BREAKING STORY: CLEMENCY HEARING PUSHED BACK TO MONDAY NOVEMBER 1, 2021 NEWS ON 6 REPORTS. Parole Board says the delay was ordered to allow for appeals to be resolved.
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STORY: "Judge denies execution stay for Julius Jones and four other inmates," by Reporter Nolan Clay, published by The Oklahomian on October 25,2021.
GIST: "An Oklahoma City federal judge on Monday denied Julius Jones and four other inmates execution stays.
The decision came just three days before the first execution is scheduled to be carried out.
"The Supreme Court has made it clear that the state's interest in timely enforcement of its judgments cannot be ignored," U.S. District Judge Stephen Friot said in announcing the decision.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals set execution dates after the inmates were kicked out of a federal lawsuit over the lethal injection procedure.
The federal judge kicked the inmates out of the lawsuit because they had declined on a form "to propose an alternative method of carrying out their sentence of death."
Jones asked for a temporary stay after a decision at the federal appeals court in Denver.
Joining him in that emergency request Wednesday were death row inmates John Marion Grant, Donald A. Grant and Gilbert Ray Postelle.
A fifth inmate, Wade Greely Lay, joined in the request Thursday.
Jones, 41, is facing execution for a fatal shooting during a carjacking in Edmond in 1999. He claims he is innocent.
His execution is scheduled for Nov. 18. A clemency hearing is set for Tuesday before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
Millions have signed a petition in his support after ABC in 2018 aired the documentary series, "The Last Defense," about his innocence claim.
Scheduled for execution first is John Grant, 60, an armed robber who was sentenced to death for fatally stabbing a prison kitchen worker in 1998.
The Oklahoma Department of Corrections has told the media his execution will begin at 4 p.m. Thursday.
The execution for Donald Grant, 45, is set for Jan. 27. He was sentenced to death for killing two workers at the LaQuinta Inn in Del City during a 2001 robbery.
The execution for Postelle, 35, is set for Feb. 17.
Postelle was convicted of murdering four people on Memorial Day 2005 outside a trailer in Del City. He was sentenced to death for two of the murders and to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the other two.
Lay, 60, is set to be executed Jan. 6 for killing a security guard during a botched bank robbery in 2004.”
The entire story can be read at:
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RELATED DEVELOPMENT: State investigator provides Parole Board with an affidavit accusing Julius Jones of "leveraging his notoriety for financial gain," the Oklahomian reports. (Reporter Nolan Clay), October 25, 2021.
GIST: Death row inmate Julius Jones has been "leveraging his notoriety for financial gain," the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board was told Friday.
"In the past couple of years, Julius Jones has had so much money deposited to his inmate account that he has sent over $18,000 ... directly to his family and a few friends," a state investigator reported in an affidavit.
Jones, 41, faces execution Nov. 18 for a fatal shooting during a carjacking.
The parole board is scheduled to conduct a clemency hearing Tuesday morning for Jones, if he is not granted a stay of his execution beforehand.
Gov. Kevin Stitt will have the final say if clemency is recommended.
"If Julius is executed, the State of Oklahoma will be killing an innocent man," his attorneys told the parole board.
"Here, the record is replete with evidence jurors never heard demonstrating that Julius Jones did not kill Paul Howell, and that a multitude of now well-understood systemic failures led to Julius’s wrongful conviction for that crime."
Attorney General John O'Connor and Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater are opposing the clemency request.
"Jones and his defense team have told many half-truths, lies by omission, and outright falsehoods," O'Connor told the parole board.
"But the evidence tells an incontrovertible truth; a truth that has been reaffirmed these many years by every court which has considered the entirety of the evidence. Julius Jones is not entitled, by virtue of his lies and manipulations, to executive clemency.”
The new claim about Jones' financial dealings came after a DA investigator listened to recordings of phone calls made from death row.
“We are prepared to address this unsupported innuendo at Tuesday's hearing," said Amanda C. Bass, an assistant federal public defender representing Jones.
The DA investigator reported Jones used another death row inmate's PIN to make approximately 600 calls while his phone privileges were suspended for a misconduct for two months this year.
"Although many of these calls were simply casual conversations, a large number of calls were used to discuss business ventures and to conduct financial transactions," the investigator, Darren Gordon, wrote in his affidavit. "The topics of discussions included marketing ideas for a new line of t-shirts and shoes branded by Julius Jones, financial strategies to maximize his earnings and investments through a multi-level marketing business ... and liquidating some of his investments."
Among those called were "people in the sports and entertainment industries" and podcast hosts, the investigator reported.
Also, Jones has had money sent to other inmates through a family member or friend more than 30 times since January 2019, according to the affidavit.
Jones insists that he is innocent, that the real killer framed him and that his trial was unfair. His family backs him, insisting he was at home at the time of the murder.
He received support from across the country after ABC aired the documentary series, "The Last Defense," in 2018 about his innocence claim. Millions have signed an online petition, and hundreds have marched and held vigils in his support.
Celebrity Kim Kardashian visited him last year at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. In September, she asked other supporters to donate to the Justice for Julius campaign.
"We need to raise $100,000 to sustain and scale our campaign before his execution date," she tweeted.
Jones was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of Howell, an Edmond insurance executive.
The victim was gunned down in his parents' driveway in Edmond after a back-to-school shopping trip with his daughters. His 1997 Suburban was stolen.
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"PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog;
