Oklahoma Governor Commutes Julius Jones's Death Sentence Hours Before Execution

The politician of Oklahoma connected Thursday called disconnected the execution of a death-row inmate conscionable hours earlier the antheral was to beryllium enactment to death, successful a lawsuit successful which the state’s Pardon and Parole Board had doubly recommended that his condemnation beryllium commuted.

“After prayerful information and reviewing materials presented by each sides of this case, I person determined to commute Julius Jones’s condemnation to beingness imprisonment without the anticipation of parole,” Gov. Kevin Stitt said successful a statement.

The man, Julius Jones, was convicted of first-degree execution and sentenced to decease successful 2002. He was recovered blameworthy of sidesplitting Paul Howell, who was successful a car successful the driveway of his parents’ location erstwhile helium was carjacked and fatally changeable successful 1999. The commutation came little than a period aft the Supreme Court, with its 3 much wide members dissenting, lifted a enactment of execution that a national appeals tribunal had granted to Mr. Jones and different Oklahoma decease enactment inmate, John Marion Grant.

Mr. Jones, 41, a erstwhile precocious schoolhouse hoops subordinate from Oklahoma City, was 19 astatine the clip of the killing, which helium says helium did not commit. Mr. Howell, a businessman from the suburb of Edmond, was 45.

Hundreds of students had walked retired of schools and activists demonstrated extracurricular Mr. Stitt’s bureau this week successful an effort to transportation him to spare Mr. Jones.

In a statement, Amanda Bass, a lawyer for Mr. Jones, said that Mr. Stitt’s determination would reconstruct “public religion successful the transgression justness system.”

“While we had hoped the politician would follow the Board’s proposal successful afloat by commuting Julius’s condemnation to beingness with the anticipation of parole successful airy of the overwhelming grounds of Julius’s innocence, we are grateful that the politician has prevented an irreparable mistake,” she said.

Protesters who had gathered astatine the State Capitol erupted successful cheers aft Mr. Stitt’s connection was released.

Mr. Stitt’s announcement came soon aft national nationalist defenders filed an exigency question asking a national justice to enactment the execution based connected “compelling evidence” that the drugs utilized successful lethal injections “pose a superior and important hazard of terrible suffering and symptom to prisoners.” Last month, a death-row inmate successful Oklahoma vomited and shook during an execution.

The question urged the tribunal to assistance an injunction to guarantee that Mr. Jones and 3 different death-row inmates were not executed earlier February, erstwhile a national proceedings is acceptable to statesman successful a long-running suit implicit whether the drugs utilized successful executions hazard subjecting inmates to an unconstitutional magnitude of symptom and suffering.

In September and again this month, the state’s Pardon and Parole Board recommended that Mr. Jones’s condemnation beryllium commuted to beingness successful situation with the anticipation of parole, a important measurement successful a lawsuit that has garnered nationalist attention, said Cece Jones-Davis, who directs an Oklahoma-based run called Justice for Julius.

In the days and hours earlier Mr. Jones’s planned execution, scheduled for 4 p.m. section clip connected Thursday, his household and his supporters waited to perceive whether Mr. Stitt, a Republican, would judge oregon cull the board’s recommendation, Ms. Jones-Davis said.

The Oklahoma City Public Schools estimated that much than 1,800 students crossed 13 schools participated successful walkouts to enactment Mr. Jones connected Wednesday. The territory said it “supports our students’ rights to peaceful assembly and their state of expression.”

At the State House, scores of Mr. Jones’s supporters prayed, sang and chanted “free Julius Jones.” Madeline Davis-Jones, Mr. Jones’s mother, told the assemblage that her lad was innocent.

“If my kid is executed tomorrow, oregon immoderate day, it should beryllium without a doubt,” she said. “It shouldn’t beryllium a doubt. Not adjacent a small spot of doubt.”

If helium had been executed, Mr. Jones would person been the 2nd idiosyncratic enactment to decease this twelvemonth by the State of Oklahoma. Mr. Grant, who was convicted of murdering a situation cafeteria idiosyncratic successful 1998, was executed connected Oct. 28, hours aft the stays were lifted.

Mr. Grant, 60, was the state’s archetypal to dice by lethal injection since 2015, erstwhile Oklahoma stopped executions aft utilizing the incorrect cause successful 1 lawsuit and allowing a captive to regain consciousness successful another. Mr. Grant and Mr. Jones had argued that the state’s lethal injection protocol, which uses 3 chemicals, could taxable them to excruciating pain.

Mr. Grant vomited portion shaking for respective minutes during the execution, which reporters who person witnessed executions called highly uncommon successful their experience. But authorities situation officials said a time aft Mr. Grant’s execution that they did not program to marque immoderate changes to the state’s lethal injection protocols.

“I volition hold inmate Grant’s regurgitation was not pleasant to watch,” Scott Crow, the manager of Oklahoma’s situation system, said astatine a virtual quality league connected Oct. 29. “But I bash not judge that it was inhumane.”

Mr. Jones, a Black antheral who has spent astir fractional of his beingness successful prison, has agelong maintained his innocence.

“I did not termination Mr. Howell,” helium wrote successful a missive to the parole committee successful April, aft helium had exhausted his appeals. “I did not enactment successful immoderate mode successful his murder; and the archetypal clip I saw him was connected tv erstwhile his decease was reported.”

But relatives of Mr. Howell, a achromatic antheral whose sister and 2 daughters witnessed his killing, person rejected those claims and said that the efforts to assistance clemency to Mr. Jones person caused them pain.

“Our household continues to beryllium victimized by Julius Jones and his lies,” Mr. Howell’s brother, Brian Howell, said astatine a quality league successful September.

Mr. Jones and his supporters person argued that his defence lawyers failed him during his proceedings — for instance, by neglecting to question household members who person said that helium was having meal with them astatine the clip of Mr. Howell’s sidesplitting — and that prosecutors relied excessively heavy connected the grounds of a co-defendant who said that helium had seen Mr. Jones perpetrate the crime.

Mr. Jones’s supporters person besides argued that racism played a relation successful his proceedings and sentencing. African Americans marque up a disproportionate fig of decease enactment prisoners successful Oklahoma and successful the United States, and research has shown that radical convicted of execution are overmuch much apt to beryllium executed if the idiosyncratic who was killed was white.

Mr. Jones’s entreaty for clemency drew enactment from salient figures successful sports, authorities and entertainment.

“We judge that uncertainty astir Jones’s work for the superior transgression is not insignificant,” Mr. Schlapp and Mr. Head wrote.

Mr. Jones’s lawsuit has been featured successful a 2018 documentary series produced by Viola Davis, a podcast episode past twelvemonth featuring Kim Kardashian West and a caller occurrence of “The Late Late Show With James Corden.”

“Julius, his household and everyone connected his squad are inactive hopeful Stitt volition bash the close thing,” Ms. Kardashian West wrote connected Twitter connected Tuesday.

Jacey Fortin contributed reporting.