Karl Fontenot and Tommy Ward Deserve Attention and Need Help - Contact Their Attorney Here With Information or Tips

After reading a Statement from John Grisham below, I felt a need to help Karl and Tommy. Authors of blogs and websites, please pass this information along.
"Never doubt that a small group of bloggers, the internet and concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it has." Quote Barbara Owens - Barbara's Journey Toward Justice

Statement of John Grisham
"It is an intriguing and horrifying story: the story of the dream that got Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot convicted.

Karl and Tommy deserve attention and help.

I encourage anyone with any information about this case to send it to their attorney.

It is important to learn from this nightmare. It is also important that this nightmare somehow be unraveled."

Contact The Attorney for Ward and Fontenot
End of Statement

This is from Ward and Fontenot website;

WHAT CAN BE DONE

Persons with information about the Denice Haraway homicide may send e-mail to:
barrettlawoffice at gmail.com
Or write to:

Mark Barrett, Attorney
P.O. Box 896
Norman, Oklahoma 73070

We are looking for anything that could help prove who is responsible for the death.
Assume that whatever you know or have heard is important. In particular, we are hoping to hear from people who, in 1984, lived near the place where the body was found. END
Haraway’s body was found in Hughes County, far from anyplace that was searched. A remote area twenty-five miles east of Ada. Oklahoma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot were convicted of murdering Denise Haraway. Haraway, 24, worked part-time at McAnally’s convenience store in Ada, Oklahoma. She was last seen leaving the store on April 28, 1984, with a man who had his arm around her waist. The two appeared to be a pair of lovers. The store was found deserted with the cash register drawer opened and emptied. Haraway’s purse and driver’s license were found inside, and her car nearby.

Months later, after Haraway still remained missing, police questioned Tommy Ward, who resembled the man accompanying Haraway from the store. After days of interrogation, Ward confessed to the crime. He also implicated his friend, Karl Fontenot, and Odell Titsworth, a man he never met. During the videotaped confession, Ward frequently forgot Titsworth’s name and called him “Titsdale.” Ward said the three gang-raped Haraway, murdered her with Titsworth’s knife, and dumped her body near Sandy Creek.

Fontenot was soon arrested and confessed after only two hours of interrogation. His confession was similar to Ward’s but contradicted it many details, like the order in which the three raped Haraway, or the location and number of stab wounds on her. Fontenot said the three brought Haraway into an abandoned house, where Titsworth poured gasoline over her body and burned down the house. Ward had mentioned a burned down house in an earlier unrecorded confession, and police knew it existed.

Titsworth was arrested, but he had broken his arm two days before the murder in a fight with police. Medical and police records made him an unlikely suspect, and he was never charged with murder. While police were sifting through the remains of the burned down house, the owner appeared. After police told him of Fontenot’s confession, the owner said Fontenot’s story was impossible, as he himself had burned down the house 10 months before the murder.

At trial, the prosecutor presented the confessions and was forced into the position of telling the jury the defendants were lying about details while asking the jury to believe them anyway. Two jailhouse informants supplemented the confessions. One said Ward confessed, while the other said he overheard Fontenot talking to himself, saying, “I knew we’d get caught. I knew we’d get caught.” The jurors returned with guilty verdicts and death penalties.

Haraway’s body was found four month’s later in Hughes County, far from anyplace that was searched. She had not been stabbed or burned, but died from a single gunshot to the head. END

Some Interesting Facts;
District Attorney William Peterson had another jailhouse informant whose testimony would cement the Ward and Fontenot case Terri Holland.
Terri Holland claimed she overheard Karl Fontenot confessing, just as she heard Ron Williamson confess. John Grisham wrote about Ron Williamson's story in "The Innocent
Man". You can also read about her in Dennis Fritz's Book "Journey Toward Justice". Terri Holland jailhouse informant provided testimony in 2 Ada Oklamhoma murder cases. Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson Murder Case and Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot Murder Case.

Besides her testimony in 2 murder cases, District Attorney Peterson had to ask a jury to believe two confessions that contradicted one another in almost every way, and both indicated the involvement of a third man that the police department never saw fit to file charges against.Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot received death sentences.
Ward and Fontenot were retried, they both received life sentences.

