With all appeals exhausted, Julius Jones' fate lies in the hands of the Oklahoma Governor and the US Supreme Court
The case of Julius Jones remains a divisive one. Convicted and sentenced to death over the murder of insurance executive Paul Scott Howell on July 28, 1999, in Edmond, Oklahoma, the fact remains there are far too many inconsistencies and loopholes in the prosecution's case that should have seen him exonerated by now. Yet, he inexplicably continues to languish in jail, awaiting the state — which had suspended executions over a previous botched attempt — to set his execution date.
While lawyers at the Innocence Project — which works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing — have been working tirelessly in the years since his conviction to set him free, it is the Viola Davis-produced documentary, 'The Last Defense,' that has once again brought his plight back into the spotlight and to the attention of the American public.