He spent nearly half of his life on death row, awaiting lethal injection. And under the weight of defamatory accusations: in 1994 he was convicted of the sexual assault and murder of a 4-year-old girl, the daughter of his girlfriend.
Barry Jones was behind bars in Arizona at the age of 35 and is now out at 64. A “terrible ordeal”, he defined it. For him, freedom immediately had the flavor of rediscovered affection: “It’s an incredible feeling to be able to embrace my family again after 29 years” were his first words once outside, as he had himself photographed surrounded by children and grandchildren, wearing ain a blue T-shirt with the writing Free bird, like the famous cry for freedom by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
A milestone achieved after years of humiliation and legal battles: because Jones, a mechanic, has always denied his guilt.
His judicial odyssey began in May 1994 when girlfriend Angela Rene Gray returning from work he found his daughter Rachel as if passed out. Jones drove them to the hospital, where her baby was pronounced dead of a lacerated intestine. The day before Rachel had been treated by Jones, and the man was immediately blamed for that mortal wound. He was convicted in Arizona after a few months and in July 1995 with capital punishment.
His fate seemed sealed. But in 2018, when the case landed in federal court, the new defenders discovered – with the help of a coroner – that the wounds had been inflicted on the little girl before the hours she spent alone with Jones. And it also became clear that the detectives and his previous lawyers hadn’t conducted a proper investigation.
Così two federal court rulings, in 2018 and 2019, ruled that the defendant should be released or retried. Decisions upheld on appeal but challenged by the state of Arizona has appealed.
The case went to the Supreme Court last year which ruled to reduce the ability of inmates to appeal their convictions in federal court for ineffective legal assistance in state court proceedings.
The only way out for Jones and his lawyers was through a plea deal. Under the agreement, once the death sentence was vacated, Jones pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for failing to seek timely medical care for the little girl. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison, already largely served.
He is the 12th inmate since 1970 to leave death row in Arizona – according to the Equal Justice Initiative -, where however 110 convicts still remain.