MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – Trial starts Monday for a convicted drug dealer from Eight Mile whose appeal won a partial reversal of his conviction.
A jury in 2023 convicted Hassan D. Jones, 28, of participating in a drug conspiracy, possession with intent to distribute bulk marijuana and several gun charges. A federal judge in Mobile sentenced him to 45 years.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upheld most of the conviction but overturned his conviction for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. The three-judge panel ruled that the prosecutor, during his closing argument, improperly referred to Jones’ Instagram messages that had not been admitted into evidence…