The man who was sentenced to life in prison for murdering James Jordan, the father of NBA legend Michael Jordan, could get a new lease on life — thanks to the North Carolina judge who presided over the case.
Judge Gregory Weeks petitioned the state’s parole commission to release 49-year-old Daniel Green, who has been behind bars since 1996 after being found guilty of James Jordan’s murder. Jordan was shot and killed on July 23, 1993, while sleeping in the passenger seat of his car along Highway 74 in Robeson County. His body was later found dumped 60 miles away in a South Carolina swamp.
ABC 11 Eyewitness News reports Weeks wrote in an affidavit that a forensic analyst did not disclose a blood-like substance found inside Jordan’s car might not have been Green’s blood.
Weeks told the commission he has been haunted for decades because these test results could’ve altered the trial’s outcome.
Green, in an interview from Southern Correctional Institution where he’s serving a life sentence, said it’s “significant” that Weeks is arguing for his freedom.
“It speaks volumes about this case, and I’m overwhelmingly grateful,” Green told ABC 11 Eyewitness News.
Daniel Green’s side of the story
During the 1996 murder trial, prosecutors said an 18-year-old Green and his childhood friend, Larry Demery, killed Jordan in a robbery gone wrong.
Green told ABC 11 Eyewitness News that Demery asked him to help dispose of a body and that he agreed to help his friend. Green has stated he never killed Jordan, but Demery said during the 1996 trial that Green pulled the trigger.
“Every day I live with the remorse and the pain and the suffering caused by my youthful decisions. I regret the harm my actions inflicted on the Jordan family,” Green wrote in a letter to North Carolina’s parole board.
The commission will reportedly rule next month whether to grant Green parole.