Julius Jones: Wrongfully Convicted and Sentenced to Death in Oklahoma

Julius Jones is on death row in Oklahoma, despite compelling evidence that he was wrongfully convicted and continues to maintain his innocence. 

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals could set an execution date in the next 12 months. 

Mr. Jones’ co-defendant, the key witness against him, fit an eyewitness’s description of the shooter, while Mr. Jones did not. 

His co-defendant pled guilty to the crime, was released after only 15 years on a life sentence with all but the first 30 years suspended and is now a free man. 

In a case riddled with odious racial discrimination — including a police officer’s use of a racial slur during Mr. Jones’ arrest and the State’s removal of all prospective black jurors except one — new evidence shows that a juror used the n-word before jury deliberations at the sentencing phase. 

The U.S. Supreme Court has made unequivocally clear that our criminal justice system cannot tolerate such blatant examples of racial prejudice on the part of even a single juror. 

In this way and many others, Mr. Jones’ rights under the state and federal constitutions have been violated and his conviction and death sentence should be overturned.

Case Overview

Mr. Jones was an Honors Student and Athlete with a Promising Future

At the time of the crime for which Mr. Jones was convicted, he was three days into his 19th year and was a student at the University of Oklahoma on an academic scholarship. He was 21 years old when he was convicted and sentenced to death. In high school, Mr. Jones was a member of the National Honor Society and graduated from John Marshall High School with a class rank of 12 out of 143. He was co-captain of his football, basketball, and track teams. (Third Application for Post-Conviction Relief at p. 3.)

While at John Marshall, Mr. Jones developed a friendship with the man who eventually accused him of murder and whose testimony played a key role in his conviction and sentence of death.

The Likely Perpetrators Go Free While Mr. Jones Faces Execution

In 1999, Paul Howell was shot and killed in Edmond, Oklahoma during the theft of his SUV. The victim’s sister, who was a passenger in the vehicle and witnessed the shooting, testified that the shooter had approximately a half-inch of hair sticking out from underneath a stocking cap. (Third Application for Post-Conviction Relief at pp. 10-11.)

The witness’s physical description of the man who shot her brother fit that of Mr. Jones’ friend, Christopher Jordan, who was one of the prosecution’s main witnesses against Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones’ attorneys, who were public defenders with no capital trial experience, failed to show the jury a photograph of Mr. Jones, taken a few days before the shooting, illustrating that Mr. Jones’ had low, crew-cut hair and proving that he could not be the person who the victim’s sister described. (Third Application for Post-Conviction Relief at pp. 10-11.)

Mr. Jones’ attorneys failed to cross examine Mr. Jordan on the six different and inconsistent statements he gave to the police after his arrest. They also failed to  put on evidence showing that Mr. Jordan was likely the actual shooter and was testifying against Mr. Jones to avoid the death penalty. In fact, Mr. Jones’ trial attorneys did not put on a single witness to testify during the guilt-innocence phase of his trial. (Third Application for Post-Conviction Relief at p. 10-11.) 

Mr. Jones’ Jury Never Learned the Full Extent of the Benefits that the State’s Three Witnesses Received in Exchange for Their Testimony

The jury never heard  the full extent of the benefits that the three main witnesses against Mr. Jones received as a result of their testimony. Incredibly, Mr. Jordan was released in 2014, after serving only 15 years, despite the fact that the prosecution told jurors that he was facing 30 years to a lifetime of incarceration for his role in the crime.

Second, jurors may not have known that Ladell King, another key witness against Mr. Jones, was never prosecuted in connection with the murder, despite his admitted involvement. Mr. King’s police interrogation from July/August 1999 as well as his preliminary hearing and trial testimony includes his admissions to being involved in the crime on the night that it occurred. Specifically, he admitted to keeping the stolen suburban at his apartment complex overnight, and assisting in transporting and selling the vehicle the following day.  Mr. King also received less than the statutorily mandated sentence for habitual offenders in connection with unrelated charges. (Third Application for Post-Conviction Relief at pp. 11, 13.)

A Rush to Judgment, Intensified by Race

The crime was highly publicized and racially charged from the beginning. The victim was a prominent white man and the suspects were young black men. Even before his arrest, Mr. Jones’ picture was broadcasted on the local news and he was described as the killer. Some recall that the then-district attorney, Bob Macy, went on television the night of the shooting to call for the death penalty for the perpetrator. (Second Application for Post Conviction Relief at p. 22.) When Mr. Jones was arrested, prior to being put in the police cruiser, an officer removed his handcuffs and said, “Run [n-word], I dare you.” (Mr. Jones, personal communication.)

