![Oklahoma death row inmate gets one last chance to plead his case: "We are fighting for a man's life"](https://cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2021/11/01/5f2ef6cb-c928-43d8-a361-d5008aa67cfb/thumbnail/1200x630/040c769f6196b77f94f9546398ac8a68/julius-jones-paul-howell.jpg)
Oklahoma death row inmate gets one last chance to plead his case: "We are fighting for a man's life"
CBSN
An Oklahoma man on death row for a murder he says he did not commit will have one last chance to plead his case at a clemency hearing today.
In 1999, at the age of 19, Julius Jones was convicted of killing Paul Howell. Jones has always maintained his innocence, and his family says he was home at the time of the murder.
In September, the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended Gov. Kevin Stitt commute Jones' sentence to life in prison. The board's chairman said, "I believe in death penalty cases there should be no doubt, and put simply, I have doubts in this case."
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It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.