They say justice served swiftly is termed as Just-Ice, because feeling the warmth of compassion takes much longer than bluntly giving out decisions based on cold logic. But is that always the case?
In the year 1999, Richard Anthony Jones committed the crime of robbing a woman. He was arrested a year later after numerous witnesses testified against him. Ultimately, Jones was sentenced to 19 years of imprisonment. It wasn't until decades later when his ordeal was about to end, Jones discovered an eerie reality within the walls of the prison that changed the course of his life forever.
It was the summer of 1999, a white Prius was parked underneath a clear sky in the Wyandotte County of Kansas. Two friends were sitting inside the car, high on drugs. They were waiting for their third friend to return with a new stash since they were already running out of everything.
The boy got in the car with a disappointed look. He had failed in his endeavor. But he didn't let his friends sulk about it because there was still one more option left for them. He said his college friend knew a man who could hook them up with some excellent stuff.
He took out his phone and texted his friend to ask where they could meet the man. His friend told them that the man will be waiting for them in the alley next to an apartment. He sent the address of the apartment to the driver's phone and they were ready to hit the road.
As expected, the trio spotted the man standing in the alley. The driver pulled up the car in front of the alley and the man got in the front seat. The boys tried to introduce themselves to this stranger, but he was not interested in pleasantries. He stated it is not necessary to know his name to do business.
The man informed the trio that he didn't have any stock lying around but he can take them to a "friend" who can help. The already high and desperate boys agreed without hesitation. So the man guided them to a Walmart in Roeland Park, a city in Johnson County.
The man pointed to a spot where they could park their cars and meet this alleged supplier of his. The man held out his hand to the driver "$50", he stated flatly. The boys interacted with an uncomfortable look, they didn't have enough money for the deal. The man could sense the tension in the air. He let out a sigh and told them he will help them with the extra cash.
The lads in the car assumed that he has the extra cash on him but the man had some different plans altogether. He spotted a woman walking towards their car. He suspected her car must be the one they are parked next to. And before the trio could even fathom what is happening, the man got out of the car and commenced his attempt to steal her purse.
The trio exchanged a bewildered look with each other. And the alarming part was that the woman was putting up a fight and the man was still not letting go of the purse. People were catching up to the scene now and the boys did not want anything to do with this. So the driver stomped on the gas pedal and raced his car out of the parking lot, leaving the man behind.
When the man noticed that people were running towards them, he somehow managed to snatch her cellphone and escape the scene. The woman tried to get a glimpse of his face hidden behind the hood of his jacket, but she could barely make out his features. She ran inside Walmart and called the authorities.
The sirens from the Police cars echoed in the Walmart parking lot. The woman was being interrogated about the incident by a team of officers. Unfortunately, she could not describe the man in precise details because she could not catch a clear view of his face. And since her car was parked away from the Walmart entrance, the security camera did not catch his face either.
Despite getting no particular details about the man, the police began their investigation of the case. They began to compile the elements of his appearance from the eyewitnesses to create a criminal profile. According to the witnesses, the culprit is a man with thin built and has a head of dark hair.
Even though the officials found a bunch of eyewitnesses, the description of his race had a few discrepancies. Some claimed he is a black man with light skin, others claimed he is from the Hispanic origin and had dark skin. However, the officials decided that the former description was more reliable.
The police went around and browsed their database in an attempt to find pictures of men that resembled the culprit. It was a tedious process because the description given to them was not too precise and there were dozens of people who fit the description given to them by the eyewitnesses. But they knew, it is a start.
After months and months of searching and collecting data and photographs, the police finally had a list of suspects along with their pictures. They had tried to narrow it down to a few dozen but they were still a lot of photographs. They needed somebody who could be more precise and identify the man to narrow it down even further for them.
During their investigation, the officials managed to track down the driver of the car in which the culprit reached the crime scene. On interrogating the driver, he explained that he did not know the man well enough to even know his name. Regardless of the unfamiliarity, the police asked the boy to come down t0 the station and identify the man through a set of pictures.
