Entries tagged with “Julius Jones”
Issues
Feb 25, 2022
New DPIC Podcast: Julius Jones’ Long Road On and Off Oklahoma’s Death Row, and What Comes Next in His Case
In the February 2022 episode of Discussions with DPIC, federal public defender, Amanda Bass (pictured, right), and Justice for Julius advocate Cece Jones-Davis (pictured, left) speak with Death Penalty Information Center Managing Director Anne Holsinger about the questionable conviction and near execution of former Oklahoma death-row prisoner, Julius Jones. They discuss how incompetent representation and prosecutorial misconduct sent Jones to death row in Oklahoma County, how advocacy on his…
Executions
Executions Overview
,Feb 18, 2022
Oklahoma County Becomes Nation’s Third Most Prolific County Executioner as State Puts Intellectually Impaired Teen Offender to Death
When Oklahoma executed Gilbert Postelle on February 17, 2022, it came with a dubious distinction. The intellectually impaired man who was 18 years old at the time of his offense became the 44th person prosecuted in Oklahoma County to be put to death since executions resumed in the U.S. in 1977. His death made the county the nation’s third-most prolific county executioner over the past half-century, tied with Tarrant and Bexar counties in Texas. (Click to enlarge graphic.) Postelle was the…
Executions
Feb 10, 2022
Oklahoma is Paying Execution Doctor $15,000 Plus Training Fees for Each Execution
Oklahoma is paying $15,000 per execution, plus $1,000 for each day of training, to an unnamed doctor to participate in the process of putting state prisoners to death. Under the agreement, the doctor stood to receive an estimated $130,000 over the course of the 19-week-period between October 28, 2021 and March 10, 2022 in which the state had scheduled the executions of seven prisoners. The payments were disclosed by Oklahoma prison officials during federal court hearings in January 2022 on…
Issues
Jan 27, 2022
Oklahoma Executes Donald Grant: First U.S. Execution of 2022 is 43rd from County with Most Executions Outside Texas
Oklahoma carried out the first execution of 2022 in the U.S. on January 27, injecting Donald Grant (pictured, at his clemency hearing) with a three-drug chemical cocktail whose constitutionality is the subject of a pending federal trial. Grant, whose execution drew international attention because of his serious mental illness, was pronounced dead at 10:16 a.m. local time. Grant is the 43rd person capitally prosecuted in Oklahoma County to be put to death since executions resumed in the U.S. in…
Research
Jan 18, 2022
Chairman of Oklahoma Board of Pardons and Parole Forced Out Over Support for Death-Row Prisoners’ Clemency Petitions
Adam Luck (pictured), the Chairman of Oklahoma’s Board of Pardons and Parole, has resigned from the board under pressure from Governor Kevin Stitt because of Luck’s votes in favor of clemency for death-row prisoners. “When I began service on this board there was a moratorium on executions in the state of Oklahoma,” Luck wrote in his January 14, 2022 resignation letter to Stitt. “As we resumed executions in October I came to the conclusion that guided my votes during the five clemency hearings…
Research
Upcoming Executions
,Botched Executions
,Dec 07, 2021
Oklahoma Executes Bigler Stouffer After Governor Rejects Board Recommendation for Clemency, Federal Courts Deny Stay
Oklahoma executed Bigler Jobe Stouffer II (pictured, at his clemency hearing) on December 9, 2021, after Governor Kevin Stitt rejecting a pardons board recommendation to commute his sentence to life without parole and the federal courts denied his applications to stay his execution. Stouffer, 79, was the oldest prisoner put to death in Oklahoma. It was the eleventh and final execution of 2021. On November 17, 2021, the Oklahoma Pardons and Parole board voted 3 – 2 to recommend clemency for…
Issues
Upcoming Executions
,Dec 03, 2021
Wade Lay Execution to be Stayed, as Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board Denies Clemency to Two Other Death-Row Prisoners
The Oklahoma Attorney General’s office has agreed to a stay of execution for a severely mentally ill death-row prisoner who may be incompetent to be executed, while the state’s Pardon and Parole Board denied clemency to two other prisoners set to be put to death in Oklahoma’s five-month scheduled execution spree. After hearing testimony on November 29, 2021 that Wade Lay experiences paranoid delusions from schizophrenia that leave him without a rational understanding of the reason for his…
Issues
Nov 18, 2021
Oklahoma Governor Grants Clemency to Julius Jones
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has granted clemency to death-row prisoner Julius Jones (pictured). In an order announced four hours before his scheduled execution on November 18, 2021, Stitt commuted Jones’ death sentence to life without possibility of parole. Stitt granted the commutation “on the condition that [Jones] shall never again be eligible to apply for, be considered for, or receive any additional commutation, pardon, or parole.” In the months leading up to Stitt’s decision, the…
Issues
Upcoming Executions
,Nov 03, 2021
Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board Again Recommends Commuting Julius Jones’ Death Sentence
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has for a second time recommended that Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt grant clemency to death-row prisoner Julius Jones (pictured during the clemency hearing). Following a hearing on November 1, 2021, the board, citing doubts about Jones’ guilt, voted 3 – 1 to ask Stitt to commute his death sentence to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. Jones, who is Black, is scheduled to be executed November 18 on charges that he murdered Paul Howell, a white…
Research
Executions Overview
,Botched Executions
,Oct 28, 2021
Oklahoma Executes John Grant After Supreme Court Vacates Stay; Execution Proceeds Despite Pending Trial on Constitutionality of State’s Lethal-Injection Process
Within hours of a partisan vote in the United States Supreme Court lifting an appeals court stay, Oklahoma executed John Grant on October 28, 2021, ending a six-year hiatus brought on by a series of execution mishaps in 2014 and 2015. Eyewitnesses reported that Grant convulsed more than two dozen times and vomited as Oklahoma put him to death with a controversial three-drug execution cocktail whose constitutionality is the subject of a federal-court trial scheduled to begin in February 2022.
