A Missouri man was awarded $1.1 million by the state of Kansas after he was wrongfully convicted of a robbery he claimed was committed by someone who looked like him.
Richard Jones served 17 years in prison before he was freed last year after finding a doppelgänger who he said was responsible for the crime.
According to a Kansas City Star report last year, after witnesses including the robbery victim were shown pictures of Jones and his look-alike, who shares the same first name, they could no longer confirm Jones committed the robbery.
Jones’ look-alike also testified last year that he did not commit the robbery either, the Star reported.
In a statement, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said Jones’ case was the first lawsuit resolved under the state’s mistaken-conviction statute that took effect this year.
“In this case, it was possible on the existing record to resolve all issues quickly, satisfy all of the statute’s requirements, and agree to this outcome so Mr. Jones can receive the benefits to which he is entitled by law because he was mistakenly convicted,” Schmidt said in a statement.
Along with the financial award, Jones will receive a certificate of innocence, counseling and access to the state’s health care benefits program for two years. Records of his arrest and conviction have also been expunged.
Jones was represented by the Midwest Innocence Project and the Paul E. Wilson Defender Project at the University of Kansas.
A tweet from KVOA-TV in Tucson, Arizona, featured an image of Jones, at right, and his look-alike.
What happened
In 1999 a man tried to steal a woman’s purse outside a Walmart in Roeland Park, Kansas. The woman fought back and held onto the purse, but the man made off with her cellphone. Because the woman fell and scraped her knees, the phone theft was classified as an aggravated robbery.
Eyewitnesses identified the criminal as a “light-skinned Hispanic or African-American man” named Rick who had “long hair pulled back.”
A witness wrote down the license plate number of the car involved in the robbery. Investigators tracked down the driver of the car, who led them to the house where Rick lived.
Then the driver went to the precinct, where he looked through booking photos of people with the name Richard and Rick that matched the description the victim and a security guard had given.
The driver ID’d Jones as Rick. So did the victim, during a preliminary hearing and later at trial. But at the time of the robbery, Jones was at his girlfriend’s birthday party, where several guests testified they saw him, and he had spent the next day watching movies with the girlfriend and cleaning up after the party.
His alibi didn’t sway the jury, and Jones, who had a criminal record, was convicted on the aggravated robbery charge and sentenced to 19 years in prison.
Jones appealed and lost. Then he learned about the Midwest Innocence Project, which partners with the University of Kansas’ Project for Innocence.
Finding the doppelganger
The team from the Innocence Project eventually tracked down who they believe is the real “Rick:” He is Ricky Lee Amos, who looks strikingly similar to Jones and who had lived at the address linked to the crime.
This information was presented to the eyewitnesses, who — when shown the mugshots of the two men — could no longer definitely say that Jones was the robber. After that a judge tossed out Jones’ conviction and freed him from prison on June 8, 2017.
The statute of limitations on the crime has passed, so if there was a case against Amos, he cannot be prosecuted.
Seeking a fresh start
Along with the $1.1 million, the court ordered on Tuesday the following relief for Jones: a certificate of innocence, record of his arrest and conviction to be expunged, the destruction of any biological samples associated with his case, counseling and permission to participate in the state health care benefits program for plan years 2019 and 2020.
Alice Craig, the lead attorney with the Innocence Project who worked to free Jones, said at the time of his release that Jones had no ill will toward Amos.
“I don’t think so, because it’s not Ricky’s fault that this happened, but ultimately he was the one we believe who was responsible for the crime,” Craig said. “Ricky has never admitted to the crime and I think (Jones) … was somewhat disappointed that he didn’t admit to (it).”
