DNA tests lead to new trial for convicted Ohioan

AKRON, Ohio (AP) — An Akron man serving a life prison term for a 1993 murder will get a new trial after test results showed his DNA didn’t match evidence at the scene.

Dewey Jones was convicted in 1995 of robbing and killing 71-year-old Goodyear retiree Neal Rankin. Jones, now 50, has always maintained his innocence.

A Summit County judge on Monday granted a motion for a new trial, saying the lack of DNA evidence from Jones and a second suspect calls into question prosecutors’ theory about what happened. Prosecutors have argued both men were there when Rankin was bound with rope and fatally shot.

Authorities tested DNA from the rope, the knife used to cut it and pieces of the victim’s shirt sleeve.

“DNA evidence has failed to identify either man as having been present in the house,” Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands wrote in her order.

The judge scheduled an Aug. 29 hearing to prepare for a new trial.