The Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation was to reduce Jones’ sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole, which would have been immediately eligible for. “After prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case, I have determined to commute Julius Jones’ sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,” Stitt said in a statement. The decision comes after Jones’ sister, Antoinette, and a group of spiritual leaders were unable to meet with the governor on Tuesday in an effort to overturn the execution. On October 27, 2021, Jones was granted a stay of execution which was later overturned by the state attorney general’s office however, on November 18, the same day as his execution, Stitt spared Jones’ life. In 2002, Julius Jones, 40, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death at just 22 years old for the killing of 45-year-old businessman Paul Howell. And put simply, I have doubts about this case,” Luck said on the day of Jones’ clemency hearing.WHAT DID GOVERNOR KEVIN STITT SAY ABOUT JULIUS JONES? “Personally, I believe in death penalty cases there should be no doubts. The third member, Larry Morris, was appointed by the Court of Criminal Appeals. White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked during a briefing Thursday about the commutation of Julius Jones' sentence to life without parole. White House addresses Julius Jones' commutation. Check back on this article throughout the day Thursday for the latest updates. Stitt appointed two of the three members who voted to recommend clemency: Adam Luck and Kelly Doyle. The Oklahoman will be covering Thursday's events live. And the judge’s bailiff signed an affidavit saying the juror never reported this, as she said she did.Īlthough Jones has no pending appeals, the state’s Pardon and Parole Board twice voted 3-1 to recommend to the governor that Jones’ death sentence be commuted, each time citing doubts about the evidence in the case. Julius Jones did not murder Paul Howell, said Jones-Davis.
#JULIUS JONES UPDATE TRIAL#
Prosecutors argue that when the trial judge asked her about this allegation the day after the alleged incident, she never mentioned the racial epithet. Cece Jones-Davis, an activist and faith leader who helped launch the Justice for Julius movement in Oklahoma, said the new evidence suggests the state has now been imprisoning an innocent man for over two decades. Jones and his family have maintained that he was at home with them on the night of Howell’s murder, eating dinner and playing games with his siblings, and that the jury was never presented this information at trial.Ī juror in Jones’ trial wrote in an affidavit after Jones’ conviction that during the trial another juror engaged in premature deliberations and used a racial epithet while saying they should take Jones behind the jail and shoot him.
Jordan’s is not a persuasive showing of actual innocence.” Prosecutors also note that a federal district court addressed this issue, noting “the length of (Jones’) hair compared to Mr. Jones has long said he was framed by Jordan, and that Jordan is the actual killer.īut prosecutors say Tobey testified she never saw braids and that her testimony was referring to how much hair was visible between the top of the ear and the stocking cap, not the hair length. Jones’ attorneys suggest this was a better description of Jones’ co-defendant who testified against him, Christopher Jordan, who had corn-row braids at the time, and that the jury was never shown a photo of Jones taken a week before the murder that showed him with short, close-cropped hair. Paul Howell’s sister, Megan Tobey, who was an eyewitness to her brother’s killing testified in court that the gunman was wearing a stocking cap that came down “about a half an inch to an inch” above his ears, and that hair was sticking out from both sides.
Stavros Lambrinidis sent a letter to Stitt, urging him to grant Jones clemency.įollowing are some of the key arguments made by Jones’ attorneys and the response from prosecutors. This week, Ambassador of the European Union to the U.S. Since then, reality television star Kim Kardashian West, who visited Jones in prison, and athletes with Oklahoma ties, including NBA stars Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin and Trae Young, have urged Stitt to commute Jones’ death sentence and spare his life. The case has increasingly drawn attention since it was profiled in “The Last Defense,” a three-episode documentary produced by actress Viola Davis that aired on ABC in 2018 and outlined some of his defense team’s allegations. Jones has consistently maintained his innocence. Jones, now 41, was convicted and sentenced to die for the 1999 shooting death of Paul Howell, a businessman from an affluent Oklahoma City suburb. He is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Thursday. Only hours are left for Stitt to decide whether Jones lives or dies. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The fate of Julius Jones - who has served almost 20 years on death row, even as numerous questions raised doubts about his guilt - rests with Oklahoma Gov. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.