Co-Defendant in '06 Homicide Will Not Be Re-Tried

08/02/2011
Douglas County District Attorney Charles Branson announced today his office will not proceed with a second jury trial against Durrell Jones for the murder of Anthony Vital. In explaining the decision, Branson stated "When we presented our case at the first trial, the primary evidence we relied upon and which we expected the jury to rely upon was the testimony of Major Edwards, Jr., the co-defendant in the case. Since the time of that testimony, we received evidence which lead us to believe that testimony is not credible. Given those circumstances, there is no ethical way we could proceed to trial with the evidence we have and expect to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt." Anthony Vital was found shot to death in rural Douglas County on October 15, 2006. Police investigation led police to the arrest of Major Edwards, Jr., for the murder. During the course of a lengthy investigation by both the Douglas County Sheriff's Office and an inquisition initiated by Branson's office in which sworn testimony about the case was obtained from numerous people, evidence developed that Durrell Jones had been present when the murder occurred. "The Sheriff's Office, and all law enforcement that assisted in this investigation, did an excellent job. The exact truth of what occurred in connection with the murder of Anthony Vital may never be known at this point, but we have no doubt that Edwards and Jones played an active role in what happened. We also do not doubt Major Edwards knows what happened but his various and contradictory accounts to others make the use of his testimony too unreliable for us to ethically present to a jury." On March 19, 2010, Major Edwards, Jr., entered a plea to a reduced charge of Voluntary Manslaughter. That plea exposes him to a potential sentence of 247 months. After Edwards entered the plea, through his attorney, he offered to provide complete and truthful information to law enforcement and to testify at Durrell Jones' trial. In exchange, the State agreed it would support a departure to reduce the sentence in his case by 48 months. Edwards testified at the first jury trial which began March 8. The jury in that case was unable to reach a unanimous verdict and a second trial for Jones was scheduled to begin August 8. "The condition of the agreement we had with Mr. Edwards was he provide complete and truthful information in exchange for the State recommending a departure of 48 months. We gave notice to the Court and Major Edwards that we will oppose any sentencing departure for Major Edwards based upon his testimony," said Branson. CONTACT INFO: Charles Branson Douglas County District Attorney 785-841-0211 cbranson@douglas-county.com -30-

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Media Contact:
Cheryl L. Wright
District Attorney's Office
785-841-0211
cwright@douglas-county.com