Georgia man behind bars for 10 years awaiting trial and never convicted released
Maurice Jimmerson was detained more than a decade behind bars and never convicted of a crime. Jimmerson is now home with his family.
By Andy Pierrotti
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ATLANTA, Georgia (WANF) — A Georgia man detained more than a decade behind bars and never convicted of a crime is now home with his family.
Maurice Jimmerson’s pretrial detention is believed to be one of the longest such detentions in American history. His release comes nearly a year after an award-winning Atlanta News First investigation, The Sixth, uncovered him languishing in the Dougherty County, Georgia, jail without a court-appointed attorney or a scheduled court date.
He was released and embraced by his 14-year-old daughter Wednesday afternoon.
Albany, Georgia, police arrested Jimmerson and four others for a double murder in May 2013. Nearly all of his co-defendants were acquitted by juries years ago. But Jimmerson remained in jail, legally innocent, waiting for trial through Covid pandemic delays, a courthouse flooding and no attorney working on his behalf.
“Nobody talks about it,” Jimmerson’s mother, Sonya Holmes, said in 2023. “There’s no news coverage. Nobody is listening. It’s been 10 years and nobody has listened.”
After attorney Andrew Fleischman heard about Jimmerson’s case on Atlanta News First Investigates, he agreed to represent him for free.
“You don’t need to have a law degree to know something’s wrong is here,” Fleischman said. “We should not punish people until we’ve proven they’ve committed a crime.”
Two months later, Jimmerson finally got his day in court, but the case ended in a mistrial because the jury could not reach a verdict. He had been back in jail ever since.
Jimmerson’s release is part of a negotiated plea agreement with the local district attorney’s office, which required him to plead guilty to aggravated assault and possession of a firearm. Jimmerson was sentenced to 30 years probation, with 11 years time served and 19 years remaining.
Jimmerson maintains his innocence.
The plea agreement bans him from Dougherty and surrounding adjacent counties for the length of his probation. Jimmerson has 45 days to find housing outside those areas.
Jimmerson is now 33, and attended school through the 9th grade. He was facing 235 years in prison from all of the original charges.
Desmond Williams is one of the two men who died in the 2013 shooting involving Jimmerson’s arrest. “I’m holding on because I promised my son that I was going to hold on to the end,” said Shirly Williams, Desmond Williams’ mother, in July 2023.
Jimmerson said if Atlanta News First Investigates had not profiled his case, he would likely still be behind bars.
Here is a timeline of the events surrounding Maurice Jimmerson’s incarceration:
May, 2013 – Maurice Jimmerson and four others arrested for double murder. April 2023 – Atlanta News First Investigates profiles Jimmerson’s case, uncovering he had been waiting for his trial for about 10 years. At the time, he did not attorney representing him because his court appointed attorney abandoned him. His case is believed to be one of the longest pretrial detentions in U.S. history. May 2023: Attorney Andrew Fleischman agrees to represent Jimmerson for free after seeing his story on Atlanta News First. July 2023 – Jimmerson gets his trial but it ends with a mistrial because the jury could reach a unanimous decision. At this same trial, a jury found his co-defendant, Condell Benyard, not guilty; Benyard waited behind bars for eight years for his trial. Two other co-defendants were acquitted by a jury in 2017. March 20, 2024 – Jimmerson released from jail after 10 years and 10 months, having never been convicted of a crime.
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