In addition, during jury selection for Mr. Jones’ trial, black prospective jurors, with the exception of one, were excluded from jury service on the grounds that they had some criminal histories. Yet, a white man who served on Mr. Jones’ jury and sentenced him to death had two prior felony convictions that the prosecution did not disclose to Mr. Jones’ defense. (Original Application for Post-Conviction Relief at p. 14.)

Over his career, District Attorney Macy sent 54 people to death row, more than any other district attorney in the United States. Prosecutorial misconduct was discovered in approximately one-third of D.A. Macy’s death penalty cases and the courts have reversed nearly half of his death sentences. In fact, D.A. Macy was forced to retire in 2001 in the wake of a scandal involving a forensic scientist accused of falsifying evidence. Three people D.A. Macy helped convict were exonerated and freed from death row and it is likely that others were executed before their innocence could be proven. (Harvard University, Fair Punishment Project, America’s Top Five Deadliest Prosecutors, at pp. 8-10 at http://fairpunishment.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/FPP-Top5Report_FINAL.pdf.)

Following the murder, a team of nearly all-white Oklahoma City and Edmond police officers searched the Jones’ family home for evidence against Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones was not present and his family was cooperative with the police. Nonetheless, officers forced Mr. Jones’ family out of their home at gun-point. The officers ransacked the house to the extent that it received media attention. They also gave conflicting statements about how they found evidence. The preliminary hearing and trial testimony of OKC/EPD police officers illustrate their conflicting statements regarding how they located the gun and red bandana in the Jones home. These officers also fail to detail the extent to which Mr. Jones’ co-defendant, Christopher Jordan, directed them to that evidence. 

New Evidence Shows that Racial Prejudice Inflamed At Least One Juror

In November 2017, Mr. Jones’ current legal team discovered new evidence that at least one juror harbored racial prejudice that influenced his vote to convict and sentence Mr. Jones to death. One juror reported telling the judge about another juror who said the trial was a waste of time and “‘they should just take the n-word out and shoot him behind the jail.’’ The juror reported that the juror who made this comment was never removed and the court did nothing. (Third Application for Post-Conviction Relief at p. 14.)

The U.S. Supreme Court has unambiguously condemned racial prejudice, as evidenced by racial slurs, from playing any role in even a single juror’s decision to convict a defendant and sentence him to death. Chief Justice Roberts has explained that “our law punishes people for what they do, not who they are” and a departure from this bedrock principle is “exacerbated” where “it concerns race.” Under an unbroken string of Court precedent, Mr. Jones is entitled to a reversal of his conviction and death sentence or, at a minimum, to an evidentiary hearing on his claim that the juror’s racial prejudice violated his rights under the state and federal constitutions. Our criminal justice system should not stand for this particularly odious denial of Mr. Jones’ right to a fair and impartial jury. (Third Application for Post-Conviction Relief at pp. 14-16.)

No Court has Heard All of the Evidence of Racial Discrimination in this Case

After Mr. Jones’ conviction and death sentence, Jerome A. Holmes, a federal prosecutor serving as chief of the Oklahoma U.S. Attorney’s Office, wrote a published opinion stating that Mr. Jones’ claims of racial prejudice were unfounded and he deserved to die. He was later appointed to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, where he sat on the three-judge panel that decided Mr. Jones’ federal appeal. Judge Holmes did not recuse himself from Mr. Jones’ case, actively participated in the oral argument, and voted to deny Mr. Jones’ appeal. After his conflict of interest came to light, a subsequent Tenth Circuit panel re-heard Mr. Jones’ appeal and also denied relief. (See 10th Circuit Motion for Recusal and Rehearing,; see also Amicus Brief in Support filed by legal ethicists.)

Mr. Jones’ Conviction and Death Sentence Should be Set Aside

Any one of the violations of Mr. Jones’ rights under the state and federal constitutions require that his conviction and death sentence be overturned. The cumulative effect of multiple violations, many of them infected by stunning racial prejudice, compels a halt to his execution until the appropriate decision maker hears all of the evidence. If Oklahoma is to have the death penalty, the State must do everything in its power to come to convictions and death sentences fairly and accurately, and give full consideration to all possible claims of wrongful conviction.

Death row inmate’s legal team hopes DNA testing on key piece of evidence will exonerate him

"We think Julius was wrongfully convicted, and that Oklahoma is at risk of executing an innocent man," Jones’ attorney Amanda Bass told “Nightline.”

Jones was 19 years old when he was arrested and at the time, prison seemed like an unlikely place to find him.

