AWAITING THE ALL-CLEAR: FORMER FUGITIVE IS ONE SIGNATURE AWAY FROM TRUE FREEDOM

The last time Charles Edward Garrett was a free man, he really wasn't.

Now, a stroke of Gov. Rick Perry's pen is all that stands between Mr.
Garrett and real liberty ­ and this time, it would be legal.

"We've done all that we can do," said Richard A. Anderson, one of two
Dallas attorneys who represented Mr. Garrett. "We're just waiting on the
governor."

Mr. Garrett knows about waiting.

Mr. Garrett spent 28 years on the run after he was found guilty in 1970 of
possession of 2 grams of heroin, his first and only conviction. Before the
jury could return with its recommendation of life in prison ­ and while he
was free on bond ­ Mr. Garrett escaped.

During his years on the lam he apparently rehabilitated himself, had a
family and lived crime-free. Authorities captured him in 1998 in Dallas,
and he began serving his sentence in early 1999.

Kathy Walt, Mr. Perry's press secretary, acknowledged that Mr. Garrett's
request for clemency has reached the executive level and is under review by
the governor's general counsel. She said there is no timetable for the
governor to reach a decision.

The state Board of Pardons and Parole recommended in November that Mr.
Perry commute Mr. Garrett's sentence. The recommendation was backed by the
present judge of the court where his case was originally heard.

"He had rehabilitated himself, it would appear," said state District Judge
Harold Entz. "And what more would society expect? He paid his debt ... he
paid his taxes and he supported his family. How much more money do
taxpayers want to pay to support him the rest of his life?"

The Dallas County district attorney's office also boosted Mr. Garrett's
chances for clemency by not blocking his request.

"Our position was that we didn't oppose it," said First Assistant District
Attorney Mike Carnes. "Our position was that his remedy was always with the
Board of Pardons and Parole."

Judge Entz, Mr. Carnes and Mr. Anderson agree that one fact in particular
makes a commuted sentence practical. They noted that if Mr. Garrett were to
be convicted of the same crime today, his maximum sentence would be two
years in a state jail. He has already served three years in state prison.

"In 1970, the laws of the state of Texas were such that any amount of any
controlled substance carried a penalty range of two years to life in
prison," Mr. Anderson said. "You could have less than a joint in your
pocket and you get life in the penitentiary ­ with no prior record."

The getaway

As jurors deliberated Mr. Garrett's sentence in February 1970, the
defendant said he had to go to the bathroom. Instead, he jumped into his
car and started driving west. When he got to Weatherford in Parker County,
he boarded a bus bound for Los Angeles.

He adopted a new name and identity ­ Kowl Emil Williams, which was
suggested by a friend ­ and got a Social Security card, driver's license,
credit cards and a steady job. He quit drugs cold turkey and started living
right, Mr. Garrett said.

"When I left the courtroom that day, before that night I was a pretty sick
person" because of drug-withdrawal symptoms, Mr. Garrett said in a 1998
interview with The Dallas Morning News

"That's not something I'll do again. That's why I didn't get caught for 30
years."

Mr. Garrett left California after a few years, made a quick stop in Dallas,
then moved to Chicago, Detroit and New York before finally returning to
Dallas for good in 1984. Along the way, he married and also had several
children from other relationships.

When authorities found him in 1998 after a tip from an undercover officer,
he was working in the maintenance department at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. It was the end of a long run.

"I looked over my shoulder every day," Mr. Garrett said in that 1998
interview. "I didn't trust nobody."

Mr. Garrett could not be reached for comment this week, but in a recent
letter to The Dallas Morning News, he asked: "Why can't I get a pardon?
Like the newspaper heiress Ms. Patricia Hearst or Marc Rich."

Although Dallas County officials acknowledged that Mr. Garrett seemed to
have changed his life, there was nothing they could do to change his 1970
sentence.

"He received a fair hearing from Judge Entz, but Judge Entz followed the
law as he saw it," Mr. Anderson said. "The court of appeals was very
receptive, but their hands were tied as to the law. At that point, our only
avenue, really, was to seek a commutation of sentence."

A review

After Dallas County officials reviewed Mr. Garrett's request, the 18-member
Board of Pardons and Parole had to decide whether to send the matter to the
governor. Without the board's approval, Mr. Garrett's chances for clemency
would have been dashed.

But the board, in early November, recommended that the governor commute Mr.
Garrett's sentence.

At the time, George W. Bush was still governor and Mr. Garrett's supporters
were hopeful that one of his last official acts would be signing Mr.
Garrett's freedom papers.

"I was told that Governor Bush and his general counsel were going to act on
it before he left office," Mr. Anderson said. "Both I and the district
attorney's office received phone calls in December seeking more
information, so we really thought it would have been done by now."

Meanwhile, Mr. Garrett waits in his Huntsville cell.

And back in Dallas, Judge Entz seemed to sum up the beliefs of many.

"I don't support or endorse what he did," the judge said, "but I think the
ends of justice have been served."

Tracking Charles Garrett

1968 ­ Charles Garrett is arrested on heroin possession charges.

1970 ­ He is convicted but escapes before being sentenced to life in prison.

1984 ­ He returns to Dallas, where he lives under an alias.

1998 ­ He is arrested after a tip from an undercover police officer.

1999 ­ He begins serving his original life sentence.

2000 ­ The state Board of Pardons and Parole recommends commuting his
sentence.

2001 ­ The recommendation is under review by Gov. Rick Perry's staff.