{"id":7360,"date":"2018-02-02T17:28:34","date_gmt":"2018-02-02T22:28:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10028\/uncategorized\/louisiana-officials-free-innocent-man\/"},"modified":"2018-02-02T17:28:34","modified_gmt":"2018-02-02T22:28:34","slug":"louisiana-officials-free-innocent-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/napolilaw.lemonadestand.org\/en\/article\/louisiana-officials-free-innocent-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Louisiana Officials Free Innocent Man"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite having spent nearly a half-century behind bars for a violent crime that he did not commit, 65-year-old Wilbert Jones said that his faith enabled him to \u201cforgive<\/a>\u201d everyone involved in his ordeal.<\/p>\n

In 1974, Mr. Jones was convicted of an aggravated rape he allegedly committed as a teenager and was sentenced to life without possibility of parole. The judge who reviewed the conviction noted that the state had no evidence against Mr. Jones other than the victim\u2019s identification. The nurse picked Mr. Jones out of a lineup about three months after the attack occurred. Furthermore, her initial description matched that of a man who committed a similar act less than a month after she was attacked, but according to the judge, \u201cthe state failed to provide this information to the defense.\u201d Prosecutors said they would appeal the ruling but would not re-try Mr. Jones.<\/p>\n

He had little to say about his time in prison other than it was \u201cvery difficult.\u201d His brother, Plem Jones, said \u201cI never gave up on him\u201d and \u201cI knew that he didn\u2019t do it, so it was only a matter of time\u201d before he was released.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Burden of Proof in Civil Rights Abuse Cases<\/h2>\n

Once a jury reviews the evidence and renders a verdict, it is very difficult to overturn that verdict. Appeals court judges rightfully presume that the jury was in a much better position to evaluate all the facts in the case, because all the evidence was much fresher and the jurors could see things that appellate judges could not, such as the look on a witness\u2019 face when giving certain testimony.<\/p>\n

No one knows how many \u201cinnocent\u201d people are in prison due to a civil rights violation<\/a>, but we do know that in 2015, the number of post-conviction reversals reached an all-time high<\/a>. These individuals, and their attorneys, had to convince a reviewing court that:<\/p>\n