Judge who presided over Michael Jordan's father's murder trial files petition for release of convicted killer

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The judge who sentenced Daniel Green for murdering Michael Jordan's father wants him released from prison.

Green was convicted for the 1993 murder of James Jordan, who was gunned down while napping on the side of a North Carolina highway.

However, nearly three decades after the conviction, Judge Gregory Weeks filed a petition to the state's parole commission, arguing that evidence suggests Green is innocent, according to ABC News.

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Michael Jordan, #23 of the Chicago Bulls, celebrates winning the NBA Championship with his father after Game Six of the 1993 NBA Finals on June 20, 1993 at th America West Arena in Phoenix. (Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Weeks said that a forensic blood analyst investigating the case never disclosed findings that a blood-like substance found inside Jordan's car was not Green's. Weeks wrote that had this been revealed, the outcome of the trial may have been totally different.

The judge said the verdict has "haunted" him.

Green's co-defendant, Larry Demery, accused Green of firing the fatal shot. Green did not testify at the trial but has maintained that he did not kill Jordan and is only guilty of helping Demery dispose of the body.

Michael Jordan, #23 of the Chicago Bulls, takes a foul shot during an NBA basketball game against the Washington Bullets on Nov. 3, 1990 at Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)

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The body was found in South Carolina, roughly 60 miles away from the murder, in a swamp.

"Every day I live with the remorse and the pain and the suffering caused by my youthful decisions. I regret the harm my actions inflicted on the Jordan family," Green said in a letter to the parole commission.

Both Green and Demery were sentenced to life in prison.

Shortly after his father's murder, Jordan retired and played baseball, as that was the sport his father loved and had initially taught his son.

Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan, #23, goes up against Utah Jazz player Bryon Russell, #3, in Game 5 of the 1998 NBA Finals in Chicago on June 12, 1998. (Anne Ryan-USA TODAY)

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He returned to the NBA a couple of years later and won three more titles, cementing himself as the greatest ever.

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