Jail escape attempt not a ‘prank’

BATON ROUGE, La. — An appeals court in Louisiana affirmed a drug offender’s conviction for simple escape after he was caught on camera breaking away from guards, scaling an interior fence, getting tangled in razor wire and getting caught by jailers inside the perimeter fence. He unsuccessful argued that, because he never got off the prison grounds, he should have been tried for the lesser offense of attempted escape. He also did not convince the court that his jailbreak was a prank meant to draw attention to his medical needs.