A Texas judge decided not to keep a man in custody after he was convicted last week of aggravated assault. Now, the criminal is fleeing after failing to appear for the punishment part of his trial.
On March 28, a jury in Travis County quickly found 56-year-old Hai Vo guilty of raping a 24-year-old woman with cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy in January 2020. KVUE reported..
However, the Texas judge did not agree to keep him in custody before the punishment phase the following day.
Travis County DA José Garza expressed disappointment that the victim and their family have to wait for the defendant to be held accountable after securing his conviction.
Judge Bob Perkins, who chose not to put Vo in jail overnight, told KTBC. that Vo had appeared for all his other court hearings, so he saw no reason to think he wouldn’t come back to court on Friday.
Garza said, “When a defendant knows they are likely facing a long prison term, our concern is that the risk is higher that they might try to flee. That’s why we asked for this defendant to be held in custody.”
The jury sentenced the convicted criminal to 10 years in prison on Friday without his presence. An arrest warrant has been issued for him, and law enforcement is actively searching for him, according to the district attorney’s office.
[Featured image: Hai Vo/Travis County Sheriff’s Office]