Black killer on death row for murder of a White man - blames 'racism' not his own evil act

Arheel's Uncle

Senior Reporter
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Oklahoma prosecutor urges panel to reject inmate’s claims

National & World News
by: SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press
Posted: Mar 3, 2021 / 01:14 PM CST / Updated: Mar 3, 2021 / 01:14 PM CST
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FILE – This undated file photo released by Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Julius Jones. Oklahoma County’s top prosecutor is asking the state’s Pardon and Parole Board to reject a commutation request from Jones. Jones’ case has drawn national attention and he’s scheduled for a commutation hearing next week. Jones was convicted and sentenced to die for the 1999 shooting death of Edmond businessman Paul Howell. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP File)


OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The evidence implicating an Oklahoma death row inmate whose case has drawn national attention is overwhelming and his application for a commutation is filled with “demonstrable falsehoods,” Oklahoma County’s top prosecutor wrote in a letter this week to the state’s Pardon and Parole Board.
The murder conviction of Julius Jones, 40, for the 1999 shooting death of Edmond businessman Paul Howell in front of Howell’s two young daughters has drawn the attention of reality television star Kim Kardashian West and athletes with Oklahoma ties, including NBA stars Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin and Trae Young, who have urged Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt to commute Jones’ death sentence and spare his life.


:barf2:KIM & NBA

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater detailed the evidence against Jones in a 15-page letter on Monday to the state’s Pardon and Parole Board in which he urged the panel to deny Jones’ request for a commutation hearing.
“To this day, Jones has not expressed an ounce of remorse for his callous actions,” Prater wrote. “Instead, he continues to victimize the Howell family by fueling a media circus with outright lies and by making a farce of this clemency process.”
Jones is scheduled for a phase one commutation hearing next week before the five-member parole board. If approved, the case would move to a more in-depth hearing that could ultimately lead to a commutation recommendation to the governor, who has the final say.
This week, Jones’ legal team released a video and a letter from a man who served time in an Arkansas’ prison with a man who was with Jones when Howell was killed, testified against him and served 10 years in prison. That man, Christopher Jordan, has since been released. In the video, Arkansas inmate Roderick Wesley alleges that Jordan confessed to killing Howell and framing Jones.
Prater’s letter didn’t specifically address this most recent allegation, but noted that appellate courts rejected claims that Jones’ attorneys were ineffective for not calling two other inmates who made similar claims that Jordan confessed to killing Howell.
“Questions about allegations of innocence made by the murderer, his counsel or his supporters are addressed in the filing,” Prater said in an email to The Associated Press when asked about the latest allegation from Wesley. “Continued misinformation espoused by the killer’s PR firm will not be responded to.”
Prater’s letter also addresses numerous other claims raised by Jones’ defense team, including that a juror in his trial alleged 15 years later that another juror used a racial epithet to describe Jones, who is Black. Prater said this allegation also was dismissed by the Court of Criminal Appeals, which determined it was “highly improbable.” The U.S. Supreme Court also rejected this claim.
Although Jones has exhausted all of his appeals, a date for his execution has not been set while Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocols are being challenged in federal court.
 

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Re: BLACK: Oklahoma prosecutor urges panel to reject inmate’s claims

Attorney General Hunter Reiterates Facts from Julius Jones’ Trial

Racism Tainted Julius Jones' Murder Conviction. He's on Death Row Anyway.

EDMONTON, Oklahoma—When Julius Jones was charged with killing a white man in a carjacking, he faced a 12-person jury with only one Black person. One juror used a racial slur and threatening language in the jury room. Jones’ arresting officer also allegedly used a racial slur when confronting him.

Slain businessman's daughter supports BLM movement, disagrees with demand for Julius Jones' clemency
EDMOND, Okla. —
One of the demands the Oklahoma City chapter of Black Lives Matter released after demonstrations saw clashes between police officers and protesters over the weekend was for clemency to be granted for death row inmate Julius Jones.

Jones was convicted and sentenced to death in 1999 for the deadly shooting of Edmond businessman Paul Howell. The victim’s daughter, who was 9 years old when she witnessed her father’s murder, posted on social media Wednesday that while she supports the Black Lives Matter movement, she does not agree with people who want to see Jones released from death row.


