![]() She also thanked Stitt and the parole board. Kardashian West said Thursday on Twitter that she spent much of Wednesday on the phone with Jones between his visits with lawyers and his family. After that, reality television star Kim Kardashian West and other professional athletes with Oklahoma ties, including NBA stars Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin and Trae Young, and NFL quarterback Baker Mayfield, 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 Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis that aired on ABC in 2018. 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 had been 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. Several panel members said they doubted the evidence that led to his conviction.Īmanda Bass, a lawyer representing Jones, said the team had hoped Stitt would grant Jones a chance at parole, but they were grateful that he wasn’t being executed. Just Wednesday, in a separate death row case, the state’s Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-2 to grant clemency, citing lethal injection protocols.Įarlier this month, that same board also recommended in a 3-1 vote that Stitt commute Jones’ sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole. ![]() ET: This story has been updated with additional information and background.Oklahoma’s methods for capital punishment have been a concern for years. Newsweek reached out to Stitt's office for comment but did not hear back before publication. The board voted 3-1 to grant him clemency and recommended he instead face life in prison without the potential for one day receiving parole, according to The Oklahoman.Īfter the board's vote, the final decision on whether Jones would be granted clemency fell to Stitt, whose office told the paper at the time it was aware of the board's decision. In early November, Jones spoke with the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board to request clemency ahead of his execution. Rachel Howell, his daughter, recently told CNN that Jones' family and legal team "want people to believe that Julius Jones is completely innocent, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence against him." Howell's family has said they believe Jones was the one who carried out the 1999 murder. "It is clear that Julius' lawyer did not adequately defend him, and that explicit racial bias played a significant role in the process." "At the time of the crime for which he was convicted, Julius was a 19-year-old student athlete with a promising future, attending the University of Oklahoma on an academic scholarship," the petition says. "I need your help to save his life."Ī campaign called Justice for Julius has said that the case leading up to Jones' conviction was "riddled with odious racial discrimination" and that alleged racial slurs targeting Jones were used at the time of his arrest and during his trial. "When Julius Jones was 19-years-old, he was convicted of a murder he says he did not commit," Jones-Davis wrote in the petition summary. Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP A petition calling for clemency for Julius Jones, above, exceeded 6.5 million signatures just hours before his scheduled execution on Thursday in Oklahoma.
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