Julius Jones (prisoner)

Julius Jones
2018 mugshot of Julius Jones
Born	Julius Darius Jones (1980-07-25) July 25, 1980 (age 41) Oklahoma, U.S.
Education	University of Oklahoma
Criminal status	Incarcerated
Conviction(s)	First-degree murder
Criminal penalty	Death (2002; commuted) Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (2021)
Details
Victims	Paul Scott Howell (aged 45)
Date	July 28, 1999
Location(s)	Edmond, Oklahoma, U.S.
Weapons	Handgun
Imprisoned at	Oklahoma State Penitentiary

Julius Darius Jones (born July 25, 1980) is an American prisoner and former death row inmate from Oklahoma who was convicted of the July 1999 murder of Paul Howell. His case has received international attention due to claims of innocence and controversy surrounding his trial and conviction. Jones and his defense team maintain his innocence, arguing that he was at home when the murder occurred and that his co-defendant, Christopher Jordan, is the true perpetrator of the crime. Howell's family maintains that Jones is guilty. Jones was scheduled to be executed on November 18, 2021.^[1] However, four hours before his scheduled execution, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt commuted his sentence to life without parole.^[2][3]

Early life[]

Jones was born to Madeline Davis-Jones on July 25, 1980,^[4] in Oklahoma.^[5] He was the second of three siblings and has one younger sister, Antoinette, and one older brother, Antonio.^[6] He attended John Marshall High School in Oklahoma City, where he was a star basketball player.^[7][8] Blake and Taylor Griffin's father coached Jones and his friend, Christopher Jordan, who later became his co-defendant in the 1999 crime.^[6][7] Jones has said that he knew Jordan was not a good influence, but wanted to help him.^[7]

Jones won a partial academic scholarship to the University of Oklahoma but withdrew during his second semester.^[6][9] Jones' family was not in poverty, but Jones committed several acts of larceny and petty theft, which he says he committed in order to obtain things his family could not afford.^[7][6]

Crime[]

Paul Scott Howell, a businessman, was shot to death while sitting in the driver's seat of his GMC Suburban, which was parked in the driveway of his parents’ home in Edmond, Oklahoma, on July 28, 1999.^[10][11][12] Howell's daughter, Rachel Howell, said she remembered sitting in the backseat of their car and seeing Jones approach the car before shooting her father in the head.^[10][11] Howell's sister, Megan Tobey, also testified that she saw Jones shoot her brother.^[13] The murderer then left in Howell's Suburban.^[10][6]

Witnesses at the time reported seeing a black man with a red bandana and 1–2 inches (25–50 mm) of hair showing between his ear and stocking cap shoot Howell.^[11][14][6] Jones had a shaved head at the time.^[10][11][14] Police found the murder weapon wrapped in a red bandana in Jones' family home.^[8] Jones and Jordan were ultimately arrested and indicted for first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a felony (the stolen Suburban).^{[15][10][11][14]}

Jones denied having a role in the carjacking that led to Howell's murder.^[7] Jones and his family have maintained that he was eating dinner and playing games at home with his family on the night of the murder.^[10][11][16] Jones also stated that Christopher Jordan spent the night at Jones' house on the evening of the murder and maintains that Jordan planted evidence framing Jones for the murder.^[7][8] According to Jones, the officer who arrested him called him a "nigger" and dared him to run, implying the officer would shoot him if he did.^[14][6]

Legal proceedings[]

Christopher Jordan, Jones' co-defendant, entered a plea agreement with the state in which he confessed to being the getaway driver;^[17] he received a 30-year prison sentence for murder and conspiracy under the condition that he testify against Jones.^[15][7] During the trial, neither Jones nor his family testified, and the defense team did not bring up his alibi.^{[10][14][6][11]} In an affidavit, Jones' public defender, David McKenzie, later stated that this was because he had "personally concluded that the alibi defense was untrue".^[16] Eleven out of the twelve jurors at the trial were white. One juror alleges another juror called for Jones to be lynched outside the courthouse.^[7] Jones was found guilty and sentenced to death in 2002.^[10][11]

Post-conviction[]

In 2014, Christopher Jordan was released after serving fifteen years in prison for driving the getaway car in Howell's murder.^[8][17] He has allegedly admitted to at least three others that he shot Howell and framed Jones.^{[7][11][8][14]} Jones' public defender at the time, David McKenzie, later acknowledged he gave ineffective counsel in a 2008 affidavit and detailed five major failures he made in Jones' trial.^[6]

In 2017, a DNA test identified Jones's DNA on the red bandana that was found wrapped around the murder weapon in his family's home.^[8] Jones's public defender stated that the test only matched 7 out of 21 genetic markers and was not up to law enforcement standards.^[18]

In March 2021, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater wrote a letter to the parole board in which he objected to commutation based on Jones's "extensive criminal history." Jones's legal team responded, saying that "much of what is in this letter is uncharged accusations...He ignores that fact that three people came forward and said that Christopher Jordan confessed to them that he committed the murder."^[19]

