OAKLAND – Months after prosecutors dropped a murder case investigated by a detective who now faces perjury charges, the defendant has scored two more legal victories.
After his murder case was dismissed last December, Leonard Jones, 41, still faced charges of smuggling drugs into prison and possession of a firearm while in custody. But in a May court hearing, Alameda County prosecutors had each charges dismissed, court records show.
The charges were dismissed after a closed hearing that excluded the general public and included only Jones' attorney, prosecutors and a judge, in keeping with transcripts from each cases.
Jones was charged in reference to the shooting death of Donitra Henderson in April 2013. In December 2023, prosecutors dropped the case “in the interest of justice,” in keeping with a transcript of the hearing. The murder case was investigated by Det. Phong Tran of the Oakland Police Department, who has since been charged with perjury and bribing witnesses to influence their testimony in murder cases.
Jones' two remaining cases involve alleged possession of a homemade knife at Santa Rita Prison, where he shared a cell with one other man, and conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the prison. In the drug case, he’s accused of recruiting an Antioch woman who worked as a technician and who was sentenced to 4 days in jail after pleading guilty, records show.
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