The jury was also not shown a photo of Jones, taken days before Howell’s killing, that the petition says would have shown he did not match the shooter’s description. For example, Jones’ family says, he was home with them the night of the murder, the petition says. None had handled a death penalty case before Jones, and at trial, the attorneys did not present any evidence or call a single witness in Jones’ defense during the stage of his trial where his guilt was determined, the petition says.Īs a result, evidence his team says would have exonerated Jones was never presented to the jury. In his clemency petition, Jones’ attorneys contend his conviction was the result of numerous failures, such as his “inexperienced, overworked, and under-resourced public defenders.” Jordan testified against Jones, who was convicted and sentenced to death. He was tried alongside a co-defendant, Christopher Jordan, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit a robbery, per online court records. Jones, 19 at the time, was arrested three days later on July 31, the day after authorities found the murder weapon wrapped in a red bandana inside his family’s home. The shooter fired again as Howell’s sister and his daughters ran to the house, documents say. Howell’s sister glanced back, court documents say, and saw a Black man she said was wearing jeans, a white T-shirt, a black cap and a red bandana over his face. Howell’s sister told his daughters to gather their belongings and was exiting the vehicle when she heard a gunshot, court documents say. Around 9:30 p.m., Howell, his adult sister and his daughters pulled into his parents’ driveway in his 1997 Suburban, according to court documents. Howell was killed in a carjacking the night of July 28, 1999. I hope and pray they find healing and peace,” Davis-Jones said. “I know what it is like to have a loved one ripped away from you and to constantly relive that loss. “Overall, this has been extremely tough on our family,” she said, “as we have continued to be re-victimized by Julius Jones when we have done absolutely nothing wrong.”ĭavis-Jones said Monday she will keep the Howell family in her prayers. In a statement to CNN, Rachel Howell said Jones, his family and defense team “want people to believe that Julius Jones is completely innocent, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence against him.” Both have rejected the evidence put forth by Jones and his attorneys, with the previous attorney general referring to it as “misinformation.” The groundswell of sympathy for Jones, however, has been painful for Howell’s family, which - along with the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office - have pointed out Jones’ sentence has been repeatedly upheld on appeal. Support for Jones is ‘extremely tough’ on victim’s family, daughter says “I am not accepting the Pardon and Parole Board’s recommendation to commute the sentence of Julius Jones,” Stitt wrote, “because a clemency hearing, not a commutation hearing, is the appropriate venue for our state to consider death row cases.” Ultimately, the decision for clemency lies with the governor, who said in a letter to the parole board last month he would not make a decision based on their recommendation Jones’ sentence be commuted, saying instead a clemency hearing would be the “appropriate venue” for his case to be considered. But a week later, an execution date was set by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals, prompting the clemency hearing. Monday’s hearing took place before the same parole board that recommended in September Jones’ sentence be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole. “I think it has meant the absolute world, that people have come together and that that numbers of supporters are fighting for Julius.” “I don’t know where we would be,” she said. But she believes the broad support today has made a difference. Before “The Last Defense,” she said there weren’t many people aware of Jones’ case. That was echoed by Cece Jones-Davis, the director of the Justice for Julius campaign, which aims to raise awareness of Jones’ case and lobby for clemency. “I appreciate that we have the help now,” she said, “because we didn’t have that 22 years ago.” It means that we can kind of breathe a little bit easier, knowing that other people are willing to fight alongside us. “It means the world to me,” Jones’ younger sister, Antoinette Jones, told CNN in an interview. The support goes beyond his family and celebrities: More than 6.4 million people have signed a petition asking Stitt, a Republican, to prevent his execution. Jones’ case has attracted widespread attention in recent years, in part due to the ABC documentary series “The Last Defense,” which spotlighted his case in 2018. CNN has reached out to Howell for reaction to the board’s recommendation.
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