SAN DIEGO -- Richard Tuite was able to escape from the downtown San Diego courthouse on the eve of his murder trial because a bailiff failed to secure his handcuffs correctly.

Video

TUITE'S CAPTURE Exclusive Video Of Tuite's Capture Exclusive Images Of Tuite's Capture Share Your Thoughts

Tuite's attorney, Brad Patton, told a Superior Court jury that Tuite was eating lunch Feb. 2 in an unused courtroom and asked that the handcuff locking him to a bench be switched from his right hand to his left, according to The San Diego Union-Tribune.

The change was made, but the cuff was not fully secured, the newspaper reported. Tuite removed the cuff, walked through the adjoining courtroom, tossed his lunch in the trash and walked out.

Prosecutors said Tuite tried to hide his face with his hand as he walked away, and that when he made eye contact with someone near the doorway, he ran, according to the Union-Tribune.

Tuite, on trial for the 1998 slaying of 12-year-old Stephanie Crowe of Escondido, was missing for about 3 1/2 hours after he fled. He was able to board two buses and was 10 miles away, in Clairemont, when he was recaptured.

The San Diego County Sheriff's Department has refused to release details of its findings about the escape, but prosecutors and defense attorneys in Tuite's trial have talked about the incident in court.