LAKEPORT, Calif. – A Lake County Superior Court judge has signed an order granting a factual finding of innocence in the case of a Clearlake man who spent nearly two decades in prison for a crime he did not commit, a move expected to expedite a wrongful conviction claim with the state.
On Tuesday morning Judge Andrew Blum signed the order in the case of Luther Ed Jones Jr., 71.
The document vacates the judgment against Jones – who in 1998 was convicted of molesting his then-girlfriend's daughter and sentenced to 27 years in prison – and removes the case and all penalties from his criminal record.
In addition, it states that the court finds that new evidence “points unerringly to innocence.”
It was Judge Blum who in February had ordered Jones be released immediately from prison based on new evidence that proved his innocence – in this case, a key recantation, as Lake County News has reported.
In February, the woman who, as a child, had been at the center of the case contacted the Lake County District Attorney's Office to admit that she had lied under pressure from her mother.
District Attorney Don Anderson's staff investigated the young woman's claims and concluded that she was telling the truth, leading to Anderson filing a writ of habeas corpus to have Jones released.
Within a week of the young woman contacting the District Attorney's Office, Anderson and Angela Carter, who heads the county's public defender contract and is now representing Jones, had presented the matter to Blum who ordered that Jones' be released from the California Health Care Facility in Stockton without further delay.
With the help of the Northern California Innocence Project, Carter has submitted a claim on Jones' behalf to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board, which handles – among other things – claims by the wrongly convicted.
Carter said the claim totals $936,880, and is figured at $140 per day for 6,692 days of incarceration.
Government claims board officials told Lake County News in an interview earlier this year that they usually receive 10 to 15 such claims annually, statewide.
In Jones' case, Carter said she has hit roadblocks in getting his claim approved.
In a March 30 email exchange with Carter, California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board Senior Attorney Kyle Hedum stated, “I do not agree with your analysis that court found that the new evidence unerringly pointed to your client’s innocence.”
He said he was forwarding the claim to the California Attorney General's Office that day, and that if he misinterpreted the ruling, the Attorney General's Office would let him know.
Returning to court
To remove all doubt in the matter, Carter – accompanied by Anderson, who offered his support of her petition – went back to the Lake County Superior Court, seeking Blum's approval of the factual innocence order.
In court, Carter explained that Jones – who she had hoped would be able to appear – has been hospitalized for the fifth time since his February release from prison.
On hand to give testimony in the matter was Jones' son, Ko'Fawn Jones, who has been his father's caregiver since his release. Ko'Fawn Jones, who lost his home in the Valley fire, lives with his father in a rental in Kelseyville, and gave up his job to care for his father around the clock.
“Your Honor, we're here today essentially because the state has deemed Luther not innocent enough,” said Carter, who explained that Jones is entitled by state statute to compensation for his wrongful incarceration, but that the matter is being held up by one attorney – in this case, Hedum, whose March 30 email she read to the court.
She said she had responded by forwarding to Hedum an email from Anderson confirming that the new evidence had pointed to Jones' innocence.
Hedum, she said, replied, telling her that “his position remained the same and nothing would change despite the elected district attorney's affirmation that new evidence did lead him to file a writ and to seek Luther's release.”
Carter said Jones' family is struggling to care for him and meet expenses, thus her effort to get the matter clarified and the claim processed.
Asked to respond by Blum, Anderson confirmed that his office had been contacted by the alleged victim in the case who admitted she had lied at trial.
“We sent one of our better investigators to interview her with our experienced and well-trained sexual assault attorney and also a Victim-Witness advocate who's been an advocate for several years. After the interview, they all came to me and said that they all believed that Luther Jones did not commit this crime. He was innocent,” Anderson said.
Anderson said he has the original case file, and based on a review of that, as well as the conclusion of his staff, he formed the opinion that Jones didn't commit the crime and is factually innocent. “That's why we're supporting Mrs. Carter's claim.”
Blum recounted asking a deputy district attorney at the February hearing if Jones was innocent, and being told yes.
“And then I was horrified that Mr. Jones had spent 18 years in prison for something he did not do. That is a tragedy. A tragedy that the state unfortunately cannot undo,” said Blum.
He added that he would happily sign the order and direct Hedum that the court has found that Jones was “absolutely” innocent of the crime of which he was convicted.
“It's my understanding that's what I said last February when I ordered him released,” Blum said.
Carter said she's concerned that the state is waiting for Jones to die so it doesn't have to pay the claim, explaining during the appearance that the claim would end with his death.
“Well, I hope that's not true. They would be compounding one tragedy with another one,” Blum said.
Addressing the court, Ko'Fawn Jones said his father's health is deteriorating. “And so the main thing here is, you know, getting my father back is a blessing after 20 years. My whole family feels the same way.”
He added that he hopes that his father's case “opens the eyes of the judicial system.”
At the same time, “We have to be prepared as a family, which we're not, to deal with maybe not having our father again,” Ko'Fawn Jones said.
Carter told Lake County News that the Jones family has received some assistance from Kelseyville Presbyterian Church as well as monetary support from another exoneree who has made good since his release.
A Go Fund Me account set up for the family at https://www.gofundme.com/lutherjones continues to gather funds. It has generated $2,600 out of a $10,000 goal.
Claims board responds to issues
In response to the issues raised at the Tuesday hearing, California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board Legal Counsel Wayne Strumpfer told Lake County News that the situation came down to a specific need for an actual finding of fact, according to the requirements of the penal code.
Strumpfer said that, based on the transcript of the February hearing, that finding wasn't specifically made, which is what the penal code requires.
“We weren't able to put it on the fast track. It wasn't that we were going to deny it,” he said, explaining that the order approved Tuesday is what they've needed.
Strumpfer said his agency needs to follow the law, explaining that even if the district attorney said Jones was innocent, that wasn't enough under the legal requirements.
He acknowledged that sometimes the very specific nature of the law can hang up the claims process.
Strumpfer said his agency sent the matter to the California Attorney General's Office, which he said may have come up with a finding to support the claim in a different process.
When contacted by Lake County News regarding the Jones case, the California Attorney General's Office referred Lake County News back to the California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board.
With Judge Blum granting the Tuesday order, Strumpfer said if Carter forwarded him the document he could likely get Jones' claim on the May 19 California Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board calendar for consideration and approval.
Once approved by the board, the process for claims requires that they be included in a bill that would go before the Legislature this spring.
That legislation only goes to lawmakers once a year, usually in April or May, with claims often paid by late summer or early fall, as Strumpfer had explained in a previous interview.
While the legislation for claims approved by the board is set to go to the Legislature very soon, Strumpfer believes Jones' claim could make it in under the wire. That would mean that Jones may receive payment of his claim this summer.
Carter said late Tuesday afternoon that she was forwarding to Strumpfer the documents in order to get Jones' case on the fast track.
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.
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