Oklahoma attorney general believes Julius Jones is ‘100%’ guilty as calls for clemency grow

Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor says he will support whatever Governor Kevin Stitt decides regarding clemency, but adds that he is 100 per cent sure that Julius Jones is guilty.

In an interview with Evan Onstot of ABC affiliate KOCO, Mr O’Connor said: “I’ve reviewed the evidence three different times. I’ve looked at all the exhibits. And there’s no doubt in my mind.”

He continued: “The unfortunate thing is that Mr Jones has never admitted, never repented, never asked the family to forgive him.”

A growing protest movement is calling for the governor to grant Mr Jones clemency and stay his execution, which is scheduled for 4pm on Thursday.

Mr O’Connor said Mr Jones’ scheduled execution is a matter of public safety and the rule of law, adding: “Every Oklahoman should be able to take their kids to buy school supplies, drop by and get ice cream on the way home, and pull in to granddad’s and grandma’s home without fearing that someone is going to put a bullet in their temple when they get out of their car in front of their 7-year-old and their 9-year-old daughters.”

The attorney general also said that he is comfortable with Oklahoma’s lethal injection method, saying about recently executed inmate John Grant: “It’s not chemically possible that he was alert or understood or felt any pain” because of the sheer amount of the sedative injected to start the process.

Mr O’Connor was appointed as the state’s attorney general in July by Governor Stitt, despite the American Bar Association previously rating him as “not qualified” to serve as a federal judge.

The governor said at the time that he has known Mr O’Connor for more than 20 years and considered him a “mentor” who helped advise him when he was CEO of a mortgage company.

Governor Stitt said: “It was so important to me to find someone who was highly competent in the law, but more importantly, I was looking for someone with high moral character who will do the right things for the right reasons and never for personal gain.”

Mr O’Connor was an attorney with the Oklahoma-based firm Hall Estill before he was nominated for a federal judgeship in 2018 by former President Donald Trump. He failed to advance past a Senate panel after the American Bar Association unanimously rated him not qualified to serve.

In a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee, the then head of the association’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, Paul Moxley, said Mr O’Connor’s unanimous rating was on the basis of “integrity and professional competence”.

In the September 2018 letter, Mr Moxley said Tulsa-area attorneys questioned by the panel stated that Mr O’Connor lacked trial experience and questioned his fitness to perform as a judge.

Mr O’Connor “does not have experience trying jury cases in any court, has not appeared often in federal court in any capacity, and has no discernible criminal experience,” Mr Moxley wrote.

Attorneys also indicated that his requests for legal fees in a number of cases were excessive, and at least two complaints were made to the Oklahoma Bar Association about O’Connor charging excessive fees and not being truthful.

“Attorneys who had direct professional dealings with the nominee cited other examples of his dishonesty and disregard of ethical and professional obligations,” Mr Moxley wrote.

When asked in July to respond to the American Bar Association’s findings, Mr O’Connor replied: “I’m happy to address that question,” before walking away from a reporter and into the governor’s office.

Governor Stitt, through a spokesman, referred to the national group’s 15-member panel that unanimously voted for Mr O’Connor’s rating as an “out-of-state, liberal special interest group” and said he had “zero concerns” about their opinion.

With reporting from the Associated Press

The Independent and the nonprofit Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) have launched a joint campaign calling for an end to the death penalty in the US. The RBIJ has attracted more than 150 well-known signatories to their Business Leaders Declaration Against the Death Penalty - with The Independent as the latest on the list. We join high-profile executives like Ariana Huffington, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, and Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson as part of this initiative and are making a pledge to highlight the injustices of the death penalty in our coverage.