On Tuesday, the North Carolina judge overseeing the 1996 murder trial of Michael Jordan’s father petitioned the state’s parole commission to release the man who he convicted of the crime.
The suspect, Daniel Green, was sentenced to life in prison. Now, Judge Gregory Weeks has claimed that a forensic blood analyst did not share crucial information: the blood-like substance discovered inside the vehicle where James Jordan was killed may not have been his blood at all.
ABC News has reported that during the trial, prosecutors stated that the victim was asleep in the passenger seat of his vehicle on July 23, 1993 when Green, who was 18 years old at the time, allegedly walked up to the car and shot him during a robbery gone wrong.
The prosecution’s star witness, Larry Demery — who was Green’s co-defendant— said Green was the person who pulled the trigger. The blood analyst never shared the fact that other forensic tests she did from inside the car came back inconclusive or negative for blood.
Weeks explained to the commission earlier this week that the omission of these test results — which could have influenced the trial’s outcome — is something he has grappled with for nearly 30 years.
Criminal justice advocates who were present at the hearing reached out to Green, 49, who is serving his sentence at Southern Correctional Institution in North Carolina.
In a statement, Green said that the judge who “presided over my trial asked that I be paroled is significant.” Green also said that he was “overwhelmingly grateful.”
Green’s lawyer, Lauren Miller, previously told NewsNation affiliate WBTW, “Daniel has consistently maintained that he is innocent of the murder of James Jordan and he will continue to fight to have his day in court.”
The commission is expected to deliberate for at least one month to decide if Green will be granted parole.