Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content

Jesse Jones

Other Harris County Drug Cases
On June 24, 2009, police in Houston, Texas police in Houston, Texas arrested 38-year-old Jesse Jones after they confiscated a substance that field-tested positive for cocaine.

On June 26, 2009, Jones pled guilty in Harris County Criminal District Court to possession of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to eight months in the Harris County Jail.

On September 7, 2009, the Houston Police Department crime laboratory tested the substance seized from Jones and no illegal drugs were detected.

The report of the lab test was forwarded to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, but was misplaced until years later.

Eventually, the Harris County District Attorney’s conviction integrity unit forwarded the lab report to a defense attorney for Jones and in 2016 joined in a state-law petition for a writ of habeas corpus. The trial judge recommended that the writ be granted.

In June 2016, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writ and vacated the conviction. On July 13, 2016, the prosecution dismissed the charge.

– Maurice Possley

Report an error or add more information about this case.

Posting Date: 7/15/2016
State:Texas
County:Harris
Most Serious Crime:Drug Possession or Sale
Additional Convictions:
Reported Crime Date:2009
Convicted:2009
Exonerated:2016
Sentence:8 months
Race/Ethnicity:Black
Sex:Male
Age at the date of reported crime:38
Contributing Factors:False or Misleading Forensic Evidence
Did DNA evidence contribute to the exoneration?:No