Surprise Decision Made On Man Convicted Of Killing Michael Jordan's Dad

The judge who presided over the 1996 trial centered around the death of James Jordan , the father of Basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan , petitioned the North Carolina parole commission to release the man he sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday (October 15), ABC News reports.

Retired Judge Gregory Weeks noted that a forensic blood analyst who investigated the case against Daniel Green , 49, questioned whether the blood-like substance found in Jordan's car was actually blood. Prosecutors argued that Jordan was sleeping in the passenger seat of his Lexus parked along Highway 74 when he was fatally shot by Green during the 1996 trial, which supported the testimony of the main witness, co-defendant Larry Demery , who accused Green of firing the weapon.

The analyst, however, never disclosed whether forensic tests on findings from the vehicle concluded if actual blood was found. Weeks told the commission that he was haunted by the crucial detail that could've changed the outcome of the trial for nearly three decades in his plea for Green to be released, according to several criminal justice advocates who were at the North Carolina parole commission proceeding.

Green, who is serving a life sentence at Southern Correctional Institution in North Carolina, acknowledged that the judge who "presided over my trial asked that I be paroled is significant" while speaking to ABC News in a phone interview from prison.

“It speaks volumes about this case, and I’m overwhelmingly grateful," he added.