Julius Jones: Kim Kardashian reveals details of phone call as Oklahoma governor halts execution
Jones will not be executed, but will also be ineligible for further sentence reductions
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Julius Jones’ life was spared just hours before he was set to be executed.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt issued a statement just before 1:20pm EST announcing that he will commute Jones’ sentence to life in prison without the possibility for parole. He also noted in the statement that in doing so, he is removing Jones’ eligibility for any further reduction in his sentence.
“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,” Mr Stitt said in the statement.
After the announcement, Kim Kardashian, who had been a vocal proponent for Jones, revealed that she spoke with Jones on a phone call hours before his execution. She said he refused anti-anxiety medication common for death row inmates facing execution because of his “clear conscience.”
Earlier in the day, Jones’ attorneys filed an emergency injunction hoping to halt his execution, arguing that the state’s recent lethal injections have been riddled with problems that cause lingering, torturous pain and suffering for the inmates sentenced to death. The attorneys hope that by proving that Oklahoma’s lethal injections qualify as “cruel and unusual punishment” they can at least buy their client more time.
Mr Stitt also faced international pressure after the European Union’s ambassador to the US penned a letter calling on him to stop the execution. A petition against the execution has garnered more than 6 million signatures.
Jones, 41, has spent more than half of his life in prison after he was charged and convicted of the murder of Paul Howell during a 1999 carjacking. He has maintained that he is innocent of the crime and was framed by his then-friend and co-defendant, who allegedly actually shot Mr Howell.
Key arguments made Jones’ attorneys and response from prosecutors
Eye witness description of shooter
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’ 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. Jones has long said he was framed by Jordan, and that Jordan is the actual killer.
But 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. Prosecutors also note that a federal district court addressed this issue, noting “the length of (Jones’) hair compared to Mr. Jordan’s is not a persuasive showing of actual innocence.”
Jones’ Alibi
Jones and his family have maintained that he was at home with them on the night of Howell’s murder, eating dinner and playing games with his siblings, and that the jury was never presented this information at trial.
Prosecutors say this is a “blatant falsehood,” and that 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. They also note that three people saw Jones with Howell’s stolen Suburban shortly after the killing. Even Jones’ trial attorney, David McKenzie, wrote in an affidavit that he “personally concluded that the alibi defense was untrue.”
Jailhouse testimony
Jones’ attorneys say the jury also never heard from several individuals who have testified that Jordan admitted killing Howell and framing Jones. Prosecutors say those individuals, all of whom have lengthy criminal records, were not credible, knew no details of the murder and that their testimonies were not corroborated.
Racial bias
A juror in Jones’ trial wrote in an affidavit after Jones’ conviction that during the trial another juror engaged in premature deliberations and used a racial epithet while saying they should take Jones behind the jail and shoot him. Prosecutors argue that when the trial judge asked her about this allegation the day after the alleged incident, she never mentioned the racial epithet. And the judge’s bailiff signed an affidavit saying the juror never reported this, as she said she did.
Associated Press
Supporters of Howell family at Capitol
Supporters of the family of Paul Howell, the victim of the 1999 shooting, have been seen at the State Capitol.
They hold signs reading: “The real killer is still out there,” and “Justice for Paul Howell”.
‘I don’t want to go to a lynching’: Jones family speaks out at state capitol vigil
The Jones family has returned from visiting Julius Jones in prison, and are now speaking at the Oklahoma state capitol, outside of governor Kevin Stitt’s office.
“My son, he don’t need to repent,” Madeline Davis-Jones, Julius’s mother, said. “Repent for what? It’s not his fault that he’s a Black child.”
She compared the execution scheduled tomorrow to a “lynching.”
“I don’t want to go to a lynching tomorrow,” she said. “We should be through with that. Do you want your baby, your child be hanged? And especially if there’s nothing they’ve done.”
he Independent has explored the historical connections between lynching and the death penalty as part of its coverage of capital punishment in America.
The ‘stepchild of lynching’: How the death penalty targets Black people
Sites of historic lynchings closely mirror present day executions of Black people, writes Josh Marcus
‘He’s not this monster,’ Julius Jones’s mother says at vigil outside governor’s office
Julius Jones’s mother Madeline has been speaking to a large crowd of activists gathered in the state capitol outside of governor Kevin Stitt’s office.
