LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – A Lake County man who spent 20 years behind bars for a crime he didn't commit will now receive compensation from the state, a process sped up by a bill signed by the governor on Friday.
Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Bill Dodd announced that the state of California – through the California Victim Compensation Board – will provide $936,880 to Luther Ed Jones Jr., who was released from prison in February.
Dodd and McGuire worked together to have the compensation for Jones included in SB 1186, a larger victim compensation bill authored by state Sen. Ricardo Lara, who agreed to add the provision to his bill last month.
The payment was approved by the State Legislature this week and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday.
“These funds won’t right the wrong of Mr. Jones’ time in prison, far from it, but we hope these dollars will help him and his family rebuild their lives,” McGuire said.
“I’m thankful that our colleagues and Gov. Brown helped Sen. McGuire and I get Mr. Jones the compensation he’s entitled to,” said Dodd.
Jones was convicted in 1998 of molesting his then-girlfriend's older daughter, and sentenced to 27 years in prison. The conviction came at the end of the second trial in the case, after the jury in his first trial deadlocked.
Altogether, he spent about two years in jail awaiting trial and another 18 years in the state prison system, spending time in different prison hospital facilities due to a variety of serious health problems.
In February, the young woman who had been the alleged child victim contacted the Lake County District Attorney's Office to say that she had been coerced by her mother – who was involved in a custody fight with Jones over a young daughter they had – to lie about Jones molesting her.
District Attorney Don Anderson and his staff immediately investigated the matter and concluded that Jones was innocent, filing a writ of habeas corpus to have him set free.
On Feb. 16, exactly one week after the young woman had first spoken with District Attorney's Office staff about her recantation, Judge Andrew Blum signed the writ of habeas corpus, ordering that Jones be released immediately and bypassing any further hearing process.
Attorney Angela Carter, who heads the county's public defender contract, subsequently began to represent Jones and coordinated with the Northern California Innocence Project at Santa Cruz University School of Law to help Jones file suit to claim compensation for his time in prison.
The compensation claim is tallied at a rate of $140 per day for 6,692 days of incarceration, the Northern California Innocence Project reported.
In May the settlement was granted by the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board – which formally became the California Victim Compensation Board on Friday – but the process requires the Legislature and governor to appropriate the funds.
The Northern California Innocence Project – which has experience crafting legislation to improve and streamline the claims process for those wrongly incarcerated – worked with McGuire and Dodd to include Mr. Jones’ allocation in SB 1186.
“We were able to include the $900,000 into the larger bill so it worked out really well. We are so grateful,” McGuire said.
He added, “What we were really encouraged about was this had bipartisan support.”
Jones' son, Ko'Fawn Jones, offered particular thanks to Northern California Innocence Project Board member Rick Walker and Lucy Carter, the organization's policy director, for helping make the legislation happen.
But he added that he won't be excited until his father actually receives the money from the state.
Since his February release, Luther Jones, now 71, and his family have struggled with transitioning him back to home. In particular, his deteriorating health has required his son to quit his job in order to be his father's full-time caregiver, which has made it challenging to make ends meet.
Luther Jones' significant medical issues – including liver and kidney disease – have left him bedridden, and made the issue of his compensation more urgent. “It's been a nightmare,” Ko'Fawn Jones said, adding that things have “gotten to the breaking point.”
Over the past month, Luther Jones has been hospitalized. “He's just coming out of a coma and not able to talk,” his son explained.
McGuire told Lake County News that the legislation takes effect immediately, with the funds to be disbursed likely within a week.
Ko'Fawn Jones said the funds will help him take better care of his father, although his health prognosis is not good.
“They just said there's nothing else that can be done,” Ko'Fawn Jones said of the doctors' conclusion. “He won't get better.”
Carter called the bill signing “wonderful news,” explaining that Jones originally had been told that he may not receive compensation until late summer.
Still, she pointed out that it doesn't change the fact that he's been in and out of the hospital since his release, or erase the time he spent in prison or change the fact that someone manipulated a child in order to have him incarcerated.
“No amount of money makes up for that kind of loss of liberty. It is a serious, significant failing of our justice system and it makes me sad,” she said.
Added McGuire, “I cannot imagine what the last two decades have been like for Mr. Jones.”
As for Jones finally getting the help to which he's entitled from the system, McGuire said, “It's about time.”
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Governor signs bill that will pay Lake County man for wrongful incarceration
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On