Many of those whose convictions were vacated are Black. One-third of Macy's death penalty convictions have been overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct, the Innocence Project says. There are also questions about the record of District Attorney Bob Macy, who handled Jones' case, reports indicate. One juror reportedly referred to Jones by the N-word and suggested that he be taken out behind the courthouse and shot, the Innocence Project says.
JULIUS JONES CHARGES TRIAL
Race What it means for the jury to be nearly all white in trial for Ahmaud Arbery's death He got out of prison after serving 15 years behind bars. Jordan testified against Jones and received a plea agreement. When he was questioned by police, Jordan told police the gun was in Jones' parents' house. Jordan spent the night at Jones' home after Howell's murder, according to reports. Prosecutors say those cellmates are not credible, according to The Associated Press. They say they feel revictimized by the publicity the case has received, according to KOSU.Īttorneys for Jones say there are serious problems with the case.Ĭhris Jordan, the co-defendant in this case, and at the time of the shooting a friend of Jones', allegedly admitted to at least three cellmates that he was the one who killed Howell - not Jones. Howell's family members testified before the parole board and said they are convinced of Jones' guilt. Jones' execution had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Kevin Stitt reduced Julius Jones' death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Howell's sister was an eyewitness to the crime. Moments later, he was shot and killed - the victim of a carjacking.
Prosecutors have said Jones told a different story after his arrest.īut around the same time that evening, less than 20 miles away, Paul Howell was pulling up to his own parents' house. That's according to the Innocence Project, a nonprofit focused on exonerating the wrongly convicted.
On the night of July 28, 1999, Jones says he was with his family at his parents' Oklahoma City house having dinner and playing board games. Questions around Jones' co-defendant's story Oklahoma executed John Marion Grant in October and has several more executions planned for the coming months. If Jones' execution had gone ahead, it would have been just the second in Oklahoma since 2015, when the state paused the practice after it was found to be using an incorrect mix of drugs in the process. Oklahoma uses lethal injection to conduct executions. The Oklahoma City Public Schools told The New York Times that more than 1,800 students across 13 schools participated in the demonstration. Students from several area schools took part in a walkout on Wednesday to protest Jones' impending execution. Stitt's Thursday order states that Oklahoma law does not permit the parole board to recommend that a death sentence be commuted to life with the possibility of parole, citing a specific article in the state constitution. Questions over Jones' role in Howell's murder led the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board to recommend this month that his death sentence be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Attorneys fighting for his freedom say the case leading to his conviction was seriously flawed.
Jones has always maintained his innocence. Jones, 41, was sentenced to death for the 1999 shooting death of Paul Howell in Edmond, Okla. "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 announced. Stitt reduced Jones' sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, intervening before his scheduled lethal injection but falling short of the state parole board's recommendation. Kevin Stitt has commuted the death sentence of Julius Jones, after mounting public pressure and just hours before he was set to be executed. Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended this month that Julius Jones' death sentence be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
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