Julius Jones is innocent. His death sentence has been commuted after intense public pressure, but he still faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Julius has an alibi for the crime he is accused of, but the jury never heard it. An eyewitness identified someone else at the crime scene. And the key witness for the prosecution took a secret deal to reduce his own prison time.

The case against Julius Jones is riddled with misconduct. An FBI agent who testified against him later admitted to lying under oath. The prosecutor hid key context from the jury. A juror who voted to convict called Julius the n-word. 

The majority of Oklahomans believe Julius’ sentence should be commuted (according to a recent poll, 6 in 10 Oklahomans). His case has also garnered bipartisan support from prominent state officials, celebrities, faith leaders, and the victim’s own girlfriend, Connie Ellison.

Governor Kevin Stitt has commuted sentences for hundreds of incarcerated people with the stroke of his pen — he can again. But to make sure that happens, he needs to hear from us.

Timeline for Julius JOnes’ case

About the case

Overwhelming evidence points to Julius’ innocence, including:

• An eyewitness identification that did not match Julius: The only eyewitness to Paul Howell’s tragic murder described the shooter as having half-an-inch of hair sticking out from underneath a stocking cap. The jury was never shown a photograph of Julius, taken just days before the shooting, showing his hair was too short to fit that description. The description of the hair sticking out perfectly fit Julius’s co-defendant, Christopher Jordan, who testified against Julius to avoid the death penalty.
• The alibi that the jury never heard: Julius’s mother, father, sister, and older brother were all adamant Julius was at home when Mr. Howell was killed. But they never testified because Julius’s lawyers – who had never handled a death penalty case before – decided not to call a single witness.
• A secret deal with the person likely responsible for the crime: The jury never knew the prosecution promised Christopher Jordan he would get out of prison in just 15 years in exchange for blaming Julius for what he, in fact, had done – something Jordan admitted to multiple disinterested witnesses who have since come forward to attest to that fact under oath.

There are grave doubts about the reliability of Julius Jones’ conviction, including:

• Junk forensic science: The State’s forensic case against Julius relied on the now discredited testimonies of FBI analyst Kathleen Lundy and Terrence Higgs, a firearms examiner for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
• Prosecutorial misconduct: Non-disclosure of the informant deals is prosecutorial misconduct and a violation of Julius’ constitutional rights.
• Racial bias: ​​In Julius’ case, nearly every Black person eligible to serve on Julius’ jury – save one – was removed from service. At least one juror harbored racial prejudice that influenced his vote – one juror said the trial was a waste of time and “they should just take the n-word out and shoot him behind the jail.’’ Additionally, a Black defendant like Julius, accused of killing a white male victim in Oklahoma is nearly three times more likely to receive a death sentence than if his victim were a nonwhite male.

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