#Julius jones oklahoma dna full

“We take comfort that his decision affirmed the guilt of Julius Jones and that he shall not be eligible to apply for, or be considered for, a commutation, pardon or parole for the remainder of his life.” “We know Governor Stitt had a difficult decision to make,” the family said. Howell’s family remains convinced of his guilt, reiterating that belief in a statement. Jones’ clemency petition says he’s been on death row because of “fundamental breakdowns in the system tasked with deciding” his guilt, including ineffective and inexperienced defense attorneys, racial bias among his jury and alleged prosecutorial misconduct. Jones has been on death row for nearly 20 years, but he, his family, attorneys and supporters say he is innocent. He had been convicted of the 1999 murder of Paul Howell during a carjacking. The 11th-hour decision comes after years of protest over Jones’ death sentence.

#Julius jones oklahoma dna full

“While we had hoped the Governor would adopt the Board’s recommendation in full by commuting Julius’s sentence to life with the possibility of parole in light of the overwhelming evidence of Julius’s innocence,” Bass said, “we are grateful that the Governor has prevented an irreparable mistake.” In her own statement, Jones attorney Amanda Bass called the governor’s decision an “important step towards restoring public faith in the criminal justice system by ensuring that Oklahoma does not execute an innocent man.”īut she acknowledged Jones’ family and supporters had hoped he might get parole one day. As a result, the governor was commuting Jones’ sentence with the condition that he “shall not be eligible to apply for or be considered for a commutation, pardon, or parole for the remainder of his life,” the order says.

However, in his executive order, Stitt said neither the state constitution nor state law give the board the authority to recommend that commutation, nor do they give the governor the authority to grant it. Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board had recommended Jones’ sentence be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole in a 3-1 vote on November 1. The Republican governor came to the decision following “prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case,” he said in a statement on Twitter. Jones was scheduled to be executed at 4 p.m. Jones’ sentence will be commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to an executive order filed Thursday.

Kevin Stitt has granted clemency to Julius Jones, commuting Jones’ death sentence just hours before he was scheduled to be executed for a 1999 murder he says he did not commit.