Oklahoma governor commutes Julius Jones death sentence
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) on Thursday commuted death row inmate Julius Jones’s sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The governor was facing mounting pressure to intervene with only hours until Jones’s execution, which was set for today.
“After prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case, I have determined to commute Julius Jones’ sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,” Stitt said in a statement.
The announcement from Stitt’s office said that it was on the condition that he would not be allowed to apply or be considered for any other commutation, parole or pardon.
In 1999, Jones was convicted of first-degree murder in the killing of businessman Paul Howell. However, Jones has insisted on his innocence, alleging that a juror’s racism contaminated his trial and that he was framed by a high school friend of his, who he says is the real murderer, according to The Associated Press.
“I’d note, for us on a federal level, the attorney general has halted executions at the federal level. We are in the process of conducting an important review of the federal death penalty, and the president believes that’s an important step forward. But this, as you know, was a state-level sentence. The action needed to be taken on a state level so there wasn’t a real role the federal government could officially play in that regard,” Psaki said.
“But certainly, the president’s grave concerns about the death penalty and the implementation of that were reflected on how he viewed that case.”
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