Did Filing Error Free L.A. Murder Suspect?

A newspaper reports a man charged with killing a 17-year-old girl in Los Angeles may have been free because of a clerical error that misstated his criminal record.

The Los Angeles Times reported Monday on its Web site that authorities did not know that Charles Samuel was eligible to be prosecuted under the state's three-strikes law when he was convicted of burglary in San Bernardino County in 1997.

The Times says a San Bernardino County district attorney's official said he believed prosecutors would have filed the burglary charge as a third strike had Samuel's "rap sheet" properly shown that he had previous convictions that counted as two strikes rather than one.

Under the three-strikes law, offenders convicted of a third strike face a minimum prison sentence of 25 years to life.

Samuel is charged with the murder, kidnapping and robbery of Lily Burk.