Maryland's Innocence Project has freed another defendant.
The Baltimore Sun's court reporter, Tricia Bishop, reports today that prosecutors dropped murder conspiracy charges against Tyrone Jones 12 years after a jury convicted him in the killing of a 15-year-old boy. He's at left in the photo by The Sun's Kim Hairston, with his attorney Michele Nethercott in the background.
At the time, the jury acquitted him of murder but found him guilty of conspiracy, and a judge, though expressing his reluctance, sent him to prison for life. But the Innocence Project took up his cause and as Tricia reported found fatal flaws in the case.
A witness who identified Jones from a photo array had initially told police she didn't see any suspects. There was flawed testimony about the merits of a test for gunshot residue, which has been found to be less than reliable. And prosecutors had failed to disclose a police report with the witnesses original statement about never seeing any suspects.
At the time of his arrest, in June 1998, Jones had his clothes packed to return to a Texas community college. He had played football for Dunbar High School.