Before we ate spaghetti and cornbread, we were playing Monopoly.'įor years the family has asserted neither Jones nor his family were allowed to testify about critical details because his defense team was inadequate. 'Because I know where my brother was that night of the murder of Mr. Villarreal asked Antoinette, 'What makes you so sure they have the wrong person?' His family says eyewitness descriptions don't match Julius, who at the time had a shaved head. Three days later, 19-year-old Julius Jones was arrested at his home. His SUV was stolen, and witnesses reported seeing a Black man with a red bandana and 1-2 inches of hair shoot the father of two. Now states are being forced to use new drug cocktails, scramble to restock their stores of drugs and review their lethal injection policies.On July 28, 1999, Paul Howell was murdered outside his parents' home in front of his family. Some pharmaceutical companies have refused outright to sell drugs for lethal injection purposes, and some will only sell if their name is kept confidential. The European Union in 2011 voted to prohibit the sale of the drug and seven other barbiturates to the United States for use in torture or executions. As conservatives, we will continue to fight this costly, unchecked government power that is shrouded in secrecy,' he said.Įxecutions in the United States have undergone changes in recent years after states started running out of the essential lethal injection drug pentobarbital. Along with the botched executions, we cannot forget that more than 185 people have been freed from death rows due to wrongful convictions. 'However, this does not negate the fact that the death penalty is a failed policy marked by grievous errors. Media witnesses said Grant convulsed and vomited multiple times after he was administered the initial drug in the lethal injection protocol.ĭemetrius Minor, the national manager of Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, offered his thanks to Stitt for Jones' clemency.

Oklahoma carried out its first execution in nearly seven years last month to put inmate John Grant to death. Oklahoma uses a three-drug cocktail of midazolam, vecuronium bromide and potassium chloride. Mary Fallin called off Glossip's execution with a last-minute, indefinite stay after she learned of the discrepancy.Īfter the execution of Charles Warner in January 2015, the state had an unofficial moratorium on executions as it attempted to secure a supply of lethal injection drugs. The same incorrect drug was delivered to corrections officials for use in the planned 2015 execution of Richard Glossip. Lockett complained of a burning sensation and attempted to raise his head and speak after doctors declared he was unconscious. Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol came under scrutiny in 2014 when Clayton Lockett died of a heart attack amid complications during his execution.Īutopsy reports released a year later indicated that Oklahoma corrections officials used the wrong drug - potassium acetate instead of potassium chloride - during the process. Stitt had said that after mulling the option of using nitrogen gas to carry out executions, the state has now found a 'reliable supply of drugs' to resume lethal injections. The state announced in February 2020 that it planned to resume executions nearly six years after the use of an incorrect drug led to the botched execution of a convicted murderer. Jones was one of dozens of death row prisoners suing over Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol. Christopher Jordan's sentences, underscore the importance of commuting Mr. Jones' lack of understanding of the consequences of his actions at age 19, fundamental questions about evidence, and the disparity between his and Mr.

'The concerns expressed by board members, including Mr. Jones to be put to death.'įoreign governments also opposed Oklahoma's planned execution, including Spain, Portugal, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovakia and Belgium, as well as the European Union.īelgian Ambassador to the United States Jean-Arthur Régibeau sent a letter to Stitt on Wednesday, encouraging him to follow the recommendation of the parole board. At a minimum, there is far too much doubt for Mr. 'Taken together, these facts provide powerful evidence that Mr. Jones, but does match the prosecution's star witness against him, and that other man has admitted to at least four different people that he was the person who shot and killed the victim,' the letter states. 'The sole eyewitness description of the perpetrator does not match Mr. The Legal Defense Fund said in a letter to Stitt that it's reviewed Jones' case and was 'deeply concerned that an innocent man faces execution.'

Julius jones update