Oklahoma Co. DA Asks For Pardon And Parole Board Members To Be Removed

Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater wants two pardon and parole board members removed from the Julius Jones case due to bias and conflict of interest. 

Inmate Julius Jones was convicted in the murder of Edmond businessman Paul Howell.

Jones' commutation hearing is set for October, but Prater is asking the Chairman of the Pardon and Parole board Adam Luck and board member Kelly Doyle to not participate.

In a statement to News 9 Prater said:

"It is patently unfair to the Howell family and the citizens of Oklahoma to allow Adam Luck and Kelly Doyle to serve on this very important Board. They clearly are not, and can not be objective in their evaluation of matters coming before them for consideration."

The state filed a motion addressing several of Luck's social media posts and said Luck has a financial conflict of interest when it comes to his duties as chairman of the pardon and parole board and his private employers.

Luck is the CEO of City Care OKC, a nonprofit that assists the homeless community, people dealing with substance abuse and people reentering into society. He's also on the board for Center for Employment Opportunities.

Court documents said, "Each month, Luck weighs in on, and votes, to release or not release a large number of inmates. Once released, a percentage of these inmates go to work for CEO (Center for Employment Opportunities).

According to the state's motion, Doyle is also employed by Center for Employment Opportunities. Documents said this creates a financial conflict for her as well.

The Howell family is pushing for justice. They've recently started a website explaining the case. On the site they said:

"Julius Jones' defense team's only hope now is to create such an uproar through a misinformation campaign as to put pressure on those that grant commutation or clemency."

News 9 reached out to Luck, Doyle and the pardon and parole board for a comment and have not heard back. A Supreme Court referee has set a hearing for September 10 at 1:30 p.m.