"It was just an ordinary night," Jones said. "I really didn’t have any idea how my life could change."

Jones’ case is the focus of a new ABC docu-series called “The Last Defense,” from Oscar-winning actress turned executive producer Viola Davis. "The Last Defense" finale airs on Tuesday, July 24 at 10 p.m. on ABC.

Jones now has a new legal team composed of Bass and Dale Baich.

His story begins on a summer night in 1999 when gunshots rang out in a quiet neighborhood in Edmond, Oklahoma, a wealthy suburb of Oklahoma City. Paul Howell, 45, had been shot and killed during a carjacking of his GMC suburban.

Jones’ attorneys said two shell casings were found at the scene and the victim’s sister, Megan Tobey, was the only eyewitness.

"Megan Tobey described the shooter as a young, black man wearing a red bandana, a white shirt and a stocking cap or a skullcap. She was not able to identify the shooter’s face because it was covered," Bass said.

Two days after the shooting, Jones’ attorneys said police found Howell’s car parked at a grocery store on the southside of Oklahoma City. The store was just a few blocks away from a chop shop where police learned Ladell King had offered to sell a suburban.

"He told police that on the night of the crime, a guy named Chris Jordan comes to his apartment," Baich told "Nightline". "A few minutes later, according to Ladell King, Julius Jones drives up."

King was well known to local police, according to retired Edmond Police Det. Dennis Dill, who said King "was involved in car thefts all around the metro area. He had been doing that for years."

Jordan and Jones were high school acquaintances. Jordan was a suspected gang member and Jones, by then a college student, had recently been in some trouble of his own.

"My first year at school, being young, just wanting to have money. I got into shoplifting," Jones said. "I stole pagers, I stole things that I could sell."

"Wrong is wrong. I shouldn’t have done it, and I’m not trying to hide it from anybody that I’ve broken the law. I have. But, just because I broke the law does not make me a murderer," said Jones.

During King’s interrogation, he told detectives that the two young men asked him to help them sell a stolen suburban.

"I'm just a middle man relaying a message. From this guy to that guy," King told police.

But, King said, he told them that the attention around the Howell case made it too risky to sell the car for parts. When he went home later, King said he told detectives he turned on the local news and saw a story about the killing that included a photo of Howell’s suburban. "That [car] is what Julius got out of," King told police.

"I seen Julius driving a gold Suburban," King said during interrogation. "I remember something about him. He had a red bandana around his neck. He had a stocking cap on."

King also accused Jordan of being the driver.

Jordan was arrested and charged with felony murder, claiming he and Jones were out looking for suburbans to steal, but said it was Jones who pulled the trigger when they carjacked Howell. Jones has long maintained he never killed Howell.

"These people set me up to take the fall because they knew somebody was going to fry for this," Jones said.

"Both Ladell King and Christopher Jordan were directing the police’s attention to the home of Julius Jones’ parents as a place that would have incriminating items of evidence," Amanda Bass said. "Chris Jordan was in the back of a police vehicle talking to detectives who were telling people inside the home where to potentially look."

Inside Jones’ parents’ home, police found a gun wrapped in a red bandana tucked inside an upstairs crawl space.

Jones’ attorneys said the evidence police found could have been planted by Jordan the night after the murder.

"Chris Jordan… [told police during interrogation] that the next day [after the killing], he had spent the night at Julius’ parents’ home," said Bass.

The night that Jordan stayed over, Jones said Jordan had told him he was locked out of his grandmother’s house and needed a place to crash. He had never spent the night before that, Jones said.

"Julius slept on the downstairs couch, meanwhile Chris slept in the upstairs bedroom," Bass said. That bedroom is where police found the gun and the bandana.

Jordan denied this during trial.

Investigators built a case against Jones using statements from King and Jordan, as well as the gun and bandana being found inside his home. Jones was arrested and charged with capital murder.

Shortly after Jones’ arrest, the late prosecutor Bob Macy held a press conference announcing he would be seeking the death penalty.

"The prosecutor in this case, Macy, had been responsible for sending 54 people to death row. Well half of those convictions were overturned later," said Vanessa Potkin, one of the Executive Producers of The Last Defense and an attorney with The Innocence Project. "And three of the people that Macy sent to death row were later exonerated."

"Unfortunately in our criminal justice system," she continued, "the first person to be interrogated and to talk to the police who tells the police the story can be the one who gets the deal."

At trial, Jones’ defense team was inexperienced and overwhelmed. First, the victim’s sister said the killer’s hair stuck out an inch from underneath the stocking cap and Jones’ hair was closely cut.

