PODCAST:
June 25, 2026 ~ Olivia Vigiletti and Quinton Jones-Whitaker share the story behind his exoneration after serving more than 12 years and what his case means for justice reform.
ANN ARBOR, MICH. ~ Quinton Jones-Whitaker was wrongly convicted of carjacking, armed robbery, and felony firearm possession when he was 20 years old. No physical evidence linked him to the crime, with the only actual evidence being a flawed witness identification. His alibi was also improperly presented.
12 1/2 years later, which was his minimum sentence, the now 33-year-old has been exonerated with the help of the Michigan Innocence Clinic.
“I believe it was actually his mother who applied to the Michigan Innocence Clinic. By the time we got the case, he had already been in prison for 6 years,” Vigiletti said on All Talk. “And then our task is figuring out, okay, you’ve exhausted your appeal, what is our hook back into court? So we conducted our investigation, believed we had enough evidence of Mr. Jones-Whitaker’s innocence, and we took the case to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office. They have a conviction integrity unit. And then we conducted an additional joint investigation.”
