Oklahoma governor commutes sentence

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt commuted the death sentence of condemned inmate Julius Jones on Thursday, just hours before his scheduled execution. Jones has proclaimed his innocence from death row for more than two decades in the 1999 killing of a suburban Oklahoma City businessman.

Stitt commuted the 41-year-old Jones’ death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He had been scheduled for execution at 4 p.m.

“After prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case, I have determined to commute Julius Jones’ sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,” Stitt said in a news release.

A crowd that had gathered inside of the Oklahoma Capitol in support of Jones broke out into loud applause and cheers after the decision was announced shortly after noon Thursday.

Earlier Thursday, Jones’ attorneys had filed a last-minute emergency request seeking a temporary stop to his execution, saying Oklahoma’s lethal injection procedures post a “serious and substantial risk of severe suffering and pain to prisoners” and citing last month’s execution in which John Marion Grant convulsed and vomited as he was being put to death.

The state’s Pardon and Parole Board recommended in a 3-1 vote on Nov. 1 that Stitt commute Jones’ sentence to life in prison, with several members of the panel agreeing they had doubts about the evidence that led to Jones’ conviction.

Jones was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die for the 1999 shooting death of Edmond businessman Paul Howell during a carjacking.

Jones alleges he was framed by the actual killer, a high school friend and former co-defendant who was a key witness against him. But Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater and the state’s former attorney general, Mike Hunter, have said the evidence against Jones is overwhelming.

Information from trial transcripts shows that witnesses identified Jones as the shooter and placed him with Howell’s stolen vehicle.

GORMAN/THE NORMAN TRANSCRIPT VIA AP REESE Supporters of Julius Jones rally Thursday outside Oklahoma State Penitentiary in Norman, Okla., before Jones’ scheduled death sentence.