Weeks later, his attorneys filed a new appeal asking the court to consider evidence against a specific juror. Supreme Court announced that it would not get involved in the case when Jones’ attorney argued that people of color in Oklahoma are more likely to be sentenced to death when the victim in the case is white. The Jones family has always maintained Julius’ innocence.
#JUSTICE FOR JULIUS JONES PETITION TRIAL#
However, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said those defending Jones have “disseminated misinformation and lies regarding the trial and evidence” in the case. His supporters said his original defense team failed him, never even bringing up his alibi for the night of the murder. Jones never took the stand, and he was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death. Jones was arrested and was put on trial for the murder. Scene from the murder of Paul HowellĪt the time of the crime, Julius Jones was a 19-year-old honor student on a scholarship at the University of Oklahoma. Investigators say the alleged suspect took off in Howell’s Suburban after killing the businessman. In July of 1999, Edmond businessman Paul Howell was shot and killed in the driveway of his parents’ Edmond home. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – After an Oklahoma death row inmate’s appeal for a judicial review was denied earlier this year, his attorneys have now filed a petition for clemency. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Jones is asking the Pardon and Parole Board and Gov.This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. A 2017 report by the Oklahoma Death Penalty Review Commission also illustrates that black individuals in Oklahoma who are accused of killing white victims are two to three times more likely to be sentenced to death than are white individuals accused of the same crime.Īll that’s left for Jones despite these disturbing facts is clemency, which allows the executive branch to commute excessive sentences and show mercy. The editorial claims that a white T-shirt taken from Jones’ bedroom illustrates his guilt. But no blood or biological fluid was detected on that shirt, which one would expect to find given the shooter’s close proximity to the victim.įinally, the editorial dismisses outright the racism that tainted the fairness of Jones’ trial, ignoring a juror’s sworn affidavit about the racism she personally witnessed among those who decided Jones’ guilt and sentenced him to die. Finally, the editorial board would know that the limited test results provide no information about how DNA was deposited onto the bandanna which could have been transferred during the police handling of items in Jones’ bedroom. It also would know that it’s not accurate to describe the DNA as a “match” to Jones since that simple conclusion isn’t supported by the limited test results. If The Oklahoman reviewed the DNA report supporting Jones’ clemency petition, its readers would know that the DNA results on the bandanna include degraded DNA from three or more people.
The Oklahoman claims that DNA results from testing of a red bandanna incriminate Jones. The two main witnesses against Jones were confidential informants for the police and received deals on unrelated charges. The prosecution told jurors that the co-defendant would serve 30 years of a life sentence but, inexplicably, he was released after serving just 15 years.
However, neither they nor any other witness were called in Jones’ defense at trial.
His family members were prepared to testify that he was at home during the crime’s commission. At the time, Jones’ hair was much shorter than half-an-inch and closely cropped - a fact documented by a photograph never shown to his jury. She described the assailant as having half-an-inch of hair sticking out from his cap. Julius Jones didn’t match the description of the assailant that the only eyewitness to the crime provided to police. Regarding “Facts temper leniency calls” (Our Views, Oct. Point of View: Facts support clemency for Oklahoma death row inmate Below is an op-ed written by Julius Jones’ attorneys, published by The Oklahoman on Sunday, October 27, 2019:
0 kommentar(er)