Executions
Upcoming Executions
,Oct 18, 2021
Federal Appeals Court Reinstates Oklahoma Death-Row Prisoners to Lawsuit in Decision That May Require State to Vacate Execution Dates
In a decision with potential to vacate a number of Oklahoma execution dates, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has held that a lower federal court abused its discretion in dismissing six death-row prisoners from a lawsuit challenging the state’s execution protocol. The appeals court decision, issued on October 15, 2021, said that a ruling by Judge Stephen Friot of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma that six death-row prisoners who had not designated an…
Issues
Upcoming Executions
,Sep 21, 2021
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Sets Seven Execution Dates
After more than six years with no executions and with a trial pending on the constitutionality of the state’s lethal injection process, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has issued death warrants setting seven execution dates in a less than five-month period between late October 2021 and mid-March 2022. The death warrants were issued September 20, 2021, 25 days after Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor filed and then revised a motion requesting the execution dates and 40 days after…
Issues
Sep 14, 2021
Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board Recommends Clemency for Julius Jones
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has voted to recommend that Governor Kevin Stitt commute the death sentence imposed on Julius Jones (pictured) by an Oklahoma County jury in 1999 to a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole. After a three-hour hearing on September 13, 2021 that featured testimony from prosecutors, defense attorneys, and family members of murder victim Paul Howell, the board voted 3 – 1 in favor of commutation, with one member, Scott Williams, recusing…
Issues
Sep 02, 2021
Oklahoma Attorney General Requests Seven Execution Dates Despite Pending Trial on Constitutionality of Lethal-Injection Protocol
Despite the pendency of a trial on the constitutionality of the state’s lethal-injection protocol, newly appointed Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor has asked the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set execution dates for seven prisoners on the state’s death row. If the court approves the execution dates, they would be Oklahoma’s first attempt to carry out executions in more than six years, ending a hiatus brought on by a series of botched executions. On August 26, 2021, O’Connor…
Research
Jul 07, 2021
NEWS BRIEF — Poll Finds 60% of Oklahoma Voters Who Know of Julius Jones Case Support Commuting His Death Sentence
A survey of 500 registered voters in Oklahoma, conducted June 24 – 28, 2021 by the Oklahoma polling firm Amber Integrated, has found that 60% of those who said they knew anything about the case of death-row prisoner Julius Jones believe Oklahoma authorities should commute his death sentence. The poll results are virtually identical to those in an Amber Integrated public affairs survey conducted from December 14 – 17, 2020, except that a significantly larger percentage of Oklahomans are now aware of…
Issues
Mar 09, 2021
NEWS BRIEF — Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board Advances Julius Jones’ Commutation Application
Julius Jones (pictured) will receive a “stage two” commutation hearing after the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3 – 1 to advance his commutation application past the initial summary review stage. Jones maintains his innocence in the 1999 murder of Paul Howell, for which he was sentenced to death in 2002. The board’s March 8 vote means that Jones will receive a more in-depth review of his case for clemency and affords him the opportunity to present witnesses and speak to the board members…
Issues
Mar 02, 2021
As 6 Million Seek Clemency for Julius Jones, New Evidence that Another Man Confessed Points to His Innocence
As supporters of Oklahoma death-row prisoner Julius Jones submitted more than six million signatures supporting his petition for clemency, new evidence emerged that another man had committed the killing that sent Jones to death row. On February 25, 2021, Jones’ supporters joined members of his family and Oklahoma City faith leaders for a rally and march to the offices of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, where they delivered boxes containing petitions signed by more than 6 million people…
Issues
New Voices
,Sep 16, 2020
NFL Season Begins with Players Outspoken about Death Penalty, Racial Justice
As the 2020 National Football League (NFL) season’s opening weekend began on Sunday, September 13, end zones were painted with the words “End Racism” and “It Takes All of Us.” Six NFL teams remained in locker rooms for the National Anthem, and players and one coach kneeled. After having been accused of blackballing players who peacefully demonstrated during the national anthem, the NFL stated in early September that “[t]he league is committed to integrating important causes vital to players and…
Issues
Jun 19, 2020
As Support for Julius Jones Clemency Grows, Oklahoma Parole Board Turns to State Prosecutors on Scope of Commutation Power
