Black Man Who Spent Decades On Death Row Has Case Dismissed
A Black man in Ohio who spent over 25 years on death row had his case dismissed on Friday.
According to CBS News, Elwood Jones was convicted of aggravated murder, robbery, and burglary in 1994 over the death of 67-year-old Rhoda Nathan. At the time, police said Nathan was visiting Cincinnati for the bar mitzvah of her best friend’s grandson. When she arrived at her hotel room, Nathan surprised a would-be robber, leading to her death. Jones was an employee at the hotel when the killing occurred.
Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich said the decision to dismiss the case came after months of reviewing court filings and evidence. “I did not take this extraordinary step lightly,” Pillich said in a statement. “But after reviewing the evidence, I am not convinced that Mr. Jones killed Rhoda Nathan.”
Elwood Jones has been free since 2022, when a judge gave him a new trial after finding that prosecutors withheld evidence. During a 2019 trial, Jones presented evidence that Nathan tested positive for Hepatitis B and that if he had injured his hand by punching her mouth, as the prosecution alleged, he too would test positive for Hepatitis B. Jones tested negative for the disease.
Melissa Powers, Pillich’s predecessor, appealed the judge’s decision. While the Ohio Supreme Court ruled last week that the appellate court made an error when it blocked Powers’ challenge, Pillich said in her statement that moving to a new trial without new evidence or witnesses “would be futile.”
“Make no mistake, Rhoda Nathan’s life matters greatly to me. My duty is to administer justice with integrity. I work every day on behalf of victims and this community to ensure public safety. Today’s decision does not change that commitment,” Pillich’s statement read, according to Fox 19.
From CBS News:
Among issues addressed by her review were: the lack of physical or forensic evidence directly linking Jones to the murder; a lack of sufficient follow-up on multiple witness statements pointing to alternative suspects; and failure to provide Jones’ defense with a large volume of investigatory material before trial. Modern-day medical testing has also excluded Jones as a suspect…
…A message seeking comment was left with Jones’ attorney. In court filings, his defense team argued that what the trial court portrayed as a “win-at-all-cost mentality” at the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office “stole over 28 years from Elwood Jones — an innocent man — and it very nearly cost him his life.”
In addition to dismissing Elwood Jones’ case, Pillich said she is establishing a Conviction Integrity Unit to investigate claims of wrongful convictions and unjust sentencing through modern science and practices. “Had such a unit existed years ago, this decision may have been reached much sooner,” she said.
Nathan’s family released a statement in response to the decision. “We are devastated and disappointed. We are processing,” the statement read.
Kevin Werner, executive director of Ohioans to Stop Executions, an organization that seeks a repeal of the death penalty, told CBS News that Elwood Jones is the 12th death row inmate to be exonerated in the state.
“We’re thinking of the Nathan family, and we’re thinking of the Jones family, both who were irreparably harmed by Ohio’s death penalty system,” Werner said in a statement.
Black Man Who Spent Decades On Death Row Has Case Dismissed was originally published on newsone.com
