Wrongfully Imprisoned - Dennis Fritz and Darryl Burton Speak Out

From left, Josh Kezer of Columbia applauds as Dennis Fritz greets Darryl Burton as the former inmates told their stories of wrongful imprisonment as part of a Midwestern Innocence Project fundraiser Wednesday night in Neff Hall Auditorium at the University of Missouri.
Photo by Parker Eshelman

Josh Kezer speaks to audiences across the county warning of the reality of wrongful convictions. He doesn’t do it for himself or the publicity; he passionately tells his tale for all the men and women he believes deserve a new day in court.

In front of a standing-room-only classroom last night on the University of Missouri campus, Kezer and two other exonerated inmates told their stories in an effort to raise money for the Midwestern Innocence Project. Through fundraising, the organization provides legal counsel for prison inmates in cases that have a high probability of being overturned.

Sean O’Brien, an associate professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and Midwestern Innocence Project board member, is one of many masterminds who head exoneration cases or work to find an attorney to handle a case. With a staff of two attorneys, a fundraiser, legal secretary and several volunteers in Kansas City, he works to conduct the groundwork needed to jump-start a potential exoneration case.

“We want people to be able to put a face on the issue,” O’Brien said. “People understand there are innocent people in prison, but this makes it real to them.”

O’Brien and project attorneys rely on volunteers to sort through the 700 cases the project has on file. Only two or three cases will be selected this year, he said, sometimes making a successful exoneration into a five-year process.

DNA evidence and testing technologies have contributed to clearing numerous inmates nationwide, including 20 Missouri cases since 1980. Typical components of an exoneration case include eyewitness misidentification, junk science, false confessions, lousy lawyering and snitch testimony, O’Brien said. Each of the three exonerated speakers’ cases was a mixed bag of such components, including snitch testimony.

Kezer was 17 when he was arrested for shooting a Southeastern Missouri State University student three times. He was prosecuted in Scott County and served 16 years in state prison. He was exonerated last February after a rebuke of prosecutor-turned-Congressman Kenny Hulshof.

In a 44-page decision, a Cole County circuit judge said Hulshof withheld key evidence from defense attorneys and embellished details in his closing arguments. Conflicting testimony and three jail inmates who had claimed Kezer confessed to the killing later acknowledged they lied in hopes of getting reduced sentences.

“They didn’t care about the truth. I should have never been arrested,” Kezer said. “That’s not me saying that. That’s out of the judge’s mouth.”

Also sharing his story was former high school science teacher Dennis Fritz. Ron Williamson and Fritz were convicted in the sexual assault and murder of a 21-year-old woman who was found strangled in December 1982 in Ada, Okla. In 1988, both men were convicted, partially because of microscopic hair comparisons done as part of a scientific testing method that has since been largely discredited.

Fritz and Williamson, who served 11 years in prison, also were convicted based on testimony by witness Glen Gore, an informant later shown by DNA testing to have been the real killer. Gore was later convicted of rape and murder.

“I was convicted by snitch testimony,” Fritz said. “These were the dirtiest of the dirty and the lousiest of the lousy. They needed to find me guilty.”

Fritz’s tale became the subject of a John Grisham book, “The Innocent Man.”

St. Louis resident Darryl Burton served the longest time in prison of the three speakers. For 24 years, he worked to clear his name of a murder he did not commit. He said he found faith and his grown-up daughter in the process.

Burton was convicted in 1985 of a gas station murder on the basis of testimony by two people claiming to be witnesses. No physical evidence or motive was offered at the trial, but the two witnesses made deals with the prosecutor in exchange for their testimony because they faced unrelated felony charges.

“I thought it would take 24 hours for them to realize they made a mistake and let me go,” Burton said. “It took 24 years.”


By Brennan David

Thursday, February 4, 2010

JOHN GRISHAM AND DENNIS FRITZ TEAM UP IN THE NAME OF INNOCENCE

On March 22, 2009, John Grisham and Dennis Fritz ( who is one of the two innocent men featured in Mr. Grisham’s first non-fiction book, The Innocent Man ) met in St. Louis at the legendary Renaissance Hotel, and brought the house down of around 500 people in the name of Innocence. The fundraiser was hosted by the Midwestern Innocence Project from Kansas City, Missouri. It’s Director, Tiffany Murphy, and Co-Director, Jay Swearingen, were among the excited crowd, who packed the spacious ballroom in anticipation of meeting John Grisham—the world’s greatest legal-thriller writer and advocate for justice.

