Jones, 41, was sentenced to death for the fatal shooting of Paul Howell during a 1999 carjacking in Edmond. "I wasn't involved in it in any way. Jones' own attorneys have not weighed in yet on what options he has, if any, in the future. Can future Oklahoma governors help Julius Jones? He said those rules prohibit an inmate from reapplying for commutation again on the same sentence after a favorable outcome.Īttorneys and others interviewed Friday by The Oklahoman noted, though, that the parole board always could change the rules. The governor also pointed in his executive order to the parole board's own rules. Steele, who has served on the parole board, said it does not appear executive orders carry forward from one governor to the next. "I know we are able to engage in this discussion because Julius is still alive and for that I am very thankful," he said. Kris Steele, executive director of Oklahomans for Criminal Justice Reform, said he does not yet know whether the governor's stipulations are legal. short of there being definitive, 100% proof of his innocence," Blau said. "Given the options he has left to him, the chances of him ever being released are extraordinarily low. Still, Jones likely will never get out of prison, he said. "It doesn't give governors dictatorial power over individuals in perpetuity," said Ed Blau, a defense attorney and former prosecutor.īlau agreed that Stitt cannot bind the hands of a future governor but said it's not anything that's ever been litigated before. Stitt pointed to that in his executive order before imposing the restrictions on any future relief. Learn more about his case on this special edition of 20/20.Under the Oklahoma Constitution, a governor has the power to grant clemency "upon such conditions and with such restrictions and limitations as the governor may deem proper, subject to such regulations as may be prescribed by law." Visit the Julius Jones Official Website: įollow Justice for Julius on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.ĭonate to Justice for Julius to help keep this fight going. Here’s what you can do today to support Julius Jones’ fight for justice: More than 1,800 students at 13 Oklahoma City Public Schools participated in a walkout on November 17 in protest of the impending execution date. In the days before the scheduled execution, representatives of the European Union and nearly a dozen European countries publicly urged Stitt to commute Jones’ sentence. Celebrities from the rapper Common to reality television personality Kim Kardashian West and athletes with Oklahoma connections, including NFL quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Dak Prescott and NBA stars Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, and Trae Young, spoke out against the execution. More than 6.5 million people signed a petition calling for clemency after a documentary, The Last Defense, produced by Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress Viola Davis aired on ABC. On September 13, and again on November 1, (of 2021), the board voted 3-1 to recommend clemency.Īccording to Death Penalty Information Center, over the years Jones’ case has drawn worldwide attention, both for his claims of innocence and for the racial bias that infected his trial. In the months leading up to Stitt’s decision, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board had twice recommended that Jones’ sentence be reduced to life with the possibility of parole, based on evidence of Jones’ innocence. Governor Kevin Stitt ultimately commuted Julius’ sentence to life WITHOUT the possibility of parole 4 hours shy of the scheduled execution on November 18, 2021. Supreme Court has made unequivocally clear that our criminal justice system cannot tolerate such blatant examples of racial prejudice on the part of even a single juror. Jones’ arrest and the State’s removal of all prospective black jurors except one -evidence shows that a juror used the n-word before jury deliberations at the sentencing phase. In a case riddled with odious racial discrimination - including a police officer’s use of a racial slur during Mr. Jones’ co-defendant, Christopher Jordan, was released after only 15 years and is now a free man. However, after pleading guilty to the crime, Mr. Jones’ trial that his co-defendant would serve a 30-year sentence in exchange for his testimony. His co-defendant was the state’s key witness against him, and the prosecution repeatedly told jurors at Mr. Jones’ co-defendant fit an eyewitness’s description of the shooter, while Mr. Julius Jones sat on Oklahoma’s death row for over 20 years despite maintaining his innocence and compelling evidence that he was wrongfully convicted. Julius Darius Jones has maintained his innocence since his arrest in 1999.
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