The vast collection of photographs of the suspects was spread out on a table and the boy was asked to sit in front of it and take his time. The boy sat down and began to browse the pictures. His memory was slightly foggy since it has so many months since the incident took place. But after what seemed like hours, he pointed his finger to one photo.
The man whose photograph the driver pointed out goes by the name Richard Jones, a 25-year-old married man. The police immediately ran his name through their system to retrieve his details. They came to know his house is in Missouri, Kansas City. And finally, in April 2000, almost a year after the incident, they made an arrest.
The police called in the group of eyewitnesses next. They took out his photo and grouped it with a couple more pictures. Then they asked the witnesses to point out the man who looked just like the culprit. All of the witnesses took out Jones' photograph from the stack and recognized him as the culprit.
The trial for Richard Jones began almost immediately. The man pleaded for his innocence claiming that he was not in Wyandotte at the time of the incident. He was hosting a party with his wife and was busy cleaning up his home that night. But despite his reasoning, the court found him guilty because he had been recognized by all the witnesses.
In late 2000, Jones was found guilty of intensified robbery and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. It was the beginning of a tragic time for his family. He had to leave behind his wife and two daughters, one of whom was only 5 at that time.
Jones was sent to Lansing Correctional Facility which was about 25 miles northwest of Kansas City. His life was contained within the four walls of his cell. He had nothing to do but stare at them. The paint that has chipped off over the years or the markings chiseled in by other prisoners. He was slowly losing his mind trying to derive meaning from these dull gouged walls, anything to pass time.
Inside the dark brick walls of Lansing Correctional Facility, Richard Jones has aged more than 15 years on the clock. The man had long since forgotten what it feels like to breathe in the open air, or what freedom tastes like. His eyes were now dull and hollow, just like his soul has transformed in the past decade. Growing old in a prison will do that to you.
Jones was sitting in the common area when a fellow inmate approached him. "Hey I saw you in the cafeteria but you didn’t say hello to me man." A frown appeared on Jones' face. This was the third time this week when someone has made a remark like that. Curiosity got the better of him as he excused himself and ran to the cafeteria.
Jones made his way through the massive crowd of people in the cafeteria and almost stumbled in his steps when his eyes landed on...him. He could not believe his eyes. There was a man who looked almost identical to him eating his lunch by the window. It was as if all the missing pieces of a puzzle were finally landing in their place.
After doing some research in the library, Jones came across something called "The Innocence Project" which was an initiative run by the School of Law at the University of Kansas. This organization was established back in 1992 to achieve justice for the wrongfully convicted. Jones went ahead and registered himself for their assistance.
Once the team of The Innocence Project got to know the whole story, they immediately got down to work. And not much later, they managed to find a photograph of Jones' doppelganger along with a bunch of details about the man. His name was Rick Amos, and his resemblance to Jones was startling.
Amos was a resident of Roeland Park back in 1999. In fact, his house was very close to Walmart, where the crime scene took place. Apparently, he was evicted from his home way before the robbery took place but further investigation revealed that he moved in with his brother. And that address matched the address given to the lads in the car, where they picked up the man in the alley.
The most unbelievable part about the whole case was the uncanny resemblance between Jones and Amos. They could pass for being twins. Despite having no family connections, their faces were strangely identical to each other. When their photos were put side by side, people could see that they had so much in common.
They both weighed roughly 200 pounds and were six feet tall. And not only by features, but they were also similar by style too. They both wore cornrows and groomed their facial hair in the same goatee style. No wonder the witnesses confused Jones with Amos.
If the fact that the two looked like twins did not convince the court, the investigators were convinced that Rick Amos' criminal record will be enough to convince them that he is the real culprit. His criminal record was an extensive collection of robbery, theft plus currently he was serving time for sex offender charges. However, after so many years, he couldn't serve his time in prison in place of Jones.
Even though the court could not charge Amos with Jones' allegations, The Innocence Project team started to build a case to reverse Jones' wrongful conviction. Luckily, they were able to meet with the eyewitnesses who testified against Jones all those years ago. Since their statement was the key to the initial case, getting their testimony was crucial.
Once the witnesses saw both the photographs side by side, their faith in the former statement faded away. The investigators also got the victim's statement which said, "I am no longer certain I identified the right person at the preliminary hearing and trial. If I had seen both men at the time, I would not have felt comfortable choosing between the two men and possibly sending a man to prison."
Slowly, all the witnesses who testified against Jones withdrew their statements. The driver of the car who left the man behind said, "I remember having my doubts at trial. If I had been given these two pictures before trial, I would not have been able to tell them apart."
With the massive heap of evidence in support of Jones, the case was taken over by two new law students in the year 2016. Even though the prisoner's ordeal was about to end and his right to appeal was diminished by now, they were able to gather enough evidence to convince the court to reconsider. Ultimately, on June 7th, 2017, the initial case prosecutor John Cowles was summoned to testify at a new trial.
When the prosecutor reviewed the new evidence, he admitted that the previous judgment might have been wrong. He acknowledged that no reasonable jury would have sentenced Jones based on the evidence they have before them. As a result, after serving all but two years of his ordeal, Jones was released from prison the very next day.
Even though Jones was released two years early from prison, there was no denying the fact that he had lost precious time for something he did not do. His daughters are now grown up and he missed the birth of his grandchild. Nonetheless, his family was thrilled to have him back.
Jones' tragic case caught the attention of the national news. He appeared in various interviews, sharing his experience in prison and how difficult it was to stay away from his family. In an interview with ABC News, Jones said, "I hoped and prayed for this day to come and when it finally got here I was overwhelmed." It is not easy adjusting to life after spending nearly two decades behind bars.
Jones admitted to not sleeping well at night. The past 17 years have been nothing less than painful for him. The cold empty corridors and tiny claustrophobic cells still keep him up at night. He may have a warm bed to sleep in now, but it is going to take a long time for him to sleep peacefully. Of course, he is thankful that his family is there to help him through this difficult time.
People were touched by Jones' story and wanted to help him out. So people from all around the country initiated a funding campaign and raised over $16000 to help him to rebuild his life from scratch. Jones was overwhelmed at this gesture, saying that he had forgotten what kindness feels like.
A year after his release, Jones filed for compensation of $1.1 Million from the state of Kansas for wrongfully sentencing him for a crime he did not commit. He wished to use the money to get back on track in his life after being locked away for almost two decades. Amazingly, in just four months he was awarded the full amount along with healthcare benefits.
Jones felt immense gratitude to the group of law students from The Innocence Project who helped him in escaping the hell he was trapped in for 17 years. Surprisingly, Jones' case was not a rare one. There have been more than a few cases of wrongful conviction. In fact, to speed up the process, it is quite common for administrators to even nudge the witnesses in the direction of a suspect they find guilty.
According to The Innocence Project, DNA data has helped more than 360 cases of wrongful convictions in the United States alone. And among them, 70% were the cases of wrong identification by eyewitnesses. This itself proves how flawed this method of evidence is. Nevertheless, this method is still approved to put people behind the bars.
The Innocence Project has pointed out a bunch of methods by which this flawed system can be improved. For example, appointing only those administrators who have no previous knowledge of the case and ensuring that the suspect does not stand out from other members in the lineup. Plus, the witnesses should clarify how certain they are that they have identified the right man.
Currently, these amendments are only implemented in 24 states. This leaves out states like Kansas and Missouri who rely massively on eyewitness testimony even today. As a result, even though there was no solid evidence linking Jones to the crime, he was sentenced to prison.
The chance that Jones got, of getting out of jail and proving his innocence may not be available to everyone. There are still hundreds of prisoners who are suffering behind bars because of a crime they did not commit. And it is admirable that young law students like the ones at The Innocence Project have taken a step to change the flawed justice system.