SACRAMENTO, March 25 (UPI) -- Corrections officials in California traced the clerical error that led to the mistaken release of Sara Jane Olson to a 2005 update of her prison file.
The former Symbionese Liberation Army member was released from prison March 17 but was taken back into custody less than a week later when it was realized that she still had a year of her sentence to serve.
Olson, who was known as Kathleen Soliah during her SLA days, was sentenced to multiple prison terms for her role in a killing and a plot to bomb Los Angeles police cars. The SLA was also responsible for the kidnapping of heiress Patty Hearst.
The Los Angeles Times said two years had mistakenly been trimmed from the sentence when Olson's file was being updated. The case records employee apparently made the error while going through a complex transcription of a hearing on converting Olson's case to a new formula for determining sentence reductions.
The clerks' union told the Times that the new system requires better training and technology for the people who keep prisoner records.
