Brown & Nieto this week filed a federal habeas petition on behalf of Christopher Jones, who was falsely convicted in 2015 by allegedly corrupt Baltimore City Police officer Daniel Hersl. Jones has maintained his innocence since he was first arrested in Baltimore City and charged with drugs and a gun. According to Jones, Officer Hersl planted the evidence against him, and other officers wrote up a false police report. Rather than risk a very long federal prison sentence, Jones did what most people would do under the circumstances: he cut his losses and took a plea deal. As a result, he spent more than three years in prison.
Despite the plea, Jones maintained his innocence from the time when he was first arrested. He told multiple lawyers he was innocent, and he even proclaimed his innocence in a letter to the Federal Judge presiding over his case. As is often the case in situations like this, his lawyers were powerless to help because they had no way of proving the evidence had been planted and the officers were lying.
All of that changed earlier this year when federal Grand Jury issued a massive indictment against several Baltimore City police officers, accusing them of widespread corruption, extortion, robbery and racketeering. One of the officers charged in the indictment: Daniel Hersl.
With the knowledge that the federal government is prosecuting Hersl for corruption, Jones is attempting to get back into court to prove his innocence. His filing is a motion to vacate pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 2255. The Government has not yet responded to the filing.
The full filing can be read HERE.
Firm Fights to Clear Name of Wrongly Convicted
