coker. He was checked into Cobb County's facility on March 31 on a probation violation stemming from a 1997 drug charge, Coker said. He was sentenced in April to one year. Harris requested a leave from jail on Monday to film "an introduction to his show," Coker said, and he told Cobb County he would be shooting the film at the Fulton County Jail. "We felt that the Fulton County Jail was not an inappropriate destination for him to be," Coker said on the request being approved. It was not immediately clear what the show was or what the film would be used for. Harris reported back at the Cobb County Jail at 6 a.m. Friday, she said. Harris' second album, "Trap Muzik," was a best-seller on the charts last year. The best-known song from that album, "Rubber Band Man," includes the lyric, "Call me trouble man/ always in trouble man." Harris' first album, "I'm Serious," was released in 2001. An Atlantic Records spokesman for the rapper did not immediately return calls for comment. Barrett insisted the video shoot didn't help Williams escape. Williams was being processed on a probation violation and was already wearing blue scrubs when she entered the jail.
"They were absolutely not related," Barrett said.It was unclear how far away Williams was from the video shoot. Huber promised those details would be disclosed later.Williams, 23, was wearing blue scrubs and a white shirt when she was brought to the jail on a probation violation. As a deputy was accompanying her and eight other women who were being taken to the area where inmates are dressed in prison garb, Williams slipped down a staff corridor to a section where civilian employees enter and leave, officials said. "Because she was dressed in hospital scrubs, the deputy on duty assumed she was a staff member and didn't think anything of it," Huber said. Acting on a tip, police recaptured Williams around 2 a.m. Friday morning. Williams is the latest in a number of escapes and accidental releases from the jail in recent months. It also comes after a monitor released a report last week saying conditions at the jail were becoming increasingly dangerous and unhealthy because of crowding and inadequate security. Fulton County Chairwoman Karen Handel, who has long been critical of Barrett, blasted the sheriff for not knowing a rap video was being filmed in the 3,200-inmate jail. "You're going to have a video crew roaming around the jail? I don't understand why that was even remotely considered," Handel said. "I don't care whether she knew or didn't know. The buck stops with her, and this should've been an automatic 'No."'Channel 2 Action News reporter David Bodden contributed to this report.Copyright 2005 by WSBTV.com. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.












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