Richard Anthony Jones lost 17 years of his life largely because witnesses believed they recognized his face. The case began with a 1999 purse-snatching in a Walmart parking lot in Roeland Park, Kansas. Jones was arrested and later convicted of aggravated robbery. There was no DNA, fingerprint evidence or other physical evidence tying him to the crime. The prosecution relied heavily on eyewitness identification. Jones insisted that he was innocent. His girlfriend and her sister testified that he had been with them at the time of the robbery, but the jury convicted him in 2001. He received a 19-year prison sentence. Years later, Jones learned about another man named Ricky Amos. The two had similar facial features, skin tone, hairstyles and facial hair. Amos also had connections to the area where witnesses said the robber had been picked up. When witnesses were eventually shown photographs of both men, they could not reliably say which one they had seen. That new evidence changed the case. In June 2017, a Kansas judge found Jones innocent of aggravated robbery and overturned his conviction. Prosecutors then dismissed the charge rather than seek another trial. Kansas later awarded Jones approximately $1.1 million and issued him a certificate of innocence under the state's wrongful-conviction compensation law. One part of the viral version needs care: Ricky Amos was not convicted of this robbery. His resemblance and connection to the case created the reasonable doubt that helped prove Jones should never have been imprisoned, but calling Amos the legally established perpetrator goes beyond the court record. Seventeen years cannot be returned. The case remains a powerful warning about how confidently a mistaken eyewitness can point to the wrong person. Sources: University of Kansas School of Law, Midwest Innocence Project, National Registry of Exonerations, Kansas officials and Associated Press reporting. How much weight should eyewitness identification carry when no physical evidence supports it?

Richard Anthony Jones lost 17 years of his life largely because witnesses believed they recognized his face. The case began with a 1999 purse-snatching in a Walmart parking lot in Roeland Park, Kansas. Jones was arrested and later convicted of aggravated robbery. There was no DNA, fingerprint evidence or other physical evidence tying him to the crime. The prosecution relied heavily on eyewitness identification. Jones insisted that he was innocent. His girlfriend and her sister testified that he had been with them at the time of the robbery, but the jury convicted him in 2001. He received a 19-year prison sentence. Years later, Jones learned about another man named Ricky Amos. The two had similar facial features, skin tone, hairstyles and facial hair. Amos also had connections to the area where witnesses said the robber had been picked up. When witnesses were eventually shown photographs of both men, they could not reliably say which one they had seen. That new evidence changed the case. In June 2017, a Kansas judge found Jones innocent of aggravated robbery and overturned his conviction. Prosecutors then dismissed the charge rather than seek another trial. Kansas later awarded Jones approximately $1.1 million and issued him a certificate of innocence under the state's wrongful-conviction compensation law. One part of the viral version needs care: Ricky Amos was not convicted of this robbery. His resemblance and connection to the case created the reasonable doubt that helped prove Jones should never have been imprisoned, but calling Amos the legally established perpetrator goes beyond the court record. Seventeen years cannot be returned. The case remains a powerful warning about how confidently a mistaken eyewitness can point to the wrong person. Sources: University of Kansas School of Law, Midwest Innocence Project, National Registry of Exonerations, Kansas officials and Associated Press reporting. How much weight should eyewitness identification carry when no physical evidence supports it?