By Mike Wagner

The Columbus Dispatch Monday July 9, 2012 11:30 PM

Dewey Jones quest to prove that he isnt a murderer took another step forward today when a judge overturned his felony conviction and granted a new trial for the Akron man, who has served 17 years of a life sentence.

The ruling by Summit County Common Pleas Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands follows the release in April of new test results showing that DNA recovered from an Akron murder scene didnt come from Jones.

Jones, 50, was convicted in March 1995 of robbing and killing 71-year-old Neal Rankin, a family friend. Jones previously had been convicted of drug trafficking and passing bad checks, but he has always maintained his innocence in Rankins murder.

Ive done some things Im not proud of in life and made some bad choices, Jones told The Dispatch at the Richland Correctional Institution in Mansfield last year. But Ive not hurt or killed anyone.

The lab tests, conducted by DNA Diagnostics Center of Fairfield in southwestern Ohio, found a partial male DNA profile on the piece of rope used to tie Rankins wrists, the knife used to cut the rope, and pieces of Rankins shirt sleeves. None of it matched Jones when compared with his DNA. The testing also found no DNA that matched Gary Rusu, whom the states lead witness testified was in Rankins home on the night of the murder, Feb. 13, 1993.

Rowlands, in her two-page ruling, said the lack of DNA evidence is significant.

The absence of both Mr. Jones and Mr. Rusus DNA on the new tested evidence calls into question the States entire theory of the case, Rowlands wrote.

Carrie Wood, Jones Innocence Project attorney from Cincinnati, said she will now be seeking Jones release from prison.

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DNA tests win man new trial