06 July 2021 :
Danny Lee Jones’ death sentence overturned.
The Ninth Circuit Court, that previously denied Jones’ petition challenging his death sentence due to inadequate counsel, reversed and approved by this week.
Jones was charged and convicted of two accounts of murder in the 1st degree and 1 count of attempted murder.
Jones claimed that his right to counsel was inappropriately handled when his counselor failed to request a mental health expert to evaluate him.
Jones was evaluated by a trial court appointed psychiatrist, Dr. Jack Potts, who testified that Jones showed signs of suffering from a severe mood disorder along with multiple cerebral traumas from childhood and prolonged substance abuse.
However Jones’s counsel did not speak to Dr. Potts until one day before the sentencing and had suggested further testing by a neuropsychologist, and once hearing the testimony moved for a continuance so that an expert could conduct further psychological testing.