William Peterson still serves as District Attorney for the City of Ada.

Persons with information about the Denice Haraway homicide may send e-mail to:
____________________________
barrettlawoffice@gmail.com

Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were exonerated and released in April 1999

From The Innocence Project

DENNIS FRITZ
Incident Year: 1982

Jurisdiction: OK

Charge: Murder

Conviction: 1st Degree Murder

Sentence: Life
Year of Conviction: 1988

Exoneration Year: 1999

Sentence Served: 11 Years

Real perpetrator found? Yes

Contributing Causes: Unreliable/Limited Science, False Confessions, Informants/Snitches

Compensation? Yes


Dennis Fritz, along with co-defendant Ron Williamson, was convicted in 1988, in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma, of the murder of Debra Sue Carter. Her body had been found six years earlier. Fritz was sentenced to life in prison. Williamson was sent to death row.

The twenty-one year old victim had left her waitressing job and was found raped and murdered in her apartment the following day. Fritz and Williamson were known to frequent the establishment where the victim worked. The prosecution presented evidence that the victim had previously complained to a friend that they "made her nervous." Williamson had been seen at the restaurant the night of the murder without Fritz.

Fritz was not charged until five years later after the murder (delayed by state exhumation of victim after an incorrect analysis of finger prints at the scene was noted). An inmate that Fritz was paired with eventually came forward and stated that Fritz had confessed to the murder. This jailhouse snitch gave a two hour taped interview revealing what Fritz had allegedly confessed to him. This confession came one day before the prosecution would have been forced to drop the charges against Fritz. Another informant testified that she had heard Williamson threaten to harm his mother as he had the victim. Williamson was also seen at the bar the night of the murder, according to a witness named Glenn Gore. Additionally, police had statements from Williamson regarding a dream he had about the crime.

Forensic testing was performed on various items of evidence. Seventeen hairs were recovered and were "matched" to both Fritz and Williamson. The semen evidence suggested that the perpetrator(s) were non-secretors, as Fritz and Williamson are. Fritz could not remember his exact whereabouts during the day of the crime due to the amount of time, five years, that had passed.

Fritz's appeals were denied. He later contacted the Innocence Project for help. It was learned that the physical evidence was going to be tested due to appeals filed by Ron Williamson's lawyers. Fritz filed an injunction to make sure that the evidence would not be totally consumed until the cases were joined with regard to DNA testing.

DNA testing revealed that neither Fritz nor Williamson deposited the spermatozoa found in the victim. Further testing proved that none of the many hairs that were labeled "matches" belonged to them. The profile obtained from the semen evidence matched Glenn Gore, one of the state's witnesses at trial. Gore escaped from work release shortly after testing was concluded and was later apprehended.

Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were exonerated and released in April 1999. Williamson had, at one point, come within five days of execution. The two had been wrongfully incarcerated, respectively, for eleven years.

Dennis Fritz wrote a Book called "Journey Toward Justice" click here On Amazon Here
International Orders Order Here Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz From Around The World click on here Amazon International Just type in Journey Toward Justice Author Dennis Fritz

Margaret Mead and Barbara's Journey Toward Justice Quote

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

My Related Quote;

"Never doubt that a small group of bloggers, the internet and concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it has." Barbara Owens - Barbara's Journey Toward Justice Blog

NBC Dateline The Accused and John Grisham Comments Here Ada Oklamhoma Murders

Please post your comments about the NBC Dateline Show The Accused aired May 22 here. To post comment click on the word comments below

Truth In Justice Radio Show Hosts Sheila Berry and Ira Robins

Truth In Justice Radio Show is Up and Coming

As part of its educational outreach, Truth in Justice offers a series of radio programs aimed at alerting listeners to problems in the legal system that lead to the conviction of innocent people for crimes they did not commit. Your hosts, Sheila Berry and Ira Robins, discuss issues that play significant roles in making, reversing and avoiding wrongful convictions. Use the mailto link at the website to contact them with questions and concerns you would like them to address in future broadcasts.
Here's the link for the radio show: http://truthinjustice.org/tjradio/radio.htm

NBC Dateline Tuesday May 22 The Ada Hour Injustice of Wrongful Convictions Featuring Dennis Fritz Author of Journey Toward Justice

NBC Dateline will air on Tuesday May 22 The Ada Hour.
The Ada Hour will chronicle the repeated injustice of wrongful convictions.
In addition to John Grisham, District Attorney Bill Peterson, Barry Scheck and Robert Mayer the piece will feature Dennis Fritz the author of Journey Toward Justice. Please feel free to post your comments about The Ada Hour here.

