MIKE HUNTER ATTORNEY GENERAL OF OKLAHOMA OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE OF GUILT As described by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, Paul Howell was shot and killed as he exited his Chevrolet Suburban by a young Black male wearing a white T-shirt with black trim, a black stocking cap and a red bandana over his face. Jones v. Warrior, 805 F.3d 1213, 1214-15 (10th Cir. 2015). As Mr. Howell’s sister, Megan Tobey, and daughters ran from the vehicle into the home, someone yelled “Stop” and a second gunshot was fired. Id. at 1214. Shortly after the murder, Jones’ friend Christopher Jordan, who drove Jones to the Howell residence, arrived at the apartment of Ladell King. Id. at 1215-16. Jones arrived 15 or 20 minutes later driving Mr. Howell’s Suburban and wearing a white T-shirt, stocking cap, gloves and red bandana. Id. at 1215. Jones warned Mr. King not to touch the Suburban and asked him to find someone to buy it. Id. Not only did Mr. King place Jones with the Suburban that night, but King’s girlfriend and his neighbor saw Jones as well. Id. (Trial Tr. VII 138-44). The next day, Jones and Mr. King were captured on surveillance video at the convenience store where police would discover Mr. Howell’s Suburban two days after the murder. Id. Jones confessed to King that “as he walked up to Howell’s Suburban, a young girl in the backseat waved at him, Howell’s door opened, and the gun ‘went off.’ Trial Tr. Vol. 5 at 189-90.” Id. When police arrived at Jones’ parents’ house after learning of his involvement in the murder, Jones fled through a second story window. Id. 1 In Jones’ bedroom, detectives discovered a white T-shirt with black trim and a black stocking cap—items that matched both Tobey’s description of the shooter’s clothing and King’s description of Jones’ clothing shortly after the shooting. Officers also found a chrome-plated Raven .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol wrapped in a red bandana and hidden in the attic space above the ceiling of the closet of Jones’ room. And hidden behind the cover of the doorbell chime, officers discovered a loaded .25- caliber magazine belonging to the gun they had just found. The gun matched Jones’ girlfriend’s description of one she saw in Jones’ possession during the summer of 1999. Both the bullet found lodged in Howell’s head and the bullet shot into the Suburban’s dashboard matched the bullets and [were fired by] the gun found in Jones’ bedroom. Id. In addition to the Cutlass he shared with Jordan, Jones owned a Buick Regal that he took to a transmission shop on the day after the murder. The mechanic called police because he found .25 caliber ammunition, small knives, and a pantyhose with a knot in the top in the car (Tr. VIII 291-92). An eyewitness who was at the Braum’s restaurant that was visited by the Howell family immediately before the murder witnessed Mr. Jordan’s car circle the Braum’s parking lot and eventually back into a parking space. Id. at 1216. (Trial Tr. IV 88- 92). This witness saw two young Black males in the car. Id. One of the men—the witness believed it was the driver—had corn rows, which is how Mr. Jordan wore his hair, and one of the men wore a white T-shirt. Id. The car left suddenly. Id. Jordan and King testified against Jones, as did Jones’ girlfriend, Analiese Presley. Jones wrote a threatening letter to Presley from jail when he learned she planned to testify for the State: So you’re going to have to do something for me now really for your safety, not that I’m threatening you, but I got some stupid ass relatives, you know, so if they do call you to the stand, your best bet is to say you don’t remember, unless you just don’t care about me coming home. That’s what you need to say because they can’t arrest you or . charge you with nothing [sic] for saying that. 2 (State’s Ex. 119). Presley testified that she was with Jones in the Cutlass in the summer of 1999 when she found a handgun resembling the murder weapon in the center console of the car (Trial Tr. IX 21-22). Jones admitted the gun was his, claiming he kept it for protection (Trial Tr. IX 21-22). Presley also found a red bandana in the car’s glove box (Trial Tr. IX 27-28). The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals found “overwhelming” evidence of Jones’ guilt. Jones v. State, 128 P.3d 521, 539, 541 (Okla. Crim. App. 2006); id. at 549 (Jones’ trial attorneys “faced several difficult challenges: a co-defendant who directly implicated Jones, eyewitness identification, incriminating statements made by