Aging US woman freed after decades in jail over killing
LOS ANGELES, March 26, 2014 (AFP) - A 74-year-old American woman who
spent 32 years in jail for a killing she says she did not commit was freed
Tuesday, a court said.
Her freedom stems largely from the work of a group of law students.
Mary Virginia Jones was convicted in 1981 of homicide, kidnapping and
robbery.
On Monday, Judge William Ryan of the Los Angeles Superior Court overturned
her conviction and ordered her freed.
Jones had been accused of acting as an accomplice in the killing of a drug
dealer by her then companion, Mose Willis.
But law students from the University of Southern California, who defended
Jones before the court, argued that Willis held a gun to her head to force her
to lead the dealer into an alley where he was shot dead.
Willis was arrested and sentenced to death. He died on death row while
awaiting execution.
Jones met Willis while he was homeless. He had promised he wanted to clean
his life up.
But a week before the killing, Willis had shot at a daughter of Jones,
Denitra, and threatened to kill both women if they went to the police.
"I did not willingly participate in this crime," Jones told the court.
Denitra said: "Words cannot express the way I feel" "It's surreal... this
is a day we've been waiting for all our lives.
Aging US woman freed after decades in jail over killing
LOS ANGELES, March 26, 2014 (AFP) - A 74-year-old American woman who
spent 32 years in jail for a killing she says she did not commit was freed
Tuesday, a court said.
Her freedom stems largely from the work of a group of law students.
Mary Virginia Jones was convicted in 1981 of homicide, kidnapping and
robbery.
On Monday, Judge William Ryan of the Los Angeles Superior Court overturned
her conviction and ordered her freed.
Jones had been accused of acting as an accomplice in the killing of a drug
dealer by her then companion, Mose Willis.
But law students from the University of Southern California, who defended
Jones before the court, argued that Willis held a gun to her head to force her
to lead the dealer into an alley where he was shot dead.
Willis was arrested and sentenced to death. He died on death row while
awaiting execution.
Jones met Willis while he was homeless. He had promised he wanted to clean
his life up.
But a week before the killing, Willis had shot at a daughter of Jones,
Denitra, and threatened to kill both women if they went to the police.
"I did not willingly participate in this crime," Jones told the court.
Denitra said: "Words cannot express the way I feel" "It's surreal... this
is a day we've been waiting for all our lives.
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