Julius Jones hearing: ‘I feel good all over’ mother of death row inmate says as clemency recommended

A spokesperson for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt said he’s “aware of the Pardon and Parole Board’s vote today,” but added that “our office will not offer further comment until the Governor has made a final decision”.

A lawyer for Jones, Amanda Bass, said that “the Pardon and Parole Board has now twice voted in favour of commuting Julius Jones’s death sentence, acknowledging the grievous errors that led to his conviction and death sentence”.

“We hope that Governor Stitt will exercise his authority to accept the Board’s recommendation and ensure that Oklahoma does not execute an innocent man,” she added, according to KFOR.

“Clemency is an appropriate recommendation in this case,” the Archbishop of Oklahoma City, Paul Coakley, said in a statement. “No matter the guilt or innocence of Julius Jones, there is doubt. The death penalty is final and leaves no opportunity to seek the truth. Please pray for the children, family and friends of Paul Howell who have endured years of appeals and hearings while grieving tremendous loss. As Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount, ‘Blessed are the merciful for they will receive mercy.’”

Antoinette Jones, the sister of Julius Jones, told reporters following the clemency recommendation from the parole board that she encourages “our honourable governor of Oklahoma, Kevin Stitt, to please take our evidence into consideration”.

“Please take the recommendation, adopt the recommendation from his pardon and parole board that voted again today, 3-1, to life with the possibility of parole,” she added.

The was both outrage and relief as social media users shared their reactions to the Oklahoma parole board’s decision to recommend clemency for 41-year-old Julius Jones.

“I think today’s news of Julius Jones clemency is definitely a forward step in the true values [of] our justice system,” Faith-Jay Jackson tweeted. “I believe in justice for both Paul Howell and his family, but as well as Julius Jones. Prayers for what’s right rather than convenient.”

“We watched our social Justice system fight tooth and nail to kill an innocent man in Julius Jones while we simultaneously watch the same system, institutions, media companies, and political parties, fight tooth and nail to justify people like Kyle Rittenhouse, and make them heroes,” another Twitter user wrote.

But others went against the parole board, insisting that Jones is guilty.

“Julius Jones is guilty. He did match the witness description. He had all of the clothing described by the witness and the murder weapon and his DNA matched. It’s not up for honest debate anymore. He’s guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” one account holder wrote.

The Howell family spoke to reporters after the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-1 to recommend to the governor that he grant clemency to Julius Jones, 41.

“We’d hoped that the board would change their recommendation based on the numerous documented falsehoods and half-truths argued by the Jones defence team at the commutation hearing,” Paul’s brother Bill Howell said.

“We’re saddened that our tragedy has been used by so many that choose to assume, without any fact-checking whatsoever, the worst of jurors, law enforcement, and the prosecutors, who bravely and tirelessly has sought justice for Paul and our family,” he added.

Civil rights activists are praising Oklahoma officials for recommending Julius Jones be taken off death row, but warn that the decision to do that still rests with Oklahoma’s conservative governor Kevin Stitt. “@GovStitt should accept the PPB [Pardon and Parole Board’s] recommendation quickly and cancel the execution scheduled for November 18th. Julius is still locked in a solid concrete death watch cell feet away from the execution chamber,” wrote celebrated death penalty activist Sister Helen Prejean.

Advocacy group Death Penalty Action, meanwhile, reacted by writing “YES!” on Twitter on Monday, arguing there was “#TooMuchDoubt” for Julius’s execution to go forward.

Julius Jones isn’t off of death row just yet.

The Pardon and Parole Board has recommended that he be given clemency, but that decision ultimately rests on Oklahoma’s conservative governor Kevin Stitt.

The governor’s office confirmed to The Independent he is aware of today’s decision, but it hasn’t announced any choice on the final appeal.

Thank you for reading The Independent’s live coverage of the Julius Jones clemency hearing.

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