Dear Judge: Please don’t judge me on my courthouse escape

Murder suspect Dayonte Resiles escaped custody on July 15 from the Broward County courtroom 4810, the legal domain of Judge Raag Singhal.

Resiles doesn’t want Singhal to take the escape personally. After all, he desired exoneration more than escape.

At least, that’s what Resiles wrote in a August letter to Singhal. The jurist now sits as the judge not only in Resiles’ capital homicide case and all five pending second-degree felony cases, but also the escape case.

Mostly, Resiles asked “for you to please judge me fairly. I don’t want you to be bias towards me because of the escape.”

Just the eight felonies he’s charged with connected with the escape could result in 15 to 50 years of prison time for Resiles, who apologized for the action. The Broward Sheriff’s Office, with help from Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, found Resiles five days later at a West Palm Beach Days Inn — 50 miles from the courthouse.

Resiles wrote, “When I escaped, my whole reason was to gather enough info on my case to prove my innocence. As you can see, I didn’t commit any crimes, hurt anyone or go far.”

Parts of the letter complimented Singhal as a lawyer, judge and his fairness toward black inmates. Resiles’ letter reached Singhal days after George Odom, defense attorney for accused Resiles accomplice Kretron Barnes, filed a motion for Singhal to recuse himself from Barnes’ case as a possible witness.

Singhal rejected that motion. Odom refiled it and included Singhal on the list of defense witnesses.

This story was originally published September 22, 2016 at 8:51 AM with the headline "Dear Judge: Please don’t judge me on my courthouse escape."