The Ohio Innocence Project has won a new trial for Dewey Amos Jones III. Jones, 50, was convicted of murder and robbery in 1993 but always maintained his innocence.

A jailhouse snitch implicated Jones and another man, Gary Rusu, of the crime. The snitch, a known police informant, was the only evidence that Jones committed the crime. The Ohio Innocence Project obtained new DNA tests proving that neither Jones nor Rusu was present at the crime scene.

Due to the new DNA evidence, Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands, granted Jones a new trial saying “The state presented this case believing both Mr. Jones and Mr. Rusu were among those present and were actors in the events causing [the victim’s] death. DNA evidence has failed to identify either man as having been present in the house.”

The judge scheduled a hearing on August 29th to discuss the new trial.

Read the full article in the Akron Beacon Journal here.

www.ncip.scu.edu