KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Adam Mace is officially a free man Friday, 24 hours after a judge ruled in his favor to grant him a marijuana-related conviction expunged.
Mace was being held at Algoa Correctional Facility in Jefferson City, Missouri. He could not be in court on Thursday to hear the ruling. However, advocates from the Canna Convict Project and his friend were there for him.
With the decision Thursday, Mace is the first person in Cass County and one of the first in the state to petition for expungement under the amendment. He's the first incarcerated person to win in the state.
Mace's expungement was courtesy of Amendment 3, which granted Missourians with a cannabis-possession conviction the ability to petition to have a judge expunge their conviction, which could trigger an early release from a jail sentence or termination of probation and other court-ordered services.
Mace was 18 years old when he was arrested for having more than 35 grams, which is a little over an ounce of weed. He was about three years into a five-year sentence.
However, Mace's case was complicated as he was convicted of first-degree involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2010.
Mace was 19 when he crashed into another car on Missouri 291 near Harrisonville, killing 44-year-old Denise Lero Greene. He was driving while intoxicated.
The manslaughter conviction meant he violated his probation in the cannabis-possession case and would have to serve five years in jail.
After finishing 85% of the manslaughter sentence, as stipulated by the correctional system, Mace started serving his cannabis conviction sentence, even though the cannabis case occurred first.
However, Mace's public defender Justin Ortiz was confident when he spoke to KSHB 41 I-team reporter Sarah Plake that the manslaughter sentence would've not impacted the decision.
With his release, Mace will now begin rebuilding his life.
He said one of the first things he wanted to do was go to a gas station and Dave and Buster's. He also said he's never held an iPhone, an experience he's now looking forward to.
Mace's friend Angela Bowers also told KSHB 41 that Mace was taking a welding program in prison and was going to be a certified welder so he could find a welding job as soon as he got out of prison.
When the KSHB 41 I-Team spoke to Mace Thursday, he said he was ready to move forward positively outside of prison, hopeful to catch up on all he's missed.
"I'm so happy. I'm relieved. A lot of stress," Mace said. "I was up all night. Only thing on my mind. It's a great victory today for everybody, everybody in the cannabis community."
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