Arizona Man Is Freed After 28 Years on Death Row
Wearing a T-shirt that read “Free Bird,” an Arizona man who spent nearly 28 years on death row was freed on Thursday after a judge overturned his conviction on charges that he had sexually assaulted and murdered his girlfriend’s 4-year-old daughter.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a bid by the man, Barry Jones, for relief. But his lawyers entered mediation with prosecutors, who agreed this month that the conviction should be overturned and that he should plead guilty to a lesser charge.
Mr. Jones’s lawyers had argued that he had been wrongfully convicted because his trial lawyer was ineffective and failed to uncover medical evidence that he was not responsible for the injuries that caused the death of the girl, Rachel Gray.
At a hearing on Thursday, an Arizona Superior Court judge overturned Mr. Jones’s conviction on charges of child abuse, sexual assault and felony murder, and vacated his death sentence.
Source: The New York Times
