Jones, who is Black, also argued that racism played a role in his trial and sentencing. “I did not participate in any way in his murder and the first time I saw him was on television when his death was reported.” Jones wrote to the parole board in April, after he had exhausted his appeals. Howell’s killing - and that prosecutors relied too heavily on the testimony of a co-defendant who said that he had seen Mr. Jones have argued that his defense lawyers failed him during his trial - for instance, by neglecting to question family members who said that he was having dinner with them at the time of Mr. Howell’s brother, Brian Howell, said at a news conference in September.Īdvocates for Mr. “Our family continues to be victimized by Julius Jones and his lies,” Mr. They could not be immediately reached for comment on Thursday. Howell, a white man whose sister and two daughters witnessed his killing, have said that the campaign to grant clemency to Mr. Howell, a businessman from the suburb of Edmond, was 45. A former high school basketball player from Oklahoma City, Mr. Jones had been found guilty of killing Paul Howell, who was in a car in the driveway of his parents’ home when he was carjacked and fatally shot in 1999. “A thorough review of the evidence confirms Julius Jones’s guilt in this case and that the death penalty was warranted.” O’Connor, a Republican, said in a statement. “We are greatly disappointed that after 22 years, four appeals, including the review of 13 appellate judges, the work of the investigators, prosecutors, jurors and the trial judge have been set aside,” Mr. Not everyone was happy with the decision, though Oklahoma’s attorney general, John O’Connor, said he appreciated the condition that Mr. While the legal team had hoped the governor would leave open the possibility of parole, she said, “we are grateful that the governor has prevented an irreparable mistake.” Stitt’s decision would restore “public faith in the criminal justice system.” In a statement, Amanda Bass, a lawyer for Mr. Many chanted, prayed and sang, and then erupted in cheers and applause when the news spread. Jones in the State Capitol and outside the governor’s mansion and the Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Hundreds of people also demonstrated in support of Mr. This week, hundreds of students across the state walked out of schools to protest Mr. Jones’s sentence be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole, giving Mr. In September and again this month, the state’s Pardon and Parole Board recommended that Mr. Stitt said in a statement that offered no further details of his thinking on the matter. “After prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case, I have determined to commute Julius Jones’s sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,” Mr. Jones, expressed surprise at the 11th-hour decision. Stitt this month in which she went through details of the case. And she took part in a private meeting with Mr. Masters also met with conservative lawmakers in Oklahoma who voiced their concerns. She got in touch with the Faith & Freedom Coalition, the conservative advocacy group founded by Ralph Reed.
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