Sign change.org petition; Julius Jones is innocent - Don't let him be executed by the State of Oklahoma: Link below:
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Lawrence Hellman is Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus of Oklahoma City University School of Law, where he established the Oklahoma Innocence Project in 2011. He is no longer associated with that Project, and his views do not represent the views of the Project or Oklahoma City University. He has no involvement with the Julius Jones case.
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"To The Editor: I do not know whether Julius Jones is guilty or innocent of the crime for which he was sentenced to be executed by the State of Oklahoma.
Neither do you.
Yes, he was convicted by a jury, and that conviction was upheld by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
But the same was true for seven other Oklahomans who, since 1981, remarkably were found to be actually innocent before their capital sentences were carried out.
Each exoneration came many years after the individual had been placed on death row to await execution. One person’s exoneration came within days of his scheduled killing.
The decision before you is not whether to declare Mr. Jones innocent and set him free. This is not his request.
Nor is it the recommendation of the Pardon and Parole Board. Rather, the Board recommends that you grant Mr. Jones clemency by commuting his death sentence to the lesser (but still severe) sentence of life with the possibility of parole.
The Board’s recommendation is unprecedented in Oklahoma history. It is premised on the Board’s conclusion, after hearing lengthy presentations from representatives of both Mr. Jones and the State, that there is sufficient doubt about Mr. Jones’s guilt that his life should be spared.
The seven death row exonerations, plus another 31 Oklahoma exonerations in non-capital cases since 1993 (including 17 sentences of life or life without parole), support the prudence of the Board’s recommendation.
Collectively, these many exonerations demonstrate that our criminal justice system can be fallible. And a wrongful conviction can affect any of us, regardless of race or background.
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The Board’s recommendation does not reflect the Board’s belief that Mr. Jones is innocent or that his conviction should be set aside. Nor does it reflect the Board’s opposition to the use of the death penalty in our state.
Rather, it reflects the judgment of this non-partisan body that, in this particular case, the risk of factual error in Mr. Jones’s conviction is sufficient to warrant sparing his life – the remainder of which may be spent in prison.
Governor Stitt, you can accept the Board’s unprecedented recommendation in this case without disrupting the jury’s verdict of guilt and without casting doubt on your support for the death penalty. I urge you to do so.
— Lawrence K. Hellman, Oklahoma City;
The entire letter can be read at