John Grisham and Dennis Fritz Unite On A Journey Toward Justice

John Grisham, author of "The Innocent Man", published by "Doubleday Random House" and Dennis Fritz author of "Journey Toward Justice", published by "Seven Locks Press" Santa Ana, CA have a long term commitment to making appearances related to "the innocence movement" nationwide.
Grisham's first nonfiction book, "The Innocent Man" is a bestseller on Amazon worldwide. Dennis Fritz has his first book "Journey Toward Justice" on Amazon and is a bestseller worldwide.

The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, is a chronicle of the Oklahoma case that resulted in the wrongful conviction of former minor-league baseball player Ron Williamson and his friend Dennis Fritz. Once asked whether his book is a kind of social activism, he says: "When I researched and wrote the book, it was impossible not to become indignant and infuriated. And that becomes an activism in itself."

Journey Toward Justice: Dennis Fritz tells his side of the story of his unwarranted prosecution and wrongful conviction, that changed his life and a small community forever. Dennis Fritz was tried and convicted on non-existent evidence, the false testimony of jailhouse snitches, faulty forensics work and suppressed evidence.

Together and Separately they attend many fundraising events and appear on Television and Radio Talk Shows. I heard May 22 both John Grisham and Dennis Fritz will be on Dateline.

Grisham spoke Thursday May 10th at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, In Kansas City for an Innocence Project fundraiser. The Innocence Project is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing legal aid to prisoners "with persuasive actual innocence claims" in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska,Iowa, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Sponsors were the Midwestern Innocence Project, the McKellar Group and Rainy Day Books.

Grisham discussed his recent nonfiction book, The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town.This chronicled the Oklahoma case that resulted in the wrongful convictions of former minor-league baseball player Ron Williamson who was sentenced to die. Ron died of cirrhosis in December 2004, five years after being freed.

Thursday in an interview with The Kansas City Star, author John Grisham said the death penalty in the United States should be "abolished forever". He also said it is his personal view that the death penalty is immoral. Grisham realizes that the most powerful argument against the death penalty is that it kills the innocent as well as the guilty, a case that he makes simply by telling Williamson and Fritz's story. He also discussed Ron Williamson's friend Dennis Fritz. Dennis Fritz got life in prison. Both were exonerated after spending years in prison.

Dennis Fritz also works with the Innocence Project in Kansas City, Missouri. He makes appearances related to "the innocence movement" nationwide. He is using a book he recently published, "Journey Toward Justice", as a vehicle to bring awareness of the overall, devastating effects of how false convictions can destroy people's lives and how mistakes can be made in cases. He travels the United States speaking to law schools and also hopes to reach prosecutors and judges.

Here is what Barry Scheck from The Innocence Project says about Dennis Fritz's book Journey Toward Justice:
There have been one hundred eighty-one post-conviction DNA exonerations in America. The exonerated and their families are the heart and soul of this movement. There is no more decent and dignified a man, nor a more gentle soul, than Dennis Fritz. He has had the fortitude to tell his whole story. As always, I am in awe of his courage and humbled by his efforts.- Barry C. Scheck The Innocence Project

They Falsely Accused E-Book By Matt Thompson

Today I receive an email from Matt Thompson telling me his story, his website and and his E-Book. I told him I would Add and Share it in a post.
This is from his website.

THEY FALSELY ACCUSED is a book about yet another man wrongly convicted in Pontotoc County, Oklahoma.

It's more of the same involving the legal system in Ada, as it reflects small-town America. Matt Thompson was convicted at trial of rape (yet acquitted of a second charge) and sent to prison with a fifteen-year sentence.

