A Missouri man, who spent the last 17 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit, has been freed.
Richard Anthony Jones of Kansas City was found guilty of armed robbery in 1999. At the time, witnesses say they saw a man wrestle a woman outside of a local Walmart and attempt to steal her purse. There were no DNA evidence or fingerprints found at the scene. The victim identified Jones after being showed photos but she admitted that she didn’t get the best look at his face and just recalled he was either Hispanic or light skin African American. Jones was the only person in the lineup to fit the description.
Richard Jones spent years in prison, maintaining his innocence. While incarcerated, he had been hearing of another inmate who looked exactly like him. In fact, the other inmate was also named Richard. As a last attempt to appeal his conviction, Jones made his lawyers aware of the other Richard.
“When I saw that picture, it made sense to me,” Jones said in an interview with The Kansas City Star. “Either you’re going to think they’re the same person or you’re going to be like, ‘Man these guys, they look so much alike.”
“We were floored by how much they looked alike,” Jones’ attorney Alice Craig said.
Jones’ lawyers made their case to a Johnson County judge and on Thursday, Jones was a free man.
“Richard Jones has presented sufficient evidence to meet the under of manifest injustice (under Kansas law),” his attorneys said in their motion seeking his release. “Mr. Jones was convicted solely on eyewitness testimony that has been proven to be inherently flawed and unreliable.”
The other Richard, aka “Ricky,” says that he is also innocent. Maybe there’s a third Richard out there.
