U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear Oklahoma death sentence appeal

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from an Oklahoma death row inmate who argued a racist juror tainted his trial.

The Oklahoman reports that the high court on Monday declined without comment to hear Julius Jones’ case.

Jones, who is black, was convicted of the 1999 death of Paul Howell, who was white. Jones argued his case should be reviewed because a juror referred to him by a racial epithet.

He’s now exhausted his appeals and could receive an execution date once the state resumes executions. Jones’ attorney says they’re disappointed in the decision and will continue to investigate the matter.

Oklahoma last executed an inmate in 2015. It’s put the process on hold after abandoning the lethal injection execution method to explore the use of nitrogen gas.