Freedom ‘better than prison’ for Akron man awaiting retrial " . . . Prison is where Jones had sat since he was arrested in the 1993 slaying of a Goodyear worker. He always professed his innocence. The evidence against him was rife with questions: a jailhouse snitch was the state’s star witness; no physical evidence linked him to the killing. Jones, now 51, said he never expected to be convicted, but he was. He didn’t expect to lose his appeals, but he did. Only through new DNA testing, the efforts of pro bono lawyers and a judge’s order did he win the chance at a new trial. Last month, his bond was lowered to $300,000. An anonymous donor — a person Jones believes is a former inmate exonerated of a murder charge — posted the $30,000 needed to secure Jones’ freedom while he awaits trial in February... After he was convicted in 1995, his wife struggled and five of his six kids were sent into the foster system, Jones said. Zack Jones, now 22, was just a baby when his father went to prison. He bounced around foster families until he was 18.... Jones will be confined to his daughter’s small apartment, where he has greeted a steady stream of friends and family. He’s not allowed to leave without permission; an ankle bracelet monitors his whereabouts. With help from the Ohio Innocence Project, Jones secured new DNA testing. The results failed to connect him to the crime scene, and a judge ordered a new trial. Prosecutors appealed but lost. In her two-page decision, Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands stated that the absence of Jones’ DNA and that of another police suspect “calls into question the state’s entire theory of the case...” (read the full article at the link above)
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