Public defender of forged-document prison escapee says charging client would be pointless

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Two convicted killers used forged documents to walk out of prison in a case that captured national attention.

His attorney said it would be a waste of time for Charles Walker to stand trial for that escape.

The mistaken release of Joseph Jenkins and Walker led to changes in how state corrections officials and local clerks of court operate.

There are still unanswered questions about how the men learned to make the forged documents and if they got help from the outside.

Walker hasn't been charged with escape yet, but his attorney said he's not ruling out a plea deal in exchange for cooperation.

Escaped murderers Jenkins and Walker met in 2000 when they shared a two-man cell at the Orange County jail for about four months.

Thirteen years later the two men are accused of using similar forgery schemes to get out of Franklin Correctional Institution, where they both were supposed to stay for life.

Jenkins is charged with escape. Walker's lawyer said there's no point in charging him.

"Best-case scenario is they get a sentence and they run it consecutively but you can't serve more than one life sentence," Walker's defense attorney Sean Wagner said.

Wagner said taxpayers wouldn't just be paying for the prosecution but also the defense, because Walker has no money.

He said the motive behind prosecuting his client could be to divert attention away from the government employees who let him out.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said it's investigating all of it, and said a gang of inmates at Franklin was teaching others the forgery scheme.

WFTV