Judge orders prisoner freed Web posted Tuesday, June 1, 2004 By Sandy Hodson | Staff Writer A federal judge ordered the immediate release Tuesday of an Augusta man in prison for manslaughter. However, Charles "Jeff" Mitchell Jr., 30, won't be released until the judge's order is verified, a spokeswoman for the prison system said Tuesday evening. U.S. District Court Judge Dudley H. Bowen Jr. ordered Mr. Mitchell's release because Mr. Mitchell has not been granted a new appeal as Judge Bowen ordered Nov. 29, 2001. The appeal was supposed to have been done within two months. "Without comment on the guilt or innocence of (Mr. Mitchell), I find that he has not received a new direct appeal,'' Judge Bowen wrote. " ... his convictions are hereby vacated, and it is ordered that he be immediately released from custody.'' Mr. Mitchell and his brother Michael Stephen Mitchell were tried together in Richmond County Superior Court in 1995. Both were convicted of manslaughter in the Oct. 2, 1994, death of Danny Hucks. On that day the two brothers had gone to confront Mr. Hucks, a former boyfriend of Stephen Mitchell's girlfriend, according to trial witnesses. Although Mr. Hucks initiated a fight, Stephen Mitchell shot him from behind and both Mitchell brothers and a third man beat Mr. Hucks. Jeff Mitchell and the other man stopped and walked away, but Stephen Mitchell continued to beat Mr. Hucks and then shot him in the head. Both Mitchell brothers were convicted of voluntary manslaughter. Stephen Mitchell also was convicted of murder. That murder conviction, however, was overturned on appeal. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence, the same sentence his brother received. Jeff Mitchell, however, challenged his conviction on appeal in state courts without success. But in his federal appeal, U.S. Magistrate Judge W. Leon Barfield and Judge Bowen agreed with Mr. Mitchell that the attorney who represented him in state appeal courts failed to present a compelling argument on Mr. Mitchell's behalf - one likely to have won Mr. Mitchell a new trial. In November 2001 Judge Bowen ordered the state to grant Mr. Mitchell a new appeal in state court or release him from prison. The appeal with the Georgia Court of Appeals wasn't filed until May 2003. On Jan. 16 in an opinion written by Judge Charles B. Mikell Jr., the court ruled Mr. Mitchell was not entitled to a second appeal, and they could find no authority allowing Judge Bowen to order an appeal instead of a new trial or Mr. Mitchell's release from prison. Nearly three years after Judge Bowen's initial order in Mr. Mitchell's case, he issued his new order for Mr. Mitchell's release from prison Tuesday. Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com. Charles "Jeff" Mitchell: Man was convicted on manslaughter charges in 1995. --From the Wednesday, June 2, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle