“It would be hard to swallow,” said Ben Jones. “But I could live with McCormick not serving another day behind bars. What I could not take is if he walks out not guilty. That is completely unacceptable. That man beat my son to death.”
In an emotional interview with the High Desert Advocate, Ben Jones, the father of murdered toddler Jacob Jones agonized over his few options regarding the upcoming hearing of Patrick Cody McCormick.
“I wrote a letter to the district attorney, I started a facebook page for my son we plan to put out flyers all over Elko and come there ourselves,” he said. “I hope he is given a new trial or at the very least he takes a plea deal the absolute worst thing would be if the District attorney decides to drop charges and he walks out not only a free man but an innocent man.”
Jones letter to the District Attorney is reprinted below:
Dear Mr. Torvinen:
In 1996, the Elko District Court successfully convicted Patrick McCormick of first-degree murder of 14-month-old Jacob William Jones. In November 2012, the Nevada Supreme Court overturned the conviction and the case was remanded back to the Elko District Court. The Elko County District Attorney is now faced with the decision of whether or not to retry this case. The question of retrying this case is my purpose for writing to you.
This is a weighty decision, and one for which careful consideration is not only necessary, but required. I recognize your office has much to take into account. I also recognize many voices are speaking, many shouting, all offering opinions, all wanting, nay demanding, to be heard.
Through all the noise and stir, I implore you, Mr. Torvinen, to take a moment and listen to the silence. It is in this silence you may hear the echoes of the voice that can no longer speak, the voice of my son Jacob William Jones. It is his voice that was silenced in 1995, silenced by Patrick Cody McCormick. When Jacob’s voice was silenced, the duty and obligation to speak for him fell on others, on his family and on his loved ones. It is our duty to speak for Jacob, to be his voice, to make sure he is heard.
It is also your duty, Mr. Torvinen, to not only be Jacob’s voice, but to also be the voice of justice. Your office was Jacob’s voice once, in 1996, when you convicted Patrick Cody McCormick of murdering Jacob William Jones, of silencing his voice. My request is simple. Be Jacob’s voice again in 2013 and retry this case. Please do not allow the silence to prevail; please give Jacob his voice.
Sincerely,
Benjamin Jones
After serving 17 years in prison, McCormick original conviction was reversed in November by the Nevada Supreme Court. On February 4th in the hearing room of the Elko County Jail, District Judge Nancy Porter will either order the man to be tried again or release him without charge.
But while Porter has the final say, it is District Attorney Marc Torvinen who will play the major role in the hearing.
If Torvinen decides to drop charges it would be almost without precedent for Porter to order a new trial.
Readers who wish to join Jones facebook page can go to: http://www.facebook.com/justiceforjacobwilliamjones
See related story.
(Editors note: In the interests of full disclosure High Desert Advocate Howard and Corinne Copelan offered the use of the newspaper’s Elko vendor boxes for the placement of the flyers.)
As a cousin of Jacob’s grandmother, Sandy Foertsch, I have wondered why a high pwered defense attorney would take the case for appeal of a broke drunken miner that beat a child to death. McCormick has developed Chrones disease while is prison. If he is released without a felony record, couldn’t the attorney sue the state of Nevada for unlawful imprisonment and claim the stress caused the Chrones? Then the attorney and McCormick could possibly split millions.
Its a hard thing to see that you have the story wrong. The baby died from prescription medication, administered by the mother who knew that the child was allergic. She also admitted to “shaking the baby” in court. I do feel bad for the father. Obviously there was things about her he couldn’t handle and that is why he wasn’t still in the childs life to protect him, from her behavior. The cap for unlawful imprisonment is 70,000 dollars which would mean at most 35,000 if they split…maybe the reason for the attorney was that he could see that Cody was innocent. The Supreme Court thought so.