When Mary Jones went to prison in 1981, she was unaware that domestic abuse was a major problem in the United States. It's hard to blame her. At the time of her arrest, she was not allowed to present evidence of Intimate Partner Violence, a condition that affects thousands of American men and women every year.
"Before, I thought it was just a way of life," she said. "I didn't know I had been abuse. I didn't know anything about abuse."
The fact that she was forced to drive her abuser and his two kidnapping victims at gunpoint was not considered. Prosecutors were free to craft a narrative that she loved her partner Mose Willis so much that she would help him kidnap and attempt to execute two drug dealers in an alley in Long Beach. They were free to refine their story four times-the number of trials it took for Mary to be convicted of first degree murder-and get her sentenced to life in prison.
Three decades later, Mary was released, despite her original sentence not permitting parole. Law students from USC's Post-Conviction Project filed a petition asking the District Attorney's office to consider evidence of IPV that she was not allowed to use during her trials. Their argument was that her abuser forced her to be an accomplice to murder.
After conducting their own investigation, the DA's office declared that Mary did not deserve to be in prison. On March 24, 2014, she pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Her 32 years behind bars counted toward her new, lesser sentence. A shriek came from her family and friends as the judged ordered her release. She was freed by the very defense that she never got to use.
It would be nice to think that the problem of domestic abuse in America has been stemmed in the time between Mary's incarceration and subsequent release. While victims of abuse are now able to defend themselves much better in court, domestic abuse remains a silent, pervasive menace in American society.