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A 19-year-old question produces results

By Mark Obbie

Christine Young of the Middletown, N.Y., Times Herald-Record has produced an impressive investigation of a possible wrongful conviction. Her report -- told in an ambitious multimedia package from a team of editors and designers who are given full credit on the site -- focuses on claims of a false confession that put Lebrew Jones in prison for the 1987 murder of prostitute Micki Hall. Jones is about 19 years into a sentence of 22 years to life. The murder occurred in New York City, but Young investigated it for two reasons. First, Jones is imprisoned near Middletown. Second, and far more interesting, is Young's connection to the case: a marvelous story in itself. A journalism student in New York in 1989, her reporting on other stories led her to a Salvation Army worker who had met Hall shortly before the murder. Young also had met the lead detective, whose precinct was nearby Young's apartment. Young reports that as a result of the dual acquaintances, she stumbled upon evidence in 1989 that neither side in the Jones case made effective use of. That evidence, if true, ruins the prosecution's theory of when the murder occurred -- and exonerates Jones. Young revisited the case when she started work in Middletown. The DA has reopened the case, but has not yet announced what investigators have found. Young weaves a compelling narrative about the questionable case against Jones, and her own role in i. She interviews him and the victim's mother -- who also believes in Jones' innocence -- and develops a theory about the sort of killer who would have committed the crime. It's great stuff, told creatively. One nitpick: Neither the Herald-Record's special site for this report nor the paper's main site clearly tells when this was published. As best I could tell, it was about two weeks ago. (Via IRE.)

Full post as published by Lawbeat on January 17, 2008 (boomark / email).