Woman, 74, freed from Calif. prison after serving 32 years of life sentence for 1981 killing
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A 74-year-old California woman is free after serving 32 years of a life sentence for her role in a 1981 killing.
The Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/Qb7UGr ) reports that Mary Virginia Jones walked out of a Southern California prison late Monday and was met by family and friends.
Jones was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole for a killing committed alongside boyfriend Mose Willis, who died on death row.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}She has always maintained that Willis forced her to help him at gunpoint, and law students at USC took up her case.
Prosecutors conducted a new investigation and agreed to accept a plea of no contest for involuntary manslaughter.
Earlier Monday, a judge ruled Jones had served well over the 11-year maximum sentence for the lesser crime and ordered her freed.