Tuesday, September 14, 2021

JUSTICE FOR PAUL HOWELL - THE STATEMENT OF THE D.A AND THE FAMILY

For the past twenty-one years, both the state and federal judicial system have been involved scrutinizing this case. The courts have heard multiple appeals in multiple forms and at multiple levels from Julius Jones. They have found no claim which necessitated the granting of relief. Julius Jones’ defense team’s only hope now is to create such an uproar through a misinformation campaign as to put pressure on those that grant commutation or clemency. So for that, they turn to celebrities to help spread their misinformation…athletes and influencers with millions of followers. They turn to social justice warriors who do not have access to the transcripts, or to the legal opinions authored by the various appellate courts. Individuals who blindly trust that what they are being told is the truth. These social justice warriors, whom although well intentioned, know nothing about the rules of the evidence, trial strategy and the admissibility of evidence.

– Justice For Paul Howell

“The fact is, Julius Jones murdered Paul Howell in cold blood in front of his sister and daughters. No celebrity imploration or profusion of misinformation will change that.”

- Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter

We, the members of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, stand with the family members of Paul Howell and we know that Julius Jones is guilty. Read this article and hear from the Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter. He is similar to Montez Spradley or Anthony Porter or Timothy Hennis. All were innocence fraud cases.

Let us hear from the DA David Prater and also the family members of Paul Howell:

Oklahoma County District Attorney speaks out after board recommends commutation for Julius Jones

NEWS

by: K. Querry-Thompson/KFOR

Posted: Sep 13, 2021 / 02:56 PM CDT / Updated: Sep 13, 2021 / 04:08 PM CDT

OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – After the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted to recommend a commuted sentence for a man convicted of murder, the Oklahoma County District Attorney is speaking out.

Julius Jones is on death row for the murder of Edmond businessman Paul Howell, who was shot to death in the driveway of his parents’ Edmond home in July 1999.

Family of Paul Howell speaks for the first time since his murder, addresses case against Julius Jones

“When we pulled up in the driveway and stopped, my dad had kind of cracked the door open. I looked over. I was sitting right behind him, right behind my dad. I was in the backseat right behind the driver’s seat, and I looked over and saw Julius Jones walking up to the car,” Rachel Howell, Paul’s daughter, told KFOR. “It happened so fast, but I saw him walking up, and I remember waving, because I’m a child. I don’t know what’s about to happen. I just remember kind of waving, and he literally shot my dad in the head and did not say a word. He did not say a word. He shot my dad, and I watched my dad’s head go like that. That is the vision that I have every night is my dad’s head falling to the right.”

Investigators say the murderer took off in Howell’s Suburban.

Jones was ultimately arrested and indicted for Howell’s murder. He did not take the stand during the trial. He was found guilty and sentenced to death in 2002.

Since his conviction, there has been a national movement proclaiming his innocence.

Anti-death penalty groups speak against executions on the eve of Julius Jones’ commutation hearing

Jones’ supporters say he was failed by his defense team, which they say never brought up his alibi on the night of the murder.

Jones and his family maintain that he is innocent.

“As God is my witness, I was not involved in any way in the crimes that led to Howell being shot and killed,” Jones said in his clemency report. “I have spent the past 20 years on death row for a crime I did not commit, did not witness and was not at.”

Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board votes to commute Julius Jones’ death sentence

However, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater says Jones’ supporters have “disseminated misinformation and lies regarding the trial and evidence” in the case.

On Monday, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board voted 3-1 in favor of commuting Jones’ death sentence to life in prison.

Several members of the board said they had some doubt that Jones committed the murder, and didn’t feel that the state should move forward with his execution.

Now, the case moves to Gov. Stitt’s office.

Following the decision by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater held a news conference about the case.

Recently, the Oklahoma Attorney General requested that Jones’ execution date be set at Oct. 28.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://kfor.com/news/oklahoma-county-district-attorney-speaks-out-after-board-recommends-commutation-for-julius-jones/

Rachel Howell, one of Paul Howell's daughters, addressed the documentary during Monday's commutation hearing.

"Why does my trauma have to be entertainment for people?" Rachel Howell said. "How can I have love and compassion for Julius Jones?"