"We actually have a photo of him the week before and then immediately after arrest is that his hair was incredibly short," attorney and Executive Producer Aida Leisenring told "Nightline."

"Unfortunately his defense team never submitted a photograph of a week prior of Julius Jones."

Jordan, meanwhile, wore his hair in cornrows that stuck out at the sides, Bass said.

Jones’ lawyers also point out that the jury was not made aware that Ladell King was facing felony charges in an unrelated case until after his damaging testimony against Jones.

"Ladell King was facing a minimum of 20 years on a check fraud matter because he had three strikes," Leisenring said. "He was required to serve at least 20 years and in fact, it was dismissed entirely… So they had every motive and incentive to lie and the jury didn't get to hear all of that evidence."

Jones’ legal team is convinced that there is no objective reliable evidence that points to Jones being the murderer, Leisenring said.

Jordan was sentenced to 30 years to life for being Jones’ accomplice. He served 15 years and was released from prison in 2014. Jones was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

In a startling twist, producers on "The Last Defense" recently tracked down one of the original jurors on the case, who told them a disturbing story about racial bias in the deliberation room.

"I was a juror on the case," this juror explains during one episode. "And this thing has weighed on me for a long time. What happened was, several of us from the jury were getting on an elevator. This was well before deliberations. And one of the jurors said, 'Well, they should just take that n----- out back, shoot him and bury him under the jail. It didn’t matter what happened, this was a black man that was on trial for murder. He did it.'"

This juror said she told the judge about the racial comments the following day, but nothing happened. Recently, an appeals court judge rejected the claim.

Since his conviction, Jones’ legal team has filed several motions for appeals. In October 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review his appeal, as well as the appeal for two other Oklahoma death row inmates, which made Jones eligible for execution when Oklahoma resumes state killings later this year, according to the Oklahoma City-based newspaper, The City Sentinel.

Julius Jones’ only hope of exoneration now is the argument from his legal team that the red bandana, found inside his house, was never tested for DNA.

"The district attorney agreed to DNA testing," Bass said. "They agreed to test the red bandana and we are hoping there’s something there that can identify who the real shooter was."

If the results come back and show a DNA profile for Jordan, then it should exonerate Jones, Leisenring said.

"Justice would be an exoneration but you can't get those 20 years back," she said. “So justice is bittersweet.”

"What happened to Mr. Howell and his family is terrible. It's very tragic," Jones said. "But justice has not been served. Because the person who took his life is walking the streets. I want a new trial, I want a chance to show a jury why I'm innocent." (abcnews, Sally Hawkins, Lauren Effron, July 19, 2018)

DNA hearing in Julius Jones death penalty case set for Sept. 7

On Friday, September 7, Oklahoma District Court Judge Bill Graves will preside over a hearing about a procedural question related to DNA testing in the case of Julius Jones, a death row prisoner who has always maintained his innocence for a 1999 murder.

The hearing will take place at 9 a.m. in Judge Graves’ courtroom #800, in the Oklahoma County District Court, 320 Robert S Kerr Ave, in downtown Oklahoma City.

The hearing in Jones v. Oklahoma will address the question of whether the district attorney’s office will be able to communicate directly with the DNA testing facility, which is testing a red bandana [which covered the shooter's face when he committed the crime - DPN] that the state neglected to test nineteen years ago.

The bandana is currently being tested for DNA at the expense and direction of Jones’ attorneys.  The state recently agreed to this procedure.

“This evidence should have been tested 19 years ago,” said Dale Baich, federal public defender for Jones. “There is always a concern that with the passage of time, the sample could be degraded or contaminated. Although this hearing is important, DNA testing is just one aspect of this case, which includes overwhelming evidence that not only was Julius Jones wrongfully convicted, but racial bias also contaminated the trial.”

Jones’ legal team has previously argued: 1) There is no physical or forensic evidence tying Jones to the crime. 2) Jones has alibi witnesses that place him miles from the crime at the time it was committed, but his jury did not hear them. 3) The only physical description of the shooter in the case matches Jones’ co-defendant, who admitted involvement in the crime; not Jones.  4) According to sworn statements, the co-defendant, Christopher Jordan, (a high school teammate of Jones) who served 15 years and is now free, admitted to setting Jones up. 5) There is newly-discovered evidence that shows at least one juror harbored racial prejudice that influenced his vote to convict Jones. (The City Sentinel, Darla Shelden, August 30, 2018)

How do I help?

If you are interested in taking action on Julius’s behalf, please visit the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

➤ FIND related content here and here

Source: Justice for Julius, August 2018

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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde