POSTED: 5:50 p.m. PDT July 21, 2003

Chris Halsne
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Investigative Reporter

An exclusive KIRO Team 7 Investigation exposes flaws in a state prison program that lets sick inmates go free.

TEAM 7 INVESTIGATION Inmate Too 'Injured' To Serve Prison Time

Because of our investigation, a convicted killer is now back serving hard time.

The man was supposed to be behind bars for vehicular homicide, but we found him spending the early summer months enjoying life at home. Our tough questions -- and hidden camera video -- forced the Department of Corrections to make some quick changes.

Video

Prisoner Set Free On Medical Furlough

A King County judge ordered Michael Sipin to serve three years behind bars for killing another man during a drunken driving accident. After just two months, the Department of Corrections let Sipin go home on what's called a "medical furlough."

After we aired exclusive videotape of Sipin playing with his dogs and seeding his lawn, prison doctors had a change of heart. They rearrested the felon and returned him to total confinement at the Monroe Correctional Complex.

Laura Taylor's husband died when Sipin had too much to drink, then crashed a sports car. The widow is glad the state has put Sipin back in a cell.

"It was pretty obvious to them from your tape that the system had been maligned and somebody was lying, somebody was faking, something was going on very strange," Taylor said.

D.O.C. doctors didn't want to go on camera about Sipin's case. However, after reviewing our video, Medical Director Dr. Marc Stern faxed us a statement, saying:

"The D.O.C. conducted a re-evaluation of Mr. Sipin's program participation and determined he no longer met the medical qualifications, Stern said. "His participation is revoked."

KIRO Team 7 Investigators did some digging into the prison medical furlough program. Statistically, it's not used much.

State records show about 10 inmates a year get to leave prison, usually for a hospice or home health care setting. A third die within a year. Releasing the inmates has saved the state $190,000 since July, 1999.

Laura Taylor says saving money is important, but so is justice for victims' families.

"I just wanted to thank you all for what you did. That was wonderful. It certainly had an effect on the Department of Corrections. They re-looked at everything," Taylor said.

Micheal Sipin's attorney says his client is not faking it. He is, in fact, still gravely injured from the drunk driving crash.

The Department of Corrections tells us it has reevaluated a number of medical furlough procedures because of our story. That agency however won't tell us what, if any, changes it has made to the program.