Wrongly convicted man tastes freedom for first time in 18 years

A 71-year-old Lake County man imprisoned for a child molestation he did not commit has been released from custody in Stockton as new details emerged about the false testimony that put him behind bars for 18 years.

Luther Jones Jr. left the California Health Care Facility, a prison hospital, on Wednesday and is believed to be living with his son in Lake County, officials said.

The woman, whose identity is being withheld by The Chronicle, told Lake County investigators last week that she “feels really bad about taking 20 years of Luther’s life from him and his family, and she hopes he can get out and be able to spend time with his family,” according to the investigators’ statement filed in court.

According to court documents, the mother — identified as Elizabeth Woods — and Jones had a “very violent” relationship, and Woods was angry when Jones was granted custody of another of her children.

The daughter told investigators that her mother had instructed her to lie about Jones as part of the custody battle.

In one social media account believed to belong to the former accuser, she posted photographs of herself and her new son and described the still ongoing troubled relationship with her mother that resulted in Jones’ nearly two decades of false imprisonment.

“Unfortunately my mom is talking crap about me and my son and how she ain't doing nothing for nobody any more,” she wrote on the account, about a week before requesting the meeting with investigators that cleared Jones.