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Jeremiah Jones

Other Assault Exonerations with Mistaken Witness ID
https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/PublishingImages/king_county_superior_court_stamp.JPG
On November 30, 2000, police in Seattle, Washington arrested 20-year-old Jeremiah Jones after an officer said he saw Jones throw a bottle at another officer during a protest marking the one-year anniversary of the World Trade Organization conference.

Jones went to trial in King County Superior Court in September 2001 on a charge of second-degree assault and resisting arrest. Seattle police detective Dale Williams testified that he saw Jones, who was wearing a tie-dyed shirt, goggles and a bandana, reach into a backpack, pull out a bottle and throw it at a police line.

Williams said the bottle struck the protective mask worn by police captain Ron Mochizuki. The mask shattered and Mochizuki’s right eye was injured.

Jones denied that he threw anything.

On September 19, 2001, the jury convicted Jones of felony assault and resisting arrest. He was taken into custody immediately. Several days later, prior to sentencing, Jones was released on bond after Judge Douglass North vacated the convictions and granted Jones a new trial.

The judge granted a defense motion for a new trial after another police detective came forward and testified that he saw someone else throwing bottles that day. The detective said he saw a man wearing a black ski mask run past him throwing bottles.

In addition, the defense presented video footage that showed at least two people throwing objects at police and neither were dressed like Jones. Police subsequently arrested one of them for tossing the bottle that struck Mochizuki.

In October 2002, the prosecution dismissed the assault charge. A spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney said, “We looked at the new information and agreed we simply couldn’t go forward with the charges.”

Jones pled guilty to a misdemeanor for resisting arrest when police took him into custody on the day of the protest; that charge was to be dismissed in a year if Jones remained arrest-free.

– Maurice Possley

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Posting Date: 7/14/2016
State:Washington
County:King
Most Serious Crime:Assault
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:2000
Convicted:2001
Exonerated:2002
Sentence:Not sentenced
Race/Ethnicity:White
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:20
Contributing Factors:Mistaken Witness ID
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No