{UAH} Judge hears argument for new trial in murder of Michael Jordan’s father

Judge hears argument for new trial in murder of Michael Jordan's father 

Sporting News

Joe Rodgers16 hrs ago
© (Getty Images) James Jordan, Michael Jordan

Claims of a misleading testimony and misconduct by the prosecutor and jury in the trial for the murder of Michael Jordan's father could result in a new trial nearly 20 years later.

A North Carolina Superior Court judge heard arguments on convicted murderer Daniel Green's claims for just over an hour Wednesday in a Robeson County courtroom. According to The Fayetteville Observer, Judge Michael Beale has agreed to accept some witness statements as he considers request for hearing on whether Green should get a new trial.

Attorneys for Green have long argued Green was not present when James Jordan was killed during a 1993 car-jacking. His legal team now contends it has the evidence to challenge the case.

The lawyers claim Green was in a different location when the elder Jordan died, but he did help get rid of the body and drive Jordan's car. Larry Demery is the one who shot Jordan, the attorneys say, but Demery pinned it on Green during the 1996 trial as part of a plea deal with prosecutors for a lesser sentence.

Per the Charlotte Observer, other potential evidence which could help Green receive a new trial include:

—A sworn statement from a former jury forewoman that reads she conducted her own investigation into Jordan's murder, a violation of a judge's order.

—An affidavit appears to show that Jennifer Elwell, a state forensics expert, withdrew a statement that said she found Jordan's blood in his car. Documents also say Elwell was ordered by a supervisor to destroy the only known sample of Jordan's blood shortly after the trial, unbeknownst to Green's defense attorneys at the time.

—An affidavit from a former newspaper editor who says Demery told her he killed Jordan after the victim witnessed a drug transaction. In her statement, the editor says she never spoke of the confession.

— An allegation that Robeson County Sheriff Hubert Stone, whose office helped conduct the murder investigation, had an illegitimate son,a known cocaine dealer, who was the first person called on Jordan's phone. The judge at Green's trial did not allow jurors to hear about the relationship between Stone and the drug trafficker.

There have been several appeals to the North Carolina attorney general's office filed in Green's defense. Just over a year ago, his lawyers claimed to uncover new evidence in the 1993 shooting death and filed a 250-page request for a new trial. Each appeal was dismissed on the grounds the defense's findings were mostly irrelevant and inadmissible.
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Gwokto La'Kitgum

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