Strictly speaking, he hasn't been acquitted, and the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions can direct police to re-lay the charge against him, but after he was arraigned and remanded, no evidence was put forward in the form of disclosure. That was the status for the first 5 months and his attorney, Michael Peyrefitte, submitted to the court that his client ought to be released from prison because the police have no evidence against him. The Magistrate gave the prosecution more time, and at the 1 year mark, Peyrefitte redoubled his efforts, since yet again, the prosecution couldn't produce any evidence or files against Jones.

Once again, the Magistrate rejected Peyrefitte's arguments based on the premise that a man was dead, and justice required proper procedure. So, when the case went back to the Corozal Magistrate's Court for yet another adjournment, after 1 year and 5 months and there was still no disclosure provided to the defence, Peyrefitte submitted that the state had been given more than enough time to complete their investigation against his client Jones.

This time, the Magistrate agreed with the defence attorney and discharged "Ryan" Jones of the murder charge against him.

So, who slipped up? Well, we contacted the DPP Cheryl Lynn Vidal this evening, and she told us that the file was sent back to the police for a great period of time. Her office gave them directives to carry out in order to strengthen the prosecution's case against Jones. It appears that those directives were never followed up on, and when it came time to report to the court, no disclosure was available.

Viewers may remember that on New Years, January 1, 2014, Corozal police responded to a shooting incident in Ranchito Village on New Year's night. When they visited the Jones Residence, they found his father, 53 year-old Hensley "Nick" Jones with 3 bullet wounds to the head. He survived though, and told police that his son, Hensleigh Ryan, shot him in the kitchen for no apparent reason.