[ad_1]
A man who spent 17 years in prison for crimes committed by a look-alike has been granted a settlement of $ 1.1 million by the state of Kansas.
Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt announced Wednesday that he had agreed to a resolution with Richard Jones, who had been jailed in 2000 for a robbery he had not committed.
Jones was convicted of attempting to steal a purse from the parking lot of a WalMart in Roeland Park, Kansas, in 1999. There was no material evidence, DNA or fingerprints linking him to crime, and he had an alibi – – He was at his girlfriend's in Kansas City.
Police document He was released last year after the Midwest Innocence Project and the University of Kansas Law School contributed to the discovery of the wrongful conviction. A judge ordered him to be released after witnesses, including the robbery victim, could not tell him and another inmate of the system, Ricky Amos, aside.
Amos and Jones are close-knit, have the same complexion, the same hair and the same skin. Amos has denied any involvement in the crime and will not be prosecuted as the statute of limitations for the crime has expired.
"I was hoping and praying every day for this day to come, and when it finally arrived, it was an overwhelming feeling," Jones told ABC News last year.
John Cowles, the original attorney, who is now a defense lawyer, told ABC News last year that Jones' conviction rested "solely on the identification of eyewitnesses ".
"I realized that we had very sadly condemned the bad man," Cowles said. "We talked to the audience and he was grateful and wished him good luck."
According to the Attorney General's Office, Jones' case was the first to be resolved under a new misdemeanor law that came into effect earlier this year. Two others filed lawsuits for wrongful conviction.
In addition to compensation, Jones obtained a certificate of innocence, counseling, authorization to participate in the public health care benefits program for the 2019 and 2020 plan years, and the records of his arrest and conviction were set aside and all associated biological samples were removed. with his wrong conviction are ordered destroyed, according to the Attorney General's Office.
"We are determined to faithfully enforce the new law passed by the legislature on convictions by mistake," said Schmidt. "In this case, the existing file was able to quickly resolve all problems, meet all the requirements of the law and accept that result so that Mr. Jones could enjoy the benefits to which he was entitled under the law because he had been convicted by mistake. . "
Matt Foster and Nicole Pelletiere of ABC News contributed to this report.
Source link