As high-profile support mounts in the campaign for clemency for death-row prisoner Julius Jones (pictured), the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has turned to the prosecutors who are seeking his execution — the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office — for advice on whether it can consider his petition at all. The question facing the board is whether Oklahoma law permits it to conduct clemency proceedings for a death-row prisoner who does not face an active death warrant. Jones’ case, which raises…
Issues
Oct 18, 2019
Julius Jones Clemency Petition Garners Support from Civil Rights and Faith Leaders, Criminal Justice Experts
Lawyers for Oklahoma death-row prisoner Julius Jones (pictured) have petitioned the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board for clemency, arguing that Jones was wrongly convicted and that his trial was tainted by racial bias. The petition, filed on October 15, 2019, has drawn support from a diverse range of civic, civil rights, and faith leaders and criminal justice experts. Jones, who is black, was convicted and sentenced to death by a nearly all-white jury for the 1999 killing of a white…
Issues
Feb 11, 2019
Death-Row Prisoners Ask Supreme Court to Review Georgia, Oklahoma Verdicts Involving Racist Jurors
Georgia death-row prisoner Keith Tharpe (pictured, left) and Oklahoma death-row prisoner Julius Jones (pictured, right) are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to grant them new trials after evidence showed that white jurors who described the defendants with racist slurs participated in deciding their cases. The involvement of the racist jurors, the prisoners say, violated their Sixth Amendment rights to impartial juries. A juror in Tharpe’s trial gave a sworn affidavit years after voting to convict…
Issues
Jan 24, 2019
U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Review Cases Alleging Racial Bias in Oklahoma Death Penalty
The United States Supreme Court has declined to review challenges brought by two Oklahoma death-row prisoners who alleged that their death sentences were the unconstitutional product of racial bias. Julius Jones and Tremane Wood had sought to overturn their death sentences based on the findings of a 2017 study that showed significant racial disparities in Oklahoma’s death sentencing practices. On January 22, 2019, the Court denied the petitions for writ of certiorari after having rescheduled…
Issues
Aug 29, 2018
Congressional Black Caucus Asks Oklahoma Governor to Review Case of Julius Jones
The Congressional Black Caucus has urged Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin to review the case of death-row prisoner Julius Jones (pictured) and to use her authority to correct what it characterized as his “wrongful conviction.” In an August 21, 2018 letter to the Governor, the Black Caucus — an organization of African-American members of the U.S. House of Representatives — expressed its “deep concerns” about racial bias in the application of the death penalty in Oklahoma and the risk of executing…
Issues
New Voices
,Aug 15, 2018
Fox Commentator: Oklahoma “Frontier Justice” Has Produced “Wretched Record” of Wrongful Capital Convictions
Calling Oklahoma “the notorious home of ‘Hang ’Em High’ executions,” conservative commentator and Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin (pictured) has urged the state to adopt sytemic reforms to address its “wretched record on wrongful convictions.” Malkin says that despite 35 exonerations in the last 25 years — including 7 death-row exonerations — and a “reign of prosecutorial terror and forensic error by the late Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy and rogue Oklahoma City police department…
Issues
Jun 13, 2018
Television Documentary Chronicles Innocence Claims of Two Death-Row Prisoners
A new documentary airing on ABC tells the stories of Darlie Lynn Routier and Julius Jones, two death-row prisoners who have long argued they were wrongfully convicted. The Last Defense, produced by Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress Viola Davis and her husband Julius Tennon, focuses its first four episodes on Routier, a Texas woman convicted of killing her young son, then highlights Jones, a Black man who was a 19-year-old college student when he was arrested for the murder of a White…
Issues
New Voices
,Apr 25, 2018
Powerful New Documentaries Explore Death-Penalty Issues
Three powerful new documentaries that explore the modern death penalty in the United States are set to premiere this April. Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis and Julius Tennon are executive producers of The Last Defense, a new documentary series premiering for the first time at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival on April 27. The seven-episode documentary series exposes flaws in the U.S. justice system through the personal narratives of death row prisoners Darlie Routier and Julius Jones, both whom…
Issues
Jul 27, 2017
Oklahoma Prisoners Argue State’s Application of the Death Penalty Is Racially Biased, Unconstitutional
Newly available evidence shows that Oklahoma’s death penalty unconstitutionally discriminates on the basis of race, according to petitions filed by lawyers seeking to overturn the death sentences imposed on two African-American defendants, Julius Darius Jones (pictured) and Tremane Wood. Jones — a high school athlete and honor student who did not fit the description of the shooter and who has continuously maintained his innocence — and Wood were convicted and sentenced to death for killing white…