A person who has had a homicide conviction expunged from his file is taking the Boston Police Division to courtroom, arguing that officers framed him in reference to a 1975 taking pictures loss of life of a Roxbury bar proprietor.
Milton Jones, 73, of Bridgewater, has filed a civil criticism in Boston federal courtroom in opposition to the BPD and the three officers whom he alleges “engaged in such egregious misconduct” that led to his wrongful conviction.
Jones, now a director of reentry providers for the Boston-based Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, had the conviction expunged from his file in Suffolk Superior Courtroom final yr, after Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden cleared him of the homicide in 2022.
Jones was additionally awarded $1 million and free healthcare and training at any state faculty or college.
Within the civil criticism filed this week, Jones argues that due to the wrongful incarceration and subsequent a long time on parole, he has suffered an “unimaginable” hurt that features bodily harm, emotional ache and struggling, and the lack of a standard life.
“What stands out most to Mr. Jones is that, because of Defendants’ grave misconduct, he was wrongfully taken away from his daughter when she was only five years old,” his protection workforce states within the criticism.
“In Mr. Jones’s own words,” it provides, “ ‘When I was released, my daughter was 20 years old—a young lady about to go into college. All those years were lost. I don’t know what being a dad truly looks like. I don’t know how I would have raised my daughter, since the opportunity to try was lost.’ ”
Jones’ life was endlessly modified on Aug. 30, 1975, an evening he was reportedly hanging out with a gaggle of mates, ready to see Kool & the Gang at a free summer season live performance, based on his protection workforce.
Nevertheless, simply earlier than 10 p.m. that evening, two males robbed the Golden Café bar in Roxbury, taking pictures and killing the institution’s proprietor, Albert Dunn. The perpetrators took cash from the money register and a bar worker, Rita McLellan, 43, the criticism states.
McLellan’s 21-year-old daughter and a 58-year-old girl had been the one different folks on the bar on the time, with eyewitnesses allegedly listening to the “shorter perpetrator call the taller perpetrator ‘Larry.’”
What adopted, based on Jones’ protection workforce, is what they describe as “egregious misconduct.”
“All in line with the BPD’s policies, patterns, practices, and customs at the time,” the criticism states, “the individual Defendants framed Mr. Jones by fabricating false eyewitness identifications, engaging in improperly suggestive identification procedures, and burying exculpatory evidence.”
Rita McLellan reportedly advised Officer Alfred Bozzi that the “shooter was 5’6”, had a slim construct, wore a flat hat, and carried a gun,” and he or she described the second perpetrator as “six feet tall, twenty-five years old, and wearing a bright-colored shirt.”
Detectives investigating the homicide – Louis McConkey, Peter O’Malley and John Daly – are accused of displaying the witnesses “individual mug shots of 12 men,” as they tried to “obtain ‘identifications.’”
“Mr. Jones was one of the 12 men Defendants repeatedly offered up as possible perpetrators,” the criticism states. “There was no legitimate reason to include Mr. Jones: he had never been arrested for an armed robbery or a murder.”
“Mr. Jones was not present at the Golden Café when the crime occurred,” it provides, “Indeed, Mr. Jones has never been inside the Golden Café bar. … Mr. Jones had no knowledge of or involvement in the crime.”
The protection alleged, “Mr. Jones was included because the BPD didn’t like him, because he had embarrassed the BPD. … The BPD had previously, on at least two occasions, accused Mr. Jones of crimes he did not commit.”
Authorities arrested Jones in reference to the arrest on Sept. 23, 1975, weeks after the homicide. He was then launched on lifetime parole on Nov. 2, 1990, subsequently serving 32 years earlier than his fees had been dropped in 2022.
“Despite decades living under the restrictive terms of parole and being forced to navigate life unfairly branded as a murderer,” his protection workforce states within the criticism, “Mr. Jones worked hard to achieve significant stability and to contribute to his community.”
