Good Lifestyle

The plan

The guys of the car assumed that he has extra money on him, but the man had different plans. He spotted a woman walking towards her car. He suspected that his car must be the one they are parked next door. And even before the trio can even understand what's going on, the man came out of the car and started his attempt to steal his handbag.

Aggressive

The trio exchanged a disconcerted aspect with each other. And the alarming part was that the woman wore a fight and the man still did not go from hand. People caught the scene now and the boys did not want to do anything with this. So the driver trampled on the gas pedal and ran his car out of the car park, leaving the man behind.

Leave

When man noticed that people ran to them, he managed to get away from his mobile phone and escape the scene. The woman tried to have a glimpse of her face hidden behind the cap of her jacket, but she could barely distinguish her features. She ran inside Walmart and called the authorities.

No idea

The sirens of police cars echoed the Walmart parking. The woman was questioned about the incident by a team of officers. Unfortunately, she could not describe the man in specific details because she could not catch a clear view of her face. And as his car was parked at the Walmart entrance, the security camera did not catch his face either.

Investigate the case

Despite obtaining any particular details about man, the police began to investigate the case. They started compiling the elements of its appearance of eyewitnesses to create a criminal profile. According to the witnesses, the culprit is a slim man constructed and has a black hair head.

Incoherent description

Even if the officials found a pile of eyewitnesses, the description of his breed had some differences. Some said he is a black man with light skin, others claimed that he comes from the Hispanic origin and had a dark skin. However, the officials decided that the previous description was more reliable.

Search in the database

The police faced and traveled his database to try to find images of men who looked like the culprit. It was a tedious process because the description given to them was not too precise and there were dozens of people who correspond to the description given to them by eyewitnesses. But they knew, it's a start.

Vast collection

After months and months of research and collection of data and photographs, the police finally had a list of suspects with their images. They had tried to reduce it to a few dozen, but they were still many photographs. They needed someone who could be more accurate and identifying man to reduce it even further for them.

The driver

During their investigation, the officials managed to find the driver of the car in which the culprit reached the scene of the crime. On interviewing the driver, he explained that he did not know the man enough well to even know his name. Regardless of the mortgage, the police asked the boy to go down to the station and identify the man through a set of pictures.

Identify the culprit

The vast collection of suspect photographs spread on a table and the boy was invited to sit in front of and take his time. The boy sat down and started browsing the pictures. His memory was slightly misty because it was so much that the incident took place. But after what seemed like hours, he pointed his finger on a picture.

Richard Jones

The man whose photography emphasized the driver by name Richard Jones, a 25-year-old married man. The police immediately ran his name through their system to recover his details. They learned to know his house are in Missouri, the city of Kansas. And finally, in April 2000, almost a year after the incident, they made an arrest.

Eyewitness

The police called in the eyewitness group. They came out his picture and grouped him with a couple of more photos. Then they asked the witnesses to emphasize the man who looked like the culprit. All the witnesses took out the photo of Jones of the battery and recognized it as the culprit.

The trial

The trial for Richard Jones started almost immediately. The man pleaded for his innocence claiming that he was not in Wyandotte at the time of the incident. He welcomed a party with his wife and was busy cleaning his house that night. But despite his reasoning, the Court found him guilty because he had been recognized by all the witnesses.

Imprisonment

By the end of 2000, Jones was convicted of an intensified flight 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, of whom only one at that time.

Life in prison

Jones was sent to the Lansing correctional facility located about 25 miles northwest of Kansas City. His life was contained in the four walls of his cell. He had nothing to do but look at them. The paint that has chicken over the years or brands chiseled by other prisoners. He slowly lost his mind by trying to derive from the meaning of these dull gougé walls, everything for spending time.

15 years later. . .

Inside Lansing's dark correctional brick walls, Richard Jones aged more than 15 years on the clock. The man had long forgotten what it looks like to breathe in the open air, or what freedom tastes like. His eyes were now boring and hollow, just as his soul turned over the last decade. Aging in a prison will do you that.

Interaction

Jones was sitting in the common area when an inmate's comrade approached him. "Hey I saw you in the cafeteria but you did not say hello to me man." A frown frown appeared on the face of Jones. It was the third time this week when someone made a comment like that. Curiosity had the best of him while he apologizes and ran to the cafeteria.

The DoppelGanger

Jones made a way through the massive crowd of cafeteria people and almost stumbled into her walks when her eyes landed ... him. He could not believe his eyes. There was a man who looked almost identical to him to eat his lunch through the window. It was as if all the missing pieces of a puzzle finally land in their place.

The Innocence Project

After searching for the library, Jones appeared on something called "The Innocence Project", which was an initiative managed by the school of law at the University of Kansas. This organization was established in 1992 to reach justice for the wrong sentence. Jones went forward and registered for their help.

Work

Once the innocence project team has learned to know the whole story, they immediately dropped to work. And not much later, they managed to find a photo of Doppelganger Jones with a lot of detail about the man. His name was Rick Amos and his resemblance with Jones was surprising.

Expulsion?

