12/7/2023 0 Comments Clemency julius jones![]() Jones claimed in his commutation filing that the gun and bandanna were planted there by the actual killer, who had been inside Jones’ house after the killing. ![]() Investigators also found the murder weapon wrapped in a bandanna with Jones’ DNA in an attic space above his bedroom. Information from trial transcripts shows that witnesses identified Jones as the shooter and placed him with Howell’s stolen vehicle. However, 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.” “I appreciate the Governor’s condition that Mr. Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor said Thursday that he respected Stitt’s decision but that he remained convinced of Jones’ guilt. But Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater and the state’s former attorney general, Mike Hunter, have said the evidence against Jones is overwhelming. Jones alleges he was framed by the actual killer, a high school friend and former co-defendant who was a key witness against him. Since then, reality television star Kim Kardashian West and other professional 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 profile of Jones’ case grew significantly after it was featured in “The Last Defense,” a three-episode documentary produced by actress Viola Davis that aired on ABC in 2018. Jones was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die for the 1999 shooting death of Paul Howell, a businessman from the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, during a carjacking. “It’s a shame that it’s gotten this far, 24 hours away.” Been trying to get the facts stated and the truth to be told for a while,” Mayfield said Wednesday. “That’s not something that’s easy to talk about. ![]() Even Baker Mayfield, quarterback for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns and a Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Oklahoma, weighed in, his eyes filling with tears. ![]() Prayer vigils were held at the Oklahoma state Capitol, and barricades were erected outside the governor’s mansion. Jones’ looming execution - and Stitt’s silence on his decision - prompted high school students across Oklahoma City to walk out of their classes Wednesday, and protests were planned Thursday in Los Angeles Washington Newark, New Jersey and Saint Paul, Minnesota. “Governor Stitt took an important step today towards restoring public faith in the criminal justice system by ensuring that Oklahoma does not execute an innocent man,” Bass said in a statement. 1 that Stitt commute Jones’ sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole, with several members of the panel agreeing they had doubts about the evidence that led to Jones’ conviction.Īmanda Bass, a lawyer representing Jones, said the team had hoped Stitt would have fully supported the parole board’s recommendation of granting Jones a chance at parole, but that they were grateful Jones wouldn’t be executed. The state’s Pardon and Parole Board recommended in a 3-1 vote on Nov. Earlier Thursday, Jones’ attorneys had filed a last-minute emergency request seeking a temporary stop to his execution, saying Oklahoma’s lethal injection procedures pose a “serious and substantial risk of severe suffering and pain to prisoners.” The lawyers cited last month’s execution in which John Marion Grant convulsed and vomited as he was being put to death.
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