New evidence brought hope for a successful appeal, but that hope died more than five years later with the exhaustion of his appeals.

The lack of evidence, police trickery, and shifty stories are disturbingly similar to what happened to the men in THE INNOCENT MAN and THE DREAMS OF ADA.

Ninety-five percent of the book was written in the summer of 2000, before anyone knew where Ada was, but finding a publisher has been difficult because there has been no legal exoneration.

My goal this year is to self-publish if nothing else, and get the book into prison libraries and public libraries in America. Then almost everyone could have access to reading it through inter-library loan programs.

Please contact my friend (and literary agent) Jeff Schmidt of NY Creative Management with any publishing offers or requests.

In the meantime, the e-book tells the story just the same. The final chapter is a must read of what to do if falsely accused:
how to investigate, utilize your lawyer and handle the police and legal authorities.

We've known about the Pontotoc County injustices for a long time around here, and I'm sure glad others are learning of it too.

We can't wait for you to read THEY FALSELY ACCUSED. END

Another Case Pontotoc County, Oklahoma.
Dennis Fritz The Other Innocent Man in John Grisham's Book The Innocent Man.

Dennis Fritz writes his own story. Endorsed on Jacket by John Grisham and States on Jacket Compelling and Fascinating.

A Companion book to The Innocent Man, Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz. True Crime, Murder and Injustice in a Small Town. Journey Toward Justice is a testimony to the Triumph of the human Spirit and is a Memoir. Dennis Fritz was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder after a swift trail.

The only thing that saved him from the Death Penalty was a lone vote from a juror. Dennis Fritz was the other Innocent man mentioned in John Grisham's Book. which mainly is about Ronnie Williamson, Dennis Fritz's co-defendant.

Both were exonerated after spending 12 years in prison.
The real killer was one of the Prosecution's Key Witness. Read about why he went on a special diet of his while in prison, amazing and shocking. Dennis Fritz's Story of unwarranted prosecution and wrongful conviction needs to be
heard. Look for his book in book stores or at Amazon.com , Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz, Publisher Seven Locks Press 2006. ..

Read about how he wrote hundreds of letters and appellate briefs in his own defense and immersed himself in an intense study of law. He was a school teacher and a ordinary man whose wife was brutally murdered in 1975 by a deranged 17 year old neighbor.

On May 8th 1987, Five years after Debbie Sue Carter's rape and murder he was home with his young daughter and put under arrest, handcuffed and on his way to jail on charges of rape and murder.
After 10 years in prison he discovered The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization.

With the aid of Barry Scheck and DNA evidence Dennis Fritz was exonerated on April 15,1999 Since then, it has been a long hard road filled with twist and turns and now on his Journey Toward Justice.

He never blamed the Lord and solely relied on his faith in God to make it through. He waited for God's time and never gave up.


Journey Toward Justice Author Dennis Fritz click here On Amazon Here
International Orders Order Here Journey Toward Justice by Dennis Fritz From Around The World click on here Amazon International Just type in Journey Toward Justice Author Dennis Fritz

Dennis Fritz Featured on The Law Business Insider Radio Show

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DENNIS FRITZ

This is from Lawyers and Business Executives in the News™ Website Steve Murphy Executive Producer

Exclusive interviews with some of America's preeminent lawyers and business executives. -

The Law Business Insider" Radio Show is privileged to present a conversion with Dennis Fritz who was freed for a murder he did not commit.


County, Oklahoma, of the murder of Debra Sue Carter. Her body had been found six years earlier. Fritz was sentenced to life in prison. Williamson was sent to death row. DNA testing revealed that neither Fritz nor Williamson was guilty. Further testing proved that none of the many hairs that were labeled "matches" belonged to them. The profile obtained from the DNA evidence matched Glenn Gore, one of the state's witnesses at trial. Gore escaped from work release shortly after testing was concluded and was later apprehended.

With the help of Barry Scheck, a Co-founder and Co-Director of The Innocence Project (www.innocenceproject.org) at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson were exonerated and released in April 1999. Williamson had, at one point, come within five days of execution. The two had been wrongfully incarcerated, respectively, for eleven years.


May 02, 2007 in Breaking Legal News
by Steve Farber