A man from Arizona was released from prison on Thursday after spending nearly three decades of incarceration for a crime that prosecutors agreed he did not commit.
Barry Lee Jones, now 64, was sentenced to death in 1995 after being convicted on charges of first-degree murder, sexual assault and three counts of child abuse in connection with the 1994 death of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter.
Prosecutors had previously claimed the girl was in Jones’ care when she died and that he was responsible for the internal traumatic injuries that caused her death.
However, a Pima County judge ordered for Jones to be released this week, after Jones accepted a plea deal for second-degree murder, that claimed reevaluated medical evidence proved Jones didn’t cause the girl’s injuries.
Jones did however, neglect to seek medical treatment for the girl the night before she died, despite knowing how sick she was feeling.
Jones and his legal team stated that his court-appointed lawyer at the time had failed to investigate and provide medical findings that argued against the prosecution’s timeline.
“Our new medical evidence established that that injury could have been three, four, five, days old maybe even up to a week old,” retired investigator Andrew Sowards said.
In 2018, both the federal district court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed he was entitled to a new trial.
But in 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ignored its own precedent and ruled against Jones, saying federal courts didn’t have the power to review the case, even with proof of innocence.
While Jones was still on death row, the Arizona Attorney General conducted an independent investigation of the case, and shortly after, the office decided to overturn his conviction and reach an agreement with Jones’ attorneys.
“After almost 30 years on death row for a crime he did not commit, Barry Jones is finally coming home,” federal public defender Cary Sandman said in a statement. “Mr. Jones spent nearly three decades on Arizona’s death row despite compelling evidence that he was innocent of charges that he had fatally assaulted Rachel Gray.”
“We hope that Barry can enjoy the rest of his life in peace, surrounded by his family and friends,” Sandman added.
