Rep. Brennan Statement on Restitution Awarded to Wrongly Convicted Dewey Jones

COLUMBUS – State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan (D-Parma) today issued the following statement today regarding the Ohio Controlling Board’s approval of $540K  to Dewey A. Jones in restitution payment for his wrongful imprisonment:

“While I am relieved that Mr. Dewey Jones has finally been exonerated and his heirs will be compensated for his wrongful conviction, it is impossible to call this justice, especially given the fact that he passed away following his exoneration. Twenty years behind bars for a murder he did not commit — and had no knowledge of — is an agonizingly long time. No dollar amount can return the decades he lost, the moments he missed with his children, or the pain he endured while locked away as an innocent man.

Mr. Jones’ case is a chilling example of how the justice system can fail — and how little physical evidence it can take to destroy a life. A single jailhouse informant, later shown to have been rewarded for his testimony, was enough to secure a life sentence against Mr. Jones. And when DNA evidence and other investigative records could have helped exonerate him earlier, they were either lost, destroyed, or never preserved at all.

We should all be grateful for the Ohio Innocence Project and the many University of Cincinnati law students whose dedication helped expose the truth. Thanks to their efforts, the truth did come out — but far too late.

I am pleased that the state has finally recognized Mr. Jones as a wrongfully imprisoned individual and is providing restitution. Still, $540K can never replace 20 years of lost freedom, nor can it undo the trauma inflicted on Mr. Jones and his family — including children who were raised without their father.

If we are serious about justice in Ohio, we must do more than react after the fact. We must invest in reforms that prevent these tragedies: improved evidence preservation, better standards for informant testimony, expanded post-conviction DNA testing, and robust oversight of prosecutorial conduct.

Let Mr. Jones’ case serves as a wake-up call. One wrongful conviction is one too many — and twenty years too late.”

For more information on Mr. Jones’ case, please visit here.