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Hearing delayed for Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones

October 26, 2021 GMT
FILE - This Feb. 5, 2018, file photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Julius Jones. On Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, a federal judge in Oklahoma said the state can move forward with scheduled lethal injections for five death row inmates, including Jones whose case and death sentence has drawn international attention. Attorneys for the inmates have promised to appeal the judge's ruling. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, File)
FILE - This Feb. 5, 2018, file photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Julius Jones. On Monday, Oct. 25, 2021, a federal judge in Oklahoma said the state can move forward with scheduled lethal injections for five death row inmates, including Jones whose case and death sentence has drawn international attention. Attorneys for the inmates have promised to appeal the judge's ruling. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP, File)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A clemency hearing for Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones scheduled for Tuesday has been delayed for a week while his legal challenge is pending in federal court.

The five-member Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board is now set to hear Jones’ request for clemency next Tuesday while an appeal by death row inmates is pending in federal court.

Jones and five other death row inmates are seeking to be reinstated into a federal lawsuit challenging Oklahoma’s lethal injection protocol. A federal district judge on Monday rejected the inmates’ request, and their attorneys immediately appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit.

Jones, 41, maintains he is innocent of the 1999 shooting death of Edmond businessman Paul Howell and that he was framed by the actual killer, a high school friend and former co-defendant who was a key witness against him.

Another clemency hearing that was scheduled Wednesday for Bigler J. “Bud” Stouffer II, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the shooting death of woman in 1995, also was delayed, according to Pardon and Parole Board Director Tom Bates.

Stouffer is not part of the federal litigation, but has a motion pending to stay his execution before a federal judge that could be subject to appeal, Bates said.

Meanwhile, the Oklahoma Department of Corrections announced Tuesday that it is planning to move forward with Thursday’s execution of John Marion Grant, 60, who also is seeking to be reinstated to the federal lawsuit.

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