Michael Toney was released from the Tarrant County Jail on Wednesday night, 9 months after his conviction and death sentence for the 1985 bombing deaths of 3 people in a Lake Worth trailer were overturned.
District Attorney Joe Shannon said he learned Wednesday that the Texas attorney general filed a motion to dismiss the case against Toney without prejudice.
That means prosecutors could still decide to retry the case after further investigation, he said.
The attorney general took over the case after the Tarrant County district attorneys office recused itself in January because evidence favorable to Toney's defense was withheld during his 1999 trial.
A spokeswoman for the law firm OMelveny & Myers L.L.P. in San Francisco, which represents Toney, said in a statement, "Our client Michael Roy Toney is grateful that the attorney generals office is taking the appropriate step of pausing to conduct an independent investigation that will take a closer look at the evidence in this case."
Susan Blount, whose husband and daughter were killed in the bombing, said the attorney general's office informed her of the decision Wednesday.
"They wanted to let me know so I wouldn't be surprised," she said. "They have indicated that it is still their intent to retry the case, but they needed more time to go over all the information and evidence."
A spokesman for the attorney generals office did not return a phone message late Wednesday.
Toney was released about 9 p.m. on $25,000 bail for a case unrelated to the bombing, a jail official said.
At 9:21 p.m., a supporter of Toney sent out an e-mail with the subject line "Great news."
The e-mail said: "The case against Michael has been dismissed by the prosecutors. He has left the jail and is on his way to have dinner with his attorneys."
Toney was convicted of planting a briefcase bomb outside a Lake Worth trailer, killing Angela Blount, 15; her father, Joe Blount, 44; and her cousin Michael Columbus, 18.
Toney has always maintained his innocence. No physical evidence connected him to the crime.
In December, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Toney's conviction after the district attorney's office acknowledged that evidence was withheld.
Prosecutors withheld at least 14 documents that cast doubt on the accounts of crucial witnesses against Toney, namely his ex-wife and his former best friend.
Toney told the Star-Telegram in a December prison interview that he believed that the prosecutors were more concerned with closing the case than finding the truth.
"They had blinders on," he said. "Once they thought they could convict someone, innocence didn't matter."
The lead prosecutor in the 1999 trial, Mike Parrish, left the district attorney's office last year. He has told the Star-Telegram that he cannot comment on pending cases.
Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 3, 2009
District Attorney Joe Shannon said he learned Wednesday that the Texas attorney general filed a motion to dismiss the case against Toney without prejudice.
That means prosecutors could still decide to retry the case after further investigation, he said.
The attorney general took over the case after the Tarrant County district attorneys office recused itself in January because evidence favorable to Toney's defense was withheld during his 1999 trial.
A spokeswoman for the law firm OMelveny & Myers L.L.P. in San Francisco, which represents Toney, said in a statement, "Our client Michael Roy Toney is grateful that the attorney generals office is taking the appropriate step of pausing to conduct an independent investigation that will take a closer look at the evidence in this case."
Susan Blount, whose husband and daughter were killed in the bombing, said the attorney general's office informed her of the decision Wednesday.
"They wanted to let me know so I wouldn't be surprised," she said. "They have indicated that it is still their intent to retry the case, but they needed more time to go over all the information and evidence."
A spokesman for the attorney generals office did not return a phone message late Wednesday.
Toney was released about 9 p.m. on $25,000 bail for a case unrelated to the bombing, a jail official said.
At 9:21 p.m., a supporter of Toney sent out an e-mail with the subject line "Great news."
The e-mail said: "The case against Michael has been dismissed by the prosecutors. He has left the jail and is on his way to have dinner with his attorneys."
Toney was convicted of planting a briefcase bomb outside a Lake Worth trailer, killing Angela Blount, 15; her father, Joe Blount, 44; and her cousin Michael Columbus, 18.
Toney has always maintained his innocence. No physical evidence connected him to the crime.
In December, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Toney's conviction after the district attorney's office acknowledged that evidence was withheld.
Prosecutors withheld at least 14 documents that cast doubt on the accounts of crucial witnesses against Toney, namely his ex-wife and his former best friend.
Toney told the Star-Telegram in a December prison interview that he believed that the prosecutors were more concerned with closing the case than finding the truth.
"They had blinders on," he said. "Once they thought they could convict someone, innocence didn't matter."
The lead prosecutor in the 1999 trial, Mike Parrish, left the district attorney's office last year. He has told the Star-Telegram that he cannot comment on pending cases.
Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram, September 3, 2009
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