Jones after the crime, flight from police, damning physical evidence hidden in Jones’ parents’ home, and an interlocking web of other physical and testimonial evidence consistent with the State’s theory.”). The court further rejected Jones’ argument that he did not get involved until he drove the Suburban the day after the murder: “The evidence in this case clearly showed that Jones’ participation in the murder and robbery of Howell was more than simply an accessory after the fact.” Jones, 128 P.3d at 539. DNA TESTING CONFIRMS THE TRIAL EVIDENCE In 2017, Jones filed a post-conviction application seeking to have the red bandana tested for DNA. A partial DNA profile was obtained from the bandana; the major component of the DNA profile matched Jones. The probability of randomly selecting an unrelated individual with the same DNA profile is approximately 1 in 1.3 billion in the U.S. Caucasian population; 1 in 110 million in the U.S. African American population; and 1 in 1 billion in the U.S. Hispanic population. Christopher Jordan was excluded as the major component of this profile. Jones contends that the testing disproves the State’s theory that the bandana was worn over the shooter’s mouth because a presumptive test for saliva performed on the area of the bandana containing his DNA was negative. However, in a February 15, 2019 email from the lab which performed the testing to counsel for Jones and the State, the lab commented on Jones’] counsel’s assertion that the testing “clarif[ied] the absence of saliva on the bandana”. The lab replied, The report dated October 29, 2018 did state that ‘presumptive testing for the presence of saliva was negative…’ on the bandana. However, after discussing this with the reporting serologist on this case - there are several reasons the presumptive test could have been negative that do not necessarily mean saliva was not present. Of course, one explanation for the presumptive negative result is that there is no saliva on the item. 3 Additionally, any saliva present may have broken down over time or the saliva could have been diluted below the sensitivity of our test. I just wanted to clarify that one point to be sure that the results we reported are not misleading. An eyewitness to the murder saw a red bandana over the shooter’s face. The murder weapon was found in attic space above Jones’ closet, wrapped in a red bandana. This bandana contains Jones’ DNA. The evidence overwhelmingly establishes Jones’ guilt. JONES’ BEHAVIOR BEFORE AND AFTER THE MURDER Jones claims to have been an engineering major at OU who was about to walk on the basketball team. However, a letter found in his bedroom, dated June 8, 1999, indicates that Jones was not eligible for financial aid because he did not complete the minimum number of hours in the fall of 1998 or spring of 1999. Jones also failed to maintain the minimum GPA. Jones’ commutation application says, “At the time of my trial I had no prior violent felony convictions. I had gotten into some trouble previously, but none of it was violent.” While it is technically true that Jones did not have any violent convictions before his conviction for murdering Paul Howell, it is not at all true that he had not committed violent crimes. See Jones v. State, 132 P.3d 1, 3 (Okla. Crim. App. 2006) (op. on reh’g) (“Appellant’s criminal history was replete with the use and threat of violence: armed robbery, carjackings, assault. The continuing-threat aggravator was further supported by the nature of the instant offense: Appellant’s unabashed willingness to use deadly force, once again, to obtain property.”); Jones, 128 P.3d at 550 (“In addition to the evidence showing the callous nature of the Howell murder and Jones’ obvious disregard for human life, the State presented evidence that Jones had on at least three occasions taken property by force and by gunpoint.”). At the sentencing phase of Jones’ trial, the jury learned of many of his other criminal and violent actions. These facts both confirmed the jury’s guilty verdict and fully support their decision to sentence Jones to death. Jones had pled guilty, before the murder, to unlawful use of a fictitious name, false declaration to a pawnbroker, concealing stolen property, and larceny from a retailer. Jones, 128 P.3d at 549. On March 11, 1998, Jones shoved an employee while stealing clothing from a Footlocker store in Quail Springs Mall (Trial Tr. XI 77-85). 4 On December 2, 1998, Jones led an Oklahoma City police officer on a high speed chase through a residential area at 3:30 in the morning (Trial Tr.