Local judge tapped to lead N.C. Innocence Commission
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on January 3, 2015 10:55 PM
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News-Argus/MELISSA KEY
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones II was recently appointed to serve as chairman of the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission.
When a Wayne County man was vindicated in 2008 after spending nearly two decades in prison for a crime he did not commit, the local community was forever bonded to the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.
But Dwayne Dail is no longer the only connection between the county and the state agency established in August 2006 by the General Assembly to "investigate and evaluate post-conviction claims of factual innocence."
And Goldsboro and its neighbors have Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones II to thank for that.
The judge was recently appointed to serve as chairman of the commission through 2017 -- a duty he said he added to his plate after a great deal of prayer and several thoughtful discussions with his wife, Ingrid.
"She said, 'Let's think about it. Let's pray about it.' So we did," Jones said. "And when we got back from our honeymoon, we talked about it some more, and we both thought it would be a good thing to do."
Before an October judges conference -- where one of his peers recommended he serve on the commission -- Jones was aware of the Innocence Commission, as he was the judge who presided over the 2010 trial of William Neal, the man a jury ultimately found guilty of the crime Dail had been wrongfully accused -- and convicted -- of in the late 1980s.
But beyond his involvement in those proceedings, Jones said he had not given much thought to the notion of one day serving on the panel.
So he traveled to Raleigh the first week of December to watch the commission in action -- to witness the process members went through as they tried to determine whether or not a man convicted of the 1978 murder of a Bladen County mother and daughter should get a shot at freedom.
"I thought, 'Before you do something, you need to know a little bit about it,'" Jones said. "And I was really impressed with the folks who were on (the commission). After seeing how it worked and understanding the process a little more, I became even more interested in it."
So he told the man who approached him back in October that if he were appointed to the commission, he would accept the post.
And just before Christmas, he received a letter from Linda McGee, the chief justice of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Jones was not simply a member of the Innocence Commission.
He was its chairman.
"I feel very humbled and honored in so many ways. This opportunity here, I'm looking forward to it," Jones said. "It's another avenue I have not explored yet."
And it's another opportunity to serve the citizens of the state -- to continue his pursuit of justice for those who happen to find themselves on the other side of the bench.
"Justice doesn't mean guilty, and justice doesn't mean not guilty. Justice is what's right in that circumstance," Jones said. "I firmly believe in the jury system. I think it's the best system in the world. But I've said in the courtroom, I'm as human as anybody. As long as human beings are involved in anything ... people bring their perspective, people bring their life experience ... to the table.
"So with the Innocence Commission, let's see what this new evidence is ... and let's see what happens. The standard is different -- the burden of proof different. It's a different way of looking at it. During a trial, you have a prosecutor who is prosecuting a case -- trying to convict, and you have a defendant defending. In the Innocence Commission, it's a whole different set of rules, if you will. To use a sports analogy, it's a new way to play the game."
The judge knows it won't be easy.
New challenges rarely are, he said.
But he feels confident that if he stays true to who he is, his maker will give him the wisdom to help the commission complete what he characterized as a significant charge.
"Every morning, I come in this office and I do three things. But the first thing I do is I say a prayer. And in my prayer, every morning, I ask for wisdom -- and I ask for patience," Jones said. "Hopefully, with this opportunity I have been presented, I can take that posture and the outlook it helps me bring to the bench ... to the Innocence Commission."