One of the men who was convicted for the killing of Michael Jordan’s father, James Jordan, could soon leave prison.
According to ABC News, the North Carolina judge who oversaw the murder trial in 1996 has spoken up in favor of Daniel Green, asking for his release.
The judge, Gregory Weeks, says a forensic blood analyst who participated in the investigation withheld a key fact.
Back then, prosecutors argued that Green, then a teenager, walked up and shot Jordan while he was sleeping in the passenger seat of his Lexus. This supported the testimony of the co-defendant, Larry Demery, who claimed Green was the shooter.
Green, however, has maintained that he is innocent. And Weeks is now claiming that the blood-like substance found on the scene might not have been Green’s at all. This week, Weeks told a commission that the analyst never disclosed that other forensic tests she ran from inside the car, where said substance was found, came back negative or inconclusive.
The judge is now arguing that the analyst’s decision to exclude these results likely changed the outcome of the trial, admitting it has haunted him for almost 30 years.
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Man Accused Of Killing Michael Jordan’s Father Says He Is Grateful
Green, now 49 and serving a life sentence at the Southern Correctional Institution in North Carolina, has been informed of the judge’s plea and claims to be grateful.
“[That the judge who] presided over my trial asked that I be paroled is significant,” he told ABC News over the phone. “It speaks volumes about this case, and I’m overwhelmingly grateful.”
The commission will review the facts for at least another month before determining whether Green will be granted parole.
Weeks declined to comment, saying he would wait on the decision.
Green also recalled the moment that sealed his fate while speaking to ABC, claiming he was at a cookout with Demery, who told him he was leaving to make a drug deal. Demery returned visibly shaken several hours later and asked him for help disposing of a body.
He says he agreed to help but did not kill Jordan.
“Every day I live with the remorse and the pain and the suffering caused by my youthful decisions,” he said. “I regret the harm my actions inflicted on the Jordan family.”
Weeks said he has presided over many trials but “had never been haunted in such a manner as he was haunted by this case.”
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