A Fort Worth man who was convicted of a more serious charge than what was justified is one step closer to receiving justice.
Aaron Dyson was in the midst of serving 50 years in prison after being convicted in 1997 of shooting a man who killed his best friend.
Dyson was 17 years old at the time of his original sentencing.
Dyson was convicted of engaging in organized criminal activity after a witness falsely testified that Dyson was a gang member.
"This case should never have been a gang case, and that he should not have been prosecuted for engaging in organized criminal activity," says Steve Conder, chief of the Tarrant County Criminal Integrity Unit, "and that he only should have been prosecuted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon."
Aggravated assault with a deadly weapon carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Last year, Tarrant County Sheriff Bill Waybourn, State District Judge Mike Thomas and District Attorney Sharen Wilson asked Gov. Abbott to commute Dyson's sentence to time served.
"My sworn obligation is to make sure verdicts and sentences are correct," says Wilson. "This one wasn't."
After Abbott denied the commutation request, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed to reopen the case.
Dyson was released on bond on May 8th of this year after serving 24 years; and on Wednesday, the appeals court vacated his original conviction and sentence.
Conder says while the case now goes back to Criminal District Court No. 4 for re-sentencing, Dyson will not be returning to prison.
"It will go back to the trial court, where it will be pled to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon," says Conder. "Then the trial court will assess sentencing; but because he's already served the maximum sentence for that offense, it will just simply be whatever time he has served."
No date has been set yet for the new hearing.
"We are pleased that the court of appeals agreed with both our office and the defendant that this case was overcharged and oversentenced and needed to be re-pled properly with the proper sentence," says Conder.
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