Homeless Witness Gets Shafted

In Pennsylvania: Homeless man who witnessed murder under house arrest.

A homeless man who witnessed a murder was jailed and placed in a house arrest program, despite not committing a crime, to ensure his safety and participation in court proceedings, officials said.

Randy Barr, who had been staying with friends for most of the last two years, is the only witness to the July 6 murder of James R. Leepier. He called 911 after Leepier's throat was slashed during an argument with another homeless man, Harvey Hoover, Barr said.

Why?

Barr is being held under a little-used Pennsylvania criminal procedure rule that allows witnesses to be jailed if a judge believes they will not show up when subpoenaed for court and cannot make bail. Barr was jailed for just over four weeks before being moved to a house arrest program earlier this month.

But it's not so bad. He's allowed to go outside for two hours each day -- as long as he stays in the yard. But...

He was fitted with an electronic monitoring bracelet, must check in with house arrest officials once a week, submit to random drug tests and pay $10 a day for the program.

Shown here is a random electronic monitoring bracelet. It may or may not be like the one worn by Randy Barr.