Julius Jones; Oklahoma:Major (Most Unusual) Development: "Oklahoma County residents want a grand jury to investigate District Attorney David Prater and recommend removing him from office, alleging he’s targeting Julius Jones by interfering with hearings that could wipe out his death sentence," NPR (Reporter Mark Carver) reports..."They filed a petition late Wednesday that laid out a timeline of events this year they said are attempts to deprive Jones of his rights, alleging there’s a pattern of conduct from Prater driven by racism. Jones has long maintained his innocence in the murder of Edmond businessman Paul Howell, and the pardon and parole board last month recommended commuting Jones’ sentence. Before that hearing, Prater took several public actions to thwart or undermine the hearing, including asking for two board members to be excluded from it. Last week, Prater asked for a grand jury investigation of the pardon and parole board, and this week he asked for those same board members to be removed from Jones’ upcoming clemency hearing. "An individual is going against the pardon and parole's decision. An individual is going against the governor's appointees. When do we stop? When do we say enough is enough?" said NAACP chapter President Garland Pruitt. The citizen petition was filed a week after Prater asked for and was granted a grand jury investigation of the pardon and parole board. That process will start the week before Jones’ clemency hearing. Activist Jess Eddy said they expect their citizen petition to be handled the same way as Prater’s."

PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "If the judge approves the petition, it will need 5,000 signatures from registered voters in Oklahoma County within 45 days."

STORY: "Oklahoma County residents seek grand jury investigation of prosecutor for 'targeting' Julius Jones," by Reporter Mark Carver, published by Public Radio 89.5 (NPR) on October 7, 2021.

GIST: "Oklahoma County residents want a grand jury to investigate District Attorney David Prater and recommend removing him from office, alleging he’s targeting Julius Jones by interfering with hearings that could wipe out his death sentence.

They filed a petition late Wednesday that laid out a timeline of events this year they said are attempts to deprive Jones of his rights, alleging there’s a pattern of conduct from Prater driven by racism. 

Jones has long maintained his innocence in the murder of Edmond businessman Paul Howell, and the pardon and parole board last month recommended commuting Jones’ sentence. Before that hearing, Prater took several public actions to thwart or undermine the hearing, including asking for two board members to be excluded from it.

Last week, Prater asked for a grand jury investigation of the pardon and parole board, and this week he asked for those same board members to be removed from Jones’ upcoming clemency hearing.

"An individual is going against the pardon and parole's decision. An individual is going against the governor's appointees. When do we stop? When do we say enough is enough?" said NAACP chapter President Garland Pruitt.

The citizen petition was filed a week after Prater asked for and was granted a grand jury investigation of the pardon and parole board. That process will start the week before Jones’ clemency hearing. Activist Jess Eddy said they expect their citizen petition to be handled the same way as Prater’s.

"If he's going to be afforded the remedies of the courts to move quickly enough with his grand jury proceeding to intervene and interrupt and harm Julius' opportunity on Oct. 26, then we expect the same," Eddy said.

If the judge approves the petition, it will need 5,000 signatures from registered voters in Oklahoma County within 45 days.

Gov. Kevin Stitt declined to act on Jones' commutation recommendation, saying he will let his clemency hearing play out instead."

The entire story can be read at: 

oklahoma-county-residents-seek-grand-jury-investigation-prosecutor-targeting-julius-jones

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;

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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."

Lawyer Radha Natarajan:

Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!

Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;

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FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: “It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. 

Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project.