Justice For Who?

Julius Jones, a convicted killer, had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole in 2021 by Oklahoma's governor Kevin Stitt ....

Innocent Or Guilty?

....  this after a series of celebrity led campaigns to free him as a 'victim of a wrongful conviction' and a ABC TV documentary 'The Last Defense', a three-episode program produced by the actress Viola Davis, that aired in 2018.

The state's Pardon and Parole Board had earlier recommended by a 3-1 majority vote, that Jones' sentence be commuted to life in prison with the possibility of parole, they had also recommended the same for another convicted killer by a 3-2 majority citing concerns over the states lethal injection protocols. Several members of the board also said they had doubts about the evidence that led to Jones's conviction.

Oklahoma has just ended a six-year moratorium on executions , which had been imposed after concerns over its lethal injection methods, and Jones's lawyers had filed a last-minute emergency request, seeking a temporary stop to his execution, saying Oklahoma's lethal injection procedures posed a "serious and substantial risk of severe suffering and pain to prisoners" .... duh, its meant to kill them.

Mr Jones was sentenced to death in 2002 for the killing of a man during a car-jacking in 1999 .... He of course maintains his total innocence. Governor Stitt, a Republican, said he had intervened "after prayerful consideration, and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case".

So what was the case .... well, Jones was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the 1999 shooting death of Mr Paul Howell, an insurance executive, from the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond, during a car-jacking on the victims parents driveway, while his sister and two daughters were sat watching the crime unfold in the SUV.

Trial transcripts show that:

1. Several witnesses identified Jones as the shooter and placed him with Mr Howell's stolen vehicle.
2. Police also found the murder weapon wrapped in a bandanna with Jones's DNA in an attic space above his bedroom.
3. Mr Howell's sister Megan Tobey, told the parole board that she distinctly saw Jones shoot her brother. She pleaded that "We need Julius Jones to be held responsible." 
4. Mr Howell's  daughter Rachel who was aged nine at the time, also witnessed the killing "He had a red bandana over his face, a white shirt, a silver gun up against his leg as he was walking up. [He] opened the door, and then shot my dad in the head."
5. A man named Ladell King was arrested after he had been caught trying to sell the stolen SUV. He told the arresting police officers that he had been asked to offload the stolen vehicle by Jones and a second man, Chris Jordan. 
6. King accused Jordan of being the driver and claimed that he and Jones were looking for Chevrolet Suburban's to steal, but that it was Jones who shot Howell.
7. Both King and Jordan directed the police's attention towards the home of Jones, where they found the murder gun wrapped in a red bandanna in his attic.
   

Also the case had been through four legal appeals, including the review of 13 appellate judges and the evidence found to be firm.

So the 'defence' .... well Jones claims that the gun and bandanna were planted by the true killer, who was inside his house after the shooting. The real killer he claimed was his high-school friend and former co-defendant Christopher Jordan (who was a key witness against him at the trials). The key being that Megan originally told the police that the killer was a "young black man wearing a red bandanna, a white shirt, and a stocking cap or skullcap." ... with his face covered. There have also been defence claims that racial bias played a part in the conviction with Jones alleging that he was called the N-word by the officer who arrested him..

Finally he also claimed that he wasn't even at the scene as he was at home having dinner with his parents and sister at the time of the murder, some 20 miles away from where Howell was killed in Edmond. A claim that his legal team at the time, failed to present as an alibi at his original trial ... which seems a very odd omission even for an incompetent defence team.

And that's it, a refutation of all the witnesses, especially Mr Howell's sisters and daughters eye witness account of the killing ...  and a recent claim of racial bias, the use of the N-word, and that it was just another black man with his face covered ... and finger pointing at Christopher Jordan, who just happened to also fit the description by Megan, and who was also a friend of Mr Jones, who also just happened to have had access to Mr Jones attic and possessions. Although why his close friend (and Mr King) decided to frame him, is not mentioned. 

The defence also states that prison confessions by Jordan confirmed he was the killer. A claim Mr Jordan, who has finished his sentence, strenuously denies - prison confessions are notoriously unreliable as the reporters usually have a motive, and felons often falsify or 'big up' their crimes, to try and get prison kudos/respect.

"I did not kill Mr Howell," he wrote in a letter to the parole board in April. "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." .... so that's OK then.

Needless to say Mr Howell's family are angry at this clemency, for a man they consider to be nothing but a stone cold killer, who has exhausted all his appeals in a 22 year process that has simply victimised them further. Of course the passage of time muddies the waters and memories, and thus aids the defence, whilst weakening the prosecution, which is why 22 years after events, Mr Jones is still appealing his innocence and throwing everything at the wall to see what sticks.

Now personally a lifetime in a US prison would be worse than death for me, but presumably not for Julius Jones, who may still harbour hopes that his celebrity backers such as reality TV star Kim Kardashian, will get this now life sentence, further commuted to a possibility of parole and eventual release. 

Its A Life Sentence For Mr Howell's Family

 

However daughter Rachel who was aged 9 said "I remember pulling into the driveway and watching [Jones] walk up to the car. I mean, he was right there. The door was already cracked open. I watched him walk up. He had a red bandanna over his face, a white shirt, a silver gun up against his leg as he was walking up. [He] opened the door, and then shot my dad in the head. That’s the main image I remember is my dad’s head falling."  

"These celebrities are spoon-fed information. They’re getting these packets of information, and it’s the same lies that can be easily contradicted with the facts and documents. What I would like to ask of them, if you’re ever going to advocate for something like this, a capital murder case, look at both sides." 

Proving once again that, its always a life sentence for the victims families in all these cases.