Oklahoma court rejects appeal of death row inmate

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – An Oklahoma court has dismissed the latest appeal of a death row inmate convicted in the killing of an Edmond insurance executive 19 years ago.
The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals Friday rejected post-conviction relief for 38-year-old Julius Darius Jones, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to die for the July 1999 shooting death of 45-year-old Paul Howell.
Jones, who is black, claimed in the appeal that newly discovered evidence had established that a juror at his trial in Oklahoma County harbored racial animosity toward him. The court says similar claims have been previously reviewed and rejected.
Jones was a 19-year-old honor student on a scholarship at the University of Oklahoma at the time of Howell’s death. The U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 rejected Jones’ appeal.