Kevin Stitt granted Julius Jones clemency, which will commute his death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. So everyone has an opinion on a complicated matter. And the judge’s bailiff signed an affidavit saying the juror never reported this, as she said she did.” “Prosecutors argue that when the trial judge asked her about this allegation the day after the alleged incident, she never mentioned the racial epithet. After Jones’ conviction, a juror in Jones’ trial wrote in an affidavit that another juror used a racial epithet and said that the jurors themselves should take Jones behind the jail and shoot him. Then there is the racial angle to this case. Jones claims Christopher Jordan placed the weapon in his attic after killing Howell. Police found the murder weapon wrapped in a bandana believed to have been worn by the shooter in an attic space above Jones’ bedroom, per Axios. Even Jones’ trial attorney, David McKenzie, wrote in an affidavit that he ‘personally concluded that the alibi defense was untrue.'” They also note that three people saw Jones with Howell’s stolen Suburban shortly after the killing. Prosecutors call that accusation a “blatant falsehood.” According to ABC, the prosecutors say, “Jones’ trial attorney never called the family to the witness stand because Jones repeatedly told his attorneys that he was not at home on the night of the murder. Jones and his family say that he was at home with them on the night of Howell’s murder but that no one in court presented this information during the trial. Jones’ alibi is another point of contention in the case. Jordan’s is not a persuasive showing of actual innocence.'” Prosecutors also note that a federal district court addressed this issue, noting ‘the length of (Jones’) hair compared to Mr. In contrast, “prosecutors say Tobey testified she never saw braids and that her testimony was referring to how much hair was visible between the top of the ear and the stocking cap, not the hair length. Jones’ attorneys suggest this was a better description of Jones’ co-defendant who testified against him, Christopher Jordan, who had corn-row braids at the time, and that the jury was never shown a photo of Jones taken a week before the murder that showed him with short, close-cropped hair.” “Paul Howell’s sister, Megan Tobey, who was an eyewitness to her brother’s killing, testified in court that the gunman was wearing a stocking cap that came down ‘about a half an inch to an inch’ above his ears, and that hair was sticking out from both sides. Jones alleges that his co-defendant Christopher Jordan, who testified against him, actually killed Howell and then framed Jones for the crime. Kim Kardashian West also visited Jones in jail.Īccording to ABC, J ones’ attorneys have argued the following: Since the doc aired in 2018, athletes with ties to Oklahoma - including Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin, Trae Young, and Mayfield - have pushed for Stitt to commute Jones’ death sentence. The Jones case drew attention after ABC profiled it in The Last Defense, a three-episode documentary. Jones has maintained his innocence for more than two decades. In 1999, the state convicted Julius Jones, then 19, of the murder of Paul Howell, a businessman in the affluent Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond. The story has since spread among sports fans and reporters, and now many users have learned of Stitt’s decision to commute Jones’ sentence from NBA insider Shams Charania this afternoon. Kevin Stitt to grant clemency to Julius Jones, who was scheduled to be executed by the state on Thursday. During a Wednesday presser, Baker Mayfield - current quarterback for the Cleveland Browns and former Heisman winner from the University of Oklahoma - pleaded with Oklahoma Gov.
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