She described the experience of seeing her son for what was potentially the last time on Wednesday, noting that she wasn’t even allowed to hug him.
“Today I had high expectations to hug my son,” Ms Jones said. “I saw him, but I been seeing him through a glass. A lot of people think I get to hug him. I don’t get to hug him. And he’s not this monster that people have portrayed him to be.”
Watch the Jones family address the public via livestream here, courtesy of KOCO 5 news.
Photo captures massive crowd outside of governor’s office
Oklahoma City journalist Marty Peercy captured a photo on Wednesday of the large crowd of Justice for Julius supporters who have rallied inside the state capitol. They’ve been here on and off for days, hoping to move Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt to halt Julius Jones’s execution. At this point, Mr Stitt is the only one who can stay the killing.
So far, the governor has declined to meet directly with the Jones family.
Julius Jones calls into demonstration, thanks supporters for ‘letting God move you'
Julius Jones called his family on Wednesday as they spoke to a crowd of supporters who’ve been gathering for days at the state capitol, hoping to persuade governor Kevin Stitt to call off the execution.
Here’s what Julius said, according to his sister Antoinette:
“He said all of this is God, everybody coming together. And he said he thanks y’all for letting God move you to come together. He said he loves each and every one of you. He said God has spoken, it is time. He said it’s time. It is time to correct this injustice.”
Why some Oklahoma officials say Julius Jones should go free
Officials on the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board have recommended twice that Julius Jones be taken off death row, a first in state history. They cited doubts about their confidence in his conviction for a 1999 murder.
Catch up on The Independent’s coverage of how Julius Jones got to this point, and what Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt could do to stay his execution.
The race to spare Julius Jones from the death chamber
Julius Jones has been fighting to leave Oklahoma’s death row for 20 years, sentenced to die for a crime he—and a growing body of evidence—says he didn’t commit. Josh Marcus writes
Julius Jones life ‘dangling’ in legal limbo as Oklahoma resumes executions
Oklahoma will begin executing inmates this week, leaving Julius Jones and other death row inmates with an ongoing constitutional case against the state uncertain about their future. Josh Marcus writes from Oklahoma
Oklahoma recommends taking Julius Jones off death row, citing ‘inherently wrong’ case
Julius Jones has maintained his innocence for decades, and came to attract a large movement of justice activists behind his case
‘This is evil’: Sister Helen Prejean blasts Julius Jones execution plans
Famed death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean is among the many calling on Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt to call off the execution of death row inmate Julius Jones.
In a statement posted to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, Ms Prejean said going through with the lethal injection scheduled for Thursday would be “evil,” given Oklahoma’s recent record of bungling executions, where inmates have visibly suffered before dying and been given the wrong drugs.
“This is not God’s will. This is evil,” she wrote. “On the heels of the botched execution of John Grant and in short order after Julius, five other human beings on Oklahoma’s death row are lined up to die. Is Gov. Stitt imitating former President Trump’s killing spree to assure his constituents that he is ‘tough on crime’ and all for ‘law and order’?”
For more context, here’s The Independent’s report on the controversy surrounding the Oklahoma execution protocol.
Supreme Court okays Oklahoma executions after six-year moratorium
The decision comes a day after a federal appeals court said the executions shouldn’t go forward.
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights calls on US to halt Julius Jones execution
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights called on the federal government to postpone the execution of Julius Jones, at least until it can consider an application before the body seeking to pause the killing.
Going forward risks executing a man who may not have received “the rights to a fair trial, and guarantees of due process, equality and non-discrimination,” the commission wrote, explaining its decision.
Parole board casts doubt on Oklahoma executions
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 on Wednesday to recommend clemency for death row inmate Bigler Stouffer.
Stouffer is sentenced to death for the 1985 murder of Putnam City teacher Linda Reaves and the shooting of Doug Ivens.
The board recommended clemency on Wednesday despite acknowledging that Stouffer is not innocent of the crimes he’s been convicted of.
Board members expressed concerns over the state’s death penalty procedures after the Oct. 28 execution of John Grant — the first inmate killed by the state since lifting a moratorium on executions related to botched procedures.
Grant convulsed and vomited while receiving the lethal injection, but the state said the execution went according to plan.
Stouffer is the second consecutive death row inmate to get a clemency recommendation following Grant’s death. Julius Jones, scheduled for execution on Thursday, is awaiting a final decision on his clemency from Gov. Kevin Stitt.
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