Independence Day actor Randy Quaid and his wife Evi have been released from custody in Vermont, after a judge dismissed fugitive from justice charges against them.
Randy Quaid, 65, and his wife were taken into custody on October 9 by Vermont police while trying to enter the US from Canada.
They fled to Canada in 2010 after being charged with vandalism and squatting in a Santa Barbara property.
Randy and Evi Quaid denied the charges, claiming the property still belonged to them.
Judge Alison Arms had initially reduced bail for the couple from $500,000 each to $50,000, saying she could not find probable cause to support the vandalism accusations.
After a break, she decided to release them because of a discrepancy in dates in paperwork from California.
After they left the courthouse the Quaids said they will stay in Lincoln, Vermont, to care for Evi Quaid’s sick father and address the California charges.
“I never worried about being found guilty or any of that for any of these charges because I know the truth, and I know the facts are going to come out at some point, and today was a good sign of that,” Randy Quaid said.
Speaking outside court, Randy Quaid told reporters he spent his time in jail playing cribbage and Sudoko with three other older inmates.
Evi Quaid’s lawyer told the court that she had been threatened by another inmate who had left feces in her cell.
The Quaids were charged in 2010 with illegal occupation and vandalism of their former home in California. It was alleged the Quaids caused more than $5,000 in damages.
However, the couple claimed the Santa Barbara property still belonged to them.
Randy and Evi Quaid failed to appear in court and an arrest warrant for the couple was issued.
The couple headed to Canada where Randy Quaid requested refugee status, saying his life was in danger from Hollywood “star whackers”.
Evi Quaid, who has dual Canadian and US citizenship, told an immigration hearing how Randy had “known eight close friends murdered in odd, strange manners”, mentioning Heath Ledger and David Carradine.
Randy Quaid is best known for his roles in Brokeback Mountain, The Last Picture Show, Independence Day and National Lampoon’s Vacation, and for being the older brother of actor Dennis Quaid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pfbuoH3giGU