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“Personally, coming from someone who has been a victim of gun violence and witnessed the murder of my father that happened to be by an African American man, this extremely traumatic experience for me has NEVER skewed my views against people of color,” Howell’s daughter, who didn’t want her name released, wrote. “While I do NOT agree with the individuals attempting and advocating for my father’s murderer’s release (Julius Jones, which the additional round of DNA tests came back positive for him), I do believe the innocent people of color and innocent minorities out there deserve a chance. A chance at life. A chance at opportunity.
 
DNA (black) “Julius Jones had his day in court,” Oklahoma AGl addresses support for death row inmate

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“Julius Jones had his day in court,” Oklahoma attorney general addresses support for death row inmate

by: KFOR-TV and K. Querry
Posted: Jul 6, 2020 / 02:47 PM CDT / Updated: Jul 6, 2020 / 03:19 PM CDT

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – In recent months, celebrities ((((Mandy Patinkin))) latest Twitter Campaign), religious leaders, and professional athletes have spoken out in support of an Oklahoma death row inmate.
On Monday afternoon, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter held a news conference to address the Julius Jones case.
In July of 1999, Edmond businessman Paul Howell was shot and killed in the driveway of his parents’ Edmond home. Investigators say the alleged suspect took off in Howell’s Suburban after killing the businessman.
Scene from the murder of Paul Howell At the time of the crime, Julius Jones was a 19-year-old honor student on a scholarship at the University of Oklahoma.
Jones was arrested and was put on trial for the murder. Jones never took the stand, and he was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death.
His supporters said his original defense team failed him, never even bringing up his alibi for the night of the murder.
However, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater said those defending Jones have “disseminated misinformation and lies regarding the trial and evidence” in the case.
The Jones family has always maintained Julius’ innocence.
“As God is my witness, I was not involved in any way in the crimes that led to Howell being shot and killed,” Jones said in his clemency report. “I have spent the past 20 years on death row for a crime I did not commit, did not witness and was not at.”
JPG Julius Jones

In January, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it would not get involved in the case when Jones’ attorney argued that people of color in Oklahoma are more likely to be sentenced to death when the victim in the case is white.
Weeks later, his attorneys filed a new appeal asking the court to consider evidence against a specific juror.
That juror is accused of using a racial slur when referring to Jones during the trial, and reportedly told another member of the jury that someone should shoot Jones ‘behind the jail.’
Defense attorneys say the judge in the case knew about the conversation, but didn’t remove the juror from the trial.
However, the Supreme Court still denied Jones’ petition for a judicial review.
“The U.S. Supreme Court twice declined to look at the issues in Julius’ case, issues related to racism,” Dale Baich, one of Jones’ federal defense attorneys, told News 4.
In recent months, Jones’ case has gained national attention with many people calling on state leaders to intervene.

On Monday, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said he felt it was important to bring to light some of the facts of the case, saying there is an orchestrated effort to get Jones off of death row.
“Julius Jones murdered Paul Howell in cold blood in front of his sister and daughters,” Hunter said. “No celebrity imploration or profusion of misinformation will change that.”
He says the information from the trial transcript disproves the claims made by his supporters.
“Julius Jones had his day in court,” Hunter said.
Hunter says one of the key factors in the case was a red bandanna that was found wrapped around the murder weapon in Jones’ home.
In 2018, the bandanna was tested for DNA evidence after Jones’ defense attorneys claimed the evidence would prove that Jones was being framed. :rolleyes:
However, the results of the DNA profile showed the probability of the DNA belonging to someone other than Jones was one in 110 million African Americans.

Hunter says in regards to the racial comment that was allegedly made by a juror is not what it seems. He says bias claim by a juror was thoroughly investigated
During the trial, Hunter says the juror says she heard a ‘provocative comment’ made by another juror. However, she said she had only heard part of the comment and wasn’t sure if it was about Jones.
At the time, the juror did not tell the judge that a racial remark was made.
Hunter also said there were some disparities about Jones’ alibi for the evening of the murder.
Dale Baich, the lead federal defense attorney for Jones, released the following statement:
“We stand by what we’ve argued in court, what we’ve presented to the Pardon and Parole Board. We are hopeful that we will have an opportunity to present the case to the board so that it could decide whether he got a fair trial.”
Hunter said he spoke with the victim’s family, who said that they felt that no one was advocating on their behalf.
 
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