In April 2021, Jones wrote a letter to the parole board stating "I did not kill Mr. Howell. I did not participate in any way in his murder; and the first time I saw him was on television when his death was reported."^[8] Bob Macy, the district attorney at the time, has had one-third of his death penalty convictions overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct; several of those whose convictions were overturned have been exonerated.^[14][6] Oklahoma County is among the five worst counties in the U.S. in terms of wrongful capital convictions.^[6]

On September 13, 2021, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board held a commutation hearing and expressed doubt about Jones' guilt.^[20] Four people testified that co-defendant Christopher Jordan admitted to the murder while in prison.^[7][14] After several hours of testimony the board voted 3–1 in favor of commuting Jones' sentence to life in prison with the possibility of parole.^[10][21] Board members Adam Luck, Kelly Doyle, and Larry Morris voted in favor of clemency and Richard Smothermon voted against clemency.^[7] Board member Scott Williams recused himself from the vote due to an ongoing investigation of the board.^[7] The Board voted again in October and received the same results.^[7] The Board's decision was a recommendation for the Governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt.^[10] On November 1, 2021, Jones spoke before the Board at a clemency hearing and argued his innocence.^[7]

On September 20, 2021, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set execution dates for Jones and six other inmates on death row. Jones was scheduled for execution on November 18, 2021.^[22] Jones' attorney, along with other attorneys for people on death row, filed a request for a stay of execution.^[23] The attorneys argued that they had an agreement with former Attorney General of Oklahoma, Michael J. Hunter, that no executions would take place while they awaited an upcoming trial in February.^[23] The trial challenges whether Oklahoma's execution protocol, a three-drug cocktail, is legal.^[23] On October 27, 2021, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals released a decision staying the executions of Jones and another man on death row, John Marion Grant. The current attorney general, John M. O'Connor, appealed and asked the court to vacate the stays.^[23] The United States Supreme Court overturned the stays of execution for Jones and Grant; Grant was executed on October 28, 2021.^[24][25]

On November 3, 2021, the Oklahoma Legislative Black Caucus held a press conference asking Governor Stitt to grant Jones clemency.^[26] Members of the caucus, including Jason Lowe and Monroe Nichols, met with Jones a few months prior to the press conference.^[26]

On November 11, 2021, five Republican lawmakers, John Talley, Logan Phillips, Kevin McDugle, Garry Mize, and Preston Stinson released a joint statement asking Governor Stitt to accept the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board's clemency recommendation.^[1][27] Mercedes Schlapp, Matt Schlapp, and the American Conservative Union also asked Stitt to grant Jones clemency.^[28] More than 6.3 million people signed a change.org petition requesting that Jones not be executed.^[14]

The Howell family asked that the execution move forward.^[27] Governor Stitt met separately with Howell's family and Jones' defense team, but did not meet with the Jones family.^[27]

Commutation of sentence[]

On November 18, 2021, Governor Stitt commuted Jones' sentence to life without parole less than four hours before his scheduled execution.^[29][30] As a condition of clemency, Stitt ordered that Jones will never be eligible for a further commutation or pardon for the rest of his life.^[30] It is rare for death row inmates to be granted clemency by an Oklahoma governor, with only four having occurred prior to Jones; three by Brad Henry and one by Frank Keating.^[31]

Following the decision, Jones' family thanked Governor Stitt for sparing Jones from execution but also acknowledged they would keep fighting for his release. Jones's mother, Madeline Davis-Jones, praised God and Governor Stitt and issued a statement saying, "I still believe that every day Julius spends behind bars is an injustice, and I will never stop speaking out for him or fighting to free him. But today is a good day, and I am thankful to Gov. Stitt for that."^[32][33] Kim Kardashian also sent out a series of tweets thanking Governor Stitt for commuting the sentence.^[34] Jones' attorneys thanked Governor Stitt for commuting the sentence, but also added they would have preferred him to go with the recommendation of the board that Jones serve life with the possibility of parole.^[35]

The family of Paul Howell responded to the decision by saying they took comfort in the fact that Jones would not be eligible for parole or be considered for a commutation for the remainder of his life. The Attorney General of Oklahoma, John M. O'Connor, was disappointed with the decision, claiming the death penalty was warranted in Jones' case.^[36]

In popular culture[]

In 2018, Jones was featured in the first season of The Last Defense, an American documentary series that explores and exposes flaws in the American justice system.^[11] The episodes about Jones focused on evidence attorneys failed to present in court regarding Jones' co-defendant Christopher Jordan.^[11] Since the documentary aired, Kim Kardashian, J. Cole, and Stephen Curry have expressed support for Jones, and Kardashian visited Jones in prison.^[11][6] Jones' story was also featured on a 2020 podcast episode featuring Kardashian and a 2021 episode of The Late Late Show with James Corden.^[8] On July 15, 2020, Jones was featured on an episode of 20/20 titled The Last Defense: Julius Jones – A Special Edition of 20/20.^[37]

See also[]

• Richard Glossip, Oklahoma death row inmate who has also proclaimed his innocence

References[]