In 1999 Richard Anthony Jones was arrested for aggravated theft at a Walmart store in Kansas City. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison. Declared guilty after several witnesses’ testimonies, the man continues to claim his innocence during his 17 years of imprisonment.
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It is ultimately his fellow inmates who helped to reopen the investigation, since they were regularly surprised by the great resemblance between Richard and another prisoner, Ricky. Digging a little, his lawyers discovered that he lived close to the store at the time of the incident. An appeal trial was held and witnesses from the first trial could not tell Richard and Ricky apart, which resulted in Jones being released. The poor man spent 17 years in jail for nothing, and will not receive any compensation because Missouri state law does not provide for any…