#Oklahoma justice for julius trial
But the panic prompted by this cruel murder resulted in an unfair trial and it threatens the life of my former John Marshall student, Julius Jones. Howell and the trauma of the family he left behind, are deserving of justice. In 1999, the Edmond businessman, Paul Howell, was murdered in a botched carjacking in his driveway. Learn more about his case on this special edition of 20/20.Justice For Julius was written by John Thompson, an award winning historian, an award-winning inner city teacher and author. Visit the Julius Jones Official Website: įollow Justice for Julius on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.ĭonate to Justice for Julius to help keep this fight going. Here’s what you can do today to support Julius Jones’ fight for justice:
More than 1,800 students at 13 Oklahoma City Public Schools participated in a walkout on November 17 in protest of the impending execution date. In the days before the scheduled execution, representatives of the European Union and nearly a dozen European countries publicly urged Stitt to commute Jones’ sentence.
Celebrities from the rapper Common to reality television personality Kim Kardashian West and athletes with Oklahoma connections, including NFL quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Dak Prescott and NBA stars Blake Griffin, Russell Westbrook, and Trae Young, spoke out against the execution. More than 6.5 million people signed a petition calling for clemency after a documentary, The Last Defense, produced by Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress Viola Davis aired on ABC. On September 13, and again on November 1, (of 2021), the board voted 3-1 to recommend clemency.Īccording to Death Penalty Information Center, over the years Jones’ case has drawn worldwide attention, both for his claims of innocence and for the racial bias that infected his trial. In the months leading up to Stitt’s decision, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board had twice recommended that Jones’ sentence be reduced to life with the possibility of parole, based on evidence of Jones’ innocence.
Governor Kevin Stitt ultimately commuted Julius’ sentence to life WITHOUT the possibility of parole 4 hours shy of the scheduled execution on November 18, 2021. Supreme Court has made unequivocally clear that our criminal justice system cannot tolerate such blatant examples of racial prejudice on the part of even a single juror. Jones’ arrest and the State’s removal of all prospective black jurors except one -evidence shows that a juror used the n-word before jury deliberations at the sentencing phase. In a case riddled with odious racial discrimination - including a police officer’s use of a racial slur during Mr.
#Oklahoma justice for julius free
Jones’ co-defendant, Christopher Jordan, was released after only 15 years and is now a free man. However, after pleading guilty to the crime, Mr. Jones’ trial that his co-defendant would serve a 30-year sentence in exchange for his testimony. His co-defendant was the state’s key witness against him, and the prosecution repeatedly told jurors at Mr.
Jones’ co-defendant fit an eyewitness’s description of the shooter, while Mr. Julius Jones sat on Oklahoma’s death row for over 20 years despite maintaining his innocence and compelling evidence that he was wrongfully convicted. Julius Darius Jones has maintained his innocence since his arrest in 1999.
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