The Paper's reporter Wang Zhuoyi
On November 18, local time, Kevin Stitt, a Republican governor of Oklahoma, signed an executive order to decide leniency a few hours before the execution of death row inmate Julius Jones, commuting his sentence to life without parole.
Jones, 41, is suspected of shooting insurance manager Paul Howell in a carjacking on July 28, 1999, while lawyers claim Jones was home at the time of the crime and had an alibi. Jones' case has attracted widespread attention in the United States in recent years, with more than 6 million signatures calling for Jones' avoidance of execution, and celebrities such as well-known actor Kardashian and American basketball player Westbrook have joined the ranks of solidarity with Jones.
More than three hours before his sentence, he was commuted to life in prison
According to CNN and the BBC on November 18, McAlester State Prison in Oklahoma was originally scheduled to execute Jones by injection at 16:00 Central Time on the 18th (6:00 a.m. Beijing time on the 19th), but at 12:45 on the same day, Jones received news of the commutation during a final meeting with lawyer Amanda Bass.
According to Bath, Jones has been locked up in a detention cell outside the execution room for the past two weeks, eating the planned last supper on the evening of the 17th.
Gov. Stett said on Twitter that he made the leniency decision only after "devout consideration and reflection on the material submitted by the parties in this case."
On Nov. 1, in light of the many doubts surrounding Jones's case, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Commission voted 3-1 to recommend that Jones's sentence be commuted to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. The Associated Press reported Nov. 18 that Stett could commute Jones' case to life in prison on parole or life without parole, with jones "ineligible for or considered commutation, pardon or parole for the rest of his life."
Bath issued a statement saying the governor's leniency decision "ensures that Oklahoma does not execute innocent people" and is "an important step in restoring public confidence in the criminal justice system." She also noted that Jones' family and those who supported him want Jones to one day get parole.
"Given the overwhelming evidence of Jones' innocence, we had hoped that the governor would fully follow up with the (pardon and parole) Commission's recommendation to commute Jones' sentence to life on parole." Bass noted, "We are grateful that the governor avoided an irreparable mistake. ”
Howell's family reiterated in a statement their long-standing belief in Jones' guilt. The statement said Stett's "difficult decision" still confirmed Jones's crimes, and Jones's inability to receive a commutation, pardon or parole for the rest of his life was also "comforting" to Howell's family.
More than six million people petitioned for leniency against Jones
In 2002, the court convicted Jones of murdering Howell, but Jones himself, his family, lawyers and supporters said he was innocent.
In April 2021, after exhausting the avenues of appeal, Jones wrote to the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, still insisting that he had not "participated in any way in the murder of him" and that "I first saw him on television when he was reported on television about his death."
Jones has been on death row for nearly 20 years, and protests against Jones's death sentence have continued for years. In 2018, the ABC documentary "The Last Defense" brought the case to the public eye. Actors Kardashian, Kelly Washington, American basketball player Westbrook and other anti-death penalty activists have joined in supporting Jones.
As Jones's execution date approached, support for him grew, and over the past few nights supporters had gathered near the Oklahoma governor's residence and some had set up tents overnight.
At a news conference on the evening of Nov. 17, Jones' mother called her son's death sentence a "lynching," and the crowd applauded her views.
Solidarity with Jones even went beyond borders, and on November 16, stavros Lambrinidis, the European Union's ambassador to the United States, wrote to Stet urging him to "exercise all the powers entrusted to you" and to treat him leniently.
According to the BBC on November 18, more than 6 million Americans have signed a petition demanding that Stett treat Jones leniently. The petition says Jones was sentenced to death because of "fundamental failures" in the legal system in which he was convicted, including inefficiencies, inexperienced defense attorneys, racial bias in the jury and misconduct by prosecutors.
Editor-in-Charge: Hu Zhenqing Photo Editor: Jin Jie
Proofreader: Ding Xiao