Third, the testimony of Megan Howell Tobey as described in the documentary is both different and far more vague than her actual testimony: the documentary asserts that her description of the murderer matches that of Christopher Jordan, whereas her actual description excludes Jordan, as she testified to the murderer not having a cornrow hairstyle. Second, multiple affidavits confirm that Christopher Jordan was not released in a plea deal with the state, but due to an update in operating procedure for prisoners of his type. These same documents reveal that Jones voluntarily waived his right to testify on his own behalf, as is typical in most defense cases. First, court documents reveal that Jones admitted multiple times that he was not at his parents’ house the night of the murder. It is clear that The Last Defense struck a chord with many who saw it, but there are a few problems…įirst and foremost, this narrative is prima facie incoherent: how does it make sense that Jones was convicted due to systemic racism, but Christopher Jordan, who was also black, was allowed to walk free? But looking a little further into this case, it is clear to anyone that this documentary’s claims are egregiously manipulative at best, and downright false at worst. Even some on the right, such as Matt Schlapp of the American Conservative Union, voiced support for Jones. Since the documentary, Jones has received widespread support from progressives and celebrities nationwide, with Kim Kardashian visiting him in 2020, urging her fans to donate to his legal fund. Jones, an innocent man, now faces imminent execution, with the decision to commute his sentence laying in the hands of Governor Kevin Stitt. The racist jurors of the court then convicted Jones based on supposedly faulty testimony from Megan Howell Tobey, the murder victim’s sister and the only adult in the family to witness the crime, with Jones not even allowed to testify on his own behalf. Jones was arrested despite being at his parents’ home the night of the murder. The documentary posits that Jordan was in fact the murderer, and that he threw the guiltless Jones under the bus in a secret plea deal with the Oklahoma court system. In it, Jones is presented as an innocent black man framed by the corrupt, racist justice system of Edmond, Oklahoma and his former friend Christopher Jordan for the 1999 murder of Paul Howell. Many people may have heard of Julius Jones through Viola Davis’s The Last Defense documentary series. These things having been acknowledged, I can now begin to expose the discrepancy between the criminal cases of Julius Jones and Kyle Rittenhouse and the (specifically progressive) news/popular media’s spin on these cases. So long as there remains credible opposition to partisan spin-doctors, the spread of clear truth remains possible. I would especially like to thank Sean Fitzgerald (Social Media Handle: Actual Justice Warrior) and the Justice for Paul Howell organization, without whom I would have been entirely ignorant about the Julius Jones case. This article would not have been possible without those who take the time to objectively examine cases such as these. I do not believe that there will be revelations significant enough to upend the cases’ trajectory, however, and I likewise believe that this moment of uncertainty is highly relevant to the troubled relationship between mass media and plain facts, as entire swathes of America allows itself to once again be caught up in “narrative truth,” rather than reality. I write this piece on November 11, and in the time between now and publication on the 17th, there will almost certainly be rulings and decisions that will make statements in this article outdated. This article concerns two ongoing criminal justice cases: the potential clemency grant to Julius Jones, and the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.
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