Case Overview

julius jones sat on oklahoma’s death row for approximately 23 years

despite maintaining his innocence and compelling evidence that he was wrongfully convicted. Mr. Jones’ co-defendant fit an eyewitness’s description of the shooter, while Mr. Jones did not. His co-defendant was the state’s key witness against him, and the prosecution repeatedly told jurors at Mr. Jones’ trial that his co-defendant would serve a 30-year sentence in exchange for his testimony. However, after pleading guilty to the crime, Mr. Jones’ co-defendant was released after only 15 years and is now a free man. 

 In a case riddled with odious racial discrimination — including a police officer’s use of a racial slur during Mr. Jones’ arrest and the State’s removal of all prospective black jurors except one —evidence shows that a juror used the n-word before jury deliberations at the sentencing phase. The U.S. Supreme Court has made unequivocally clear that our criminal justice system cannot tolerate such blatant examples of racial prejudice on the part of even a single juror.

After an international movement to fight for #justiceforjulius and TWO favorable votes by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, Governor Kevin Stitt commuted Julius’ sentence to life WITHOUT the possibility of parole 4 hours shy of the scheduled execution on November 18, 2021.

Today, efforts continue in a new fight to #freejuliusjones. Stay with us.