Amos was a resident of Roeland Park in 1999. In fact, his house was very close to Walmart, where the crime scene took place. Apparently, he was expelled from his home before the flight had taken place, but a more in-depth investigation revealed that he went with his brother. And this address corresponds to the address indicated to the guys of the car, where they picked up the man in the driveway.

twins

The most incredible part on the whole thing was the strangely similarity between Jones and Amos. They could pass to be twins. Despite no family connection, their faces were strangely identical to each other. When their photos have been set side by side, people could see that they had so much in common.

Identical style

They both weighed about 200 pounds and were six feet high. And not only by features, but they were also similar by style too. They both wore the corner and neat their face of the face in the same goat style. No wonder the witnesses confused Jones with Amos.

Criminal record

If the fact that the two resembled twins would not convince the Court, the investigators were convinced that the criminal record of Rick Amos will be sufficient to convince them that he is the true culprit. His criminal record was a vast collection of robbery, more now, he served sex offender fees. However, after so many years, he could not serve his time in prison instead of Jones.

Affair

Although the court could not load AMOS with the allegations of Jones, the innocence project team started building a case to reverse the unfair condemnation of Jones. Fortunately, they were able to meet the eyewitnesses who testified against Jones, all these years ago. Since their statement was the key to the initial case, getting their testimony was crucial.

New testimony

Once the witnesses have seen the photographs side by side, their faith in the previous declaration has fainted. The investigators also obtained the declaration of the victim who said: "I am no longer certain that I identified the right person at the hearing and preliminary trial. If I had seen the two men at the time, I would not feel comfortable choosing between the two men and possibly sending a man to prison. "

The driver's statement

Slowly, all the witnesses who testified against Jones have withdrawn their statements. The driver of the car who left the man behind said, "I remember my doubts at trial. If I had received these two images before the trial, I could not have distinguished me. "

Convince the courtyard

With the massive tas of evidence in support of Jones, the case has been taken over by two new law students of the year 2016. Even if the prisoner's test was about to end and his right d 'Call has been diminished now, they have been able to gather enough evidence to convince the Court to reconsider. In the end, June 7, 2017, the initial business prosecutor John Cowles was summoned to testify during a new trial.

The new trial

When the Prosecutor examined the new evidence, he admitted that the previous judgment could have been wrong. He acknowledged that no reasonable jury would not have sentenced to Jones based on the evidence they have before them. As a result, after serving all but two years of his event, Jones was released from prison the same day.

Wasted time

Even if Jones was released two years at the beginning of the prison, there was no denying the fact that he had lost valuable time for something he did not do. His daughters are now growing and he lacked the birth of his grandchild. Nevertheless, his family was delighted to recover it.

The news

The tragic case of Jones has attracted the attention of 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 was hoping and prayed for this day to come and when he was finally arrived here, I was overwhelmed." It is not easy to adapt to life after spending nearly two decades behind bars.

Nightmares

Jones admitted not to sleep well. The last 17 years have been nothing less than painful for him. Cold empty corridors and tiny claustrophobic cells always keep it at night. It can have a hot bed to sleep now, but it will take a lot of time to sleep peacefully. Of course, it is grateful that his family is there to help him cross this difficult period.

Raise funds

People have been affected by Jones' story and wanted to help him. So people across the country launched a fundraising campaign and increased more than $ 16,000 to help him rebuild his life from scratch. Jones was overwhelmed at this gesture, saying he had forgotten what kindness feel.

Compensation

One year after his release, Jones filed an indemnity of $ 1.1 million from Kansas's state to mistake him to a crime he did not commit. He wanted to use the money to come back on the right track of his life after being locked up for almost two decades. Surprisingly, in just four months, he received the total amount with the benefits of health.

Acknowledgement

Jones felt a huge gratitude to the group of students in the innocence project that helped him escape the hell he was trapped for 17 years. Surprisingly, the case of Jones was not a rare. There have been more than a few cases of unjustified conviction. In fact, to accelerate the process, it is quite common that the administrators can even push the controls in the direction of a suspect they find guilty.

DNA test

According to the Innocence Project, DNA data has helped more than 360 cases of unjustified convictions in the United States. And between them, 70% were the cases of erroneous identification by eyewitnesses. This itself proves to which this method of proof is defective. Nevertheless, this method is always approved to put the people behind the bars.

Remedies

The Innocence project highlighted a lot of methods by which this imperfect system can be improved. For example, appoint only directors who have no prior knowledge of the case and ensuring that the suspect does not stand out other members of the range. In addition, witnesses should clarify how many they have identified the right man.

Adopted by 24 states

Currently, these changes are implemented only in 24 states. This leaves states like Kansas and the Missouri that rests massively on a testimony of eyewitnesses, even today. As a result, even if there were no solid evidence connecting Jones to crime, he was sentenced to a prison.

Imperfect system

The chance that Jones had, from going out of prison and prove his innocence may not be available for everyone. There are still hundreds of prisoners who suffer behind bars because of a crime they have not committed. And it is admirable that young law students like those of the innocence project have stepped up to change the defective justice system.