The evening’s event started off with a bang, as Jay Swearingen introduced the Midwestern Innocence Project, and its related goals and objectives of freeing innocent men— from the tortures of being falsely convicted. Daryl Burton and Josh Kezer, who were recently released from long terms in prison, ( 24 and 16 years respectively ), were among the honored, exonerated people attending the featured fundraiser. Also included was Ellen Reasonover— who had spent 16 wrongful years for a murder she knew nothing about—who now resides in St. Louis, and, Johnny Briscoe, who had spent 24 years for a bogus rape charge he knew nothing about.

Master of Ceremonies, Ida Goodwin Woolfolk, started the evening’s event off by introducing Dennis Fritz, author of Journey Toward Justice—the co-companion book to John Grisham’s, The Innocent Man. Dennis took the podium and began to tell a shortened version of the terrible nightmare he had went through—of spending 12 years in prison after having been falsely convicted of 1st Degree Capital Murder. The crowd became very silent as Dennis spoke of the tremendous hurdles and obstacles he and his family had to overcome.

Dennis then blended his very painful circumstances to begin his introduction of John Grisham, and how his writing of The Innocent Man, has had a tremendous, positive impact upon our justice system. As Dennis shared his story of how he had met John, and worked with him during his writing of The Innocent Man, one could feel a stirring in the crowd—that was filled with anticipation and eagerness— to see and hear Mr. Grisham speak. Since John and Dennis had done several fundraisers before, it was easy to sense the already-developed friendship between the two.


Upon being introduced, the crowd roared with delight and exhilaration as John walked up to the podium. After Dennis and John hugged while passing the microphone, Dennis was called back to the podium and a celebration cake was brought out in his honor for his 10th year of freedom. A thunderous round of ovation filled the ballroom as Dennis finished blowing out the candles. What a wonderful touch for a perfect evening. As always, John displayed his eloquent demeanor and speaking ability, as he began describing, in detail, his writing of The Innocent Man. The crowd was entranced from the very beginning, as John conveyed to the audience how he had first gotten the idea, to write his first non-fiction book—after having read an obituary in New York City about the death of Ronnie Williamson.

As John continued to speak about his overall experiences in writing, The Innocent Man (and the reasons why), the crowd drifted into a noticeable, relaxed state due to John’s easy-going and down-to-earth manner. The audience’s pedestal perceptions had now faded. Now, the greatest legal-thriller writer in the world—whom everyone idolized—had also become in everyone’s mind and spirit, a real-to life person who shoots straight from the hip, without any pretense, whatsoever!
More than anything else, everyone in the audience became aware of what John was really all about:
He not only was able to talk the talk, but also, there was no doubt that he could walk the walk— by being a true, blue advocate of overall, by-the-book justice.
Next, the special awards ceremony began by commemorating the following attorney’s:
Cheryl Pilate, who was responsible for the exoneration for Ellen Reasonover and Darryl Burton ( in conjunction with The Centurion Ministries-Jim McCloskey ), Shawn O’brian, who pulled Joe Amrine out of prison after having served 25 years, and Attorney Charlie Weiss, who was directly responsible for helping to exonerate Josh Keezer.

Chris Koster, Missouri’s 41st elected Attorney General, then took the stage and acted as the auctioneer for the evening’s event. What a smashing success! An entire collection of Grisham’s originally-printed books, were sold to the highest bidder for a substantial sum of money.
Also, Steve Stolze who owned a condo in Hawaii, allowed it to be auctioned off for a substantial amount of money. Next, a dinner for six (6) with Robin Carnahan—Missouri’s Secretary of State—was sold to the highest bidder.

All of this auction money went to the Midwestern Innocence Project for their costly work of freeing wrongfully-convicted people. .

The finale of the evening’s event was an announced invitation for the 5 falsely convicted people ( including, Dennis Fritz ) to come to the stage— carrying a piece of paper with their prison numbers written on it— and after giving a brief, verbal description of what they had been charged with, and how much time they had wrongfully spent in prison, they raised their arms and ripped their prison numbers into. The crowd clapped loudly as each inmate delivered his ceremonial announcement of freedom. Wow!
What a powerful evening it was—for the cause of justice and freedom!

CLICK HERE for great photos of the event

DENNIS FRITZ AND TIFFANY MURPHY JOIN FORCES AT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY

On November 12, 2008, Dennis Fritz and Tiffany Murphy ( Director of the Midwestern Innocence Project in