I have known Marty Jones for over 20 years, both as a colleague at my place of employment and as a personal friend. He and his wife, Sue, are the epitome of caring parents/grandparents, and stepped up to the plate providing care for an ailing relative when it meant moving the Jones family in order to do so.

    The community deserves justice and resolution in this attempted murder case. I find the act of shooting a peace officer a horrendous act and wish only just punishment for whoever the responsible person is. Despite the negative fervor surrounding the crime for which Marty was convicted, the public has to be made aware of Marty Jones integrity and not fall into the trap of seeing him through the twists and turns of a prosecuting team bent on finding their man at the cost of an innocent persons life. Too many incongruities led to Martys conviction, and those of us who know him believe he is innocent.

    I am not appealing to folks to free a guilty man. I am asking that Marty Jones be given a fair trial this time around, at which tactics such as presenting the victim with Martys portrait in order to refresh his memory after a failed attempt to pick from a lineup are not allowed to be part of the process. I am asking that those capable of looking at the evidence from an unbiased point of view do so. This is a wonderful man we are talking about.

Joe McCarthy

Milwaukie, Ore.