Parole board member Scott Williams recuses himself

Monday's proceedings started with one member of the parole board recusing himself from the hearing.

Scott Williams said he recused himself "out of an abundance of caution."

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prated had called for Williams to be disqualified from the vote because of his ties to a key Jones supporter.

Williams is listed online as on the "team" of KMM Sports, a company founded by Kelli Masters, a sports agent, attorney and former twirler at the University of Oklahoma.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2061128440705183&id=1299628893521812

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/09/13/julius-jones-death-sentence-parole-board-recommends-commuted/8308689002/

OK County DA David Prater speaks after Julius Jones' sentence commuted

Sep 14, 2021

KFOR Oklahoma's News 4

OK County DA David Prater speaks after Julius Jones' sentence commuted

VIDEO SOURCE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a78G945yRNM

OPINION

DA: 'The truth does not fit their narrative'

David Prater

The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has granted Julius Jones, a convicted murderer a commutation hearing. In the years leading to this point, a coordinated effort to manipulate and misinform the public about Julius Jones has gained traction. The dishonesty of the killer’s supporters cannot be overstated. They have even compared Jones to Jesus Christ. The motivation of those behind this campaign is unknown. It is clear that some have malicious, nefarious intent. They use their position or title in a church, attempting to give themselves undeserved credibility and desired celebrity.

This is the truth of Paul Howell’s murder:

On July 28, 1999, six days after Julius Jones committed another armed carjacking of the driver of a Mercedes automobile; he stalked the Paul Howell family to their home from the Edmond Braums store. After noticing the Howell family driving a SUV he wanted to steal, Jones, a 456 Piru Blood gang member, ambushed the Howell family in their driveway. Jones pulled his pistol and shot Paul Howell in the head, murdering him in front of his small children.

Julius Jones drove the Howell’s SUV away, leaving Paul Howell dying on his driveway with his family watching. The police were called, but they were unable to apprehend the killer that night. Julius Jones was positively identified by others who knew him, driving the Howell vehicle the night of the murder and the next day. Jones was later arrested after police identified him. The previously carjacked Mercedes was found parked in front of Jones’ apartment. Eyewitness testimony and forensic evidence connected Jones to the recovered Mercedes. The carjacked Howell SUV was recovered in a grocery store parking lot where Jones had abandoned it when he was unable to sell it due to publicity surrounding the murder of Paul Howell.

The pistol Jones used to murder Paul Howell was recovered from his parent’s home, wrapped in a bandana that later tested positive for Jones’ DNA profile. At the time of Mr. Howell’s murder and the prior armed carjacking, Jones had already dropped out from OU with a 0.8 grade average. Jones’ trial counsel researched the killer’s family claim of alibi. Even Jones admitted to his attorneys that he was not with his family at the time Mr. Howell was murdered. The alibi was not presented at trial because it was not truthful; a fact established by state and federal appellate courts.

Claims that the prosecution files have not been disclosed are false. A request to access the files was denied to an attorney not licensed in Oklahoma after that attorney was discovered directing his investigators to the homes of the jurors to intimidate and threaten them. The truth is that Julius Jones’ trial counsel and his Oklahoma appellate counsel have had access to everything in the State’s files. No judge or court has ever found that the State has not disclosed every shred of evidence and the entire investigative file, including all forensic lab results with Jones’ attorneys.

Jones’ supporters continue to perpetuate a falsehood that a juror used a racial epithet during the trial. This, too, has been disproven and rejected after court hearings reviewing the allegation. It did not happen.

Evidence, sworn testimony and court records verify everything I state in this submission. Why have Jones’ supporters hired a local PR firm to coordinate and repeat his lies and false allegations that have previously been disproven in a court of law? Do not believe their spin. The truth does not fit their narrative. Julius Jones is guilty. His sentence should be carried out.

David Prater is the Oklahoma County District Attorney.

Editor's note: Attorneys for Julius Jones were invited to submit a response. Their response is expected next week.

INTERNET SOURCE: https://www.justiceforpaulhowell.com/news

https://www.oklahoman.com/story/opinion/2021/09/05/da-the-truth-does-not-fit-their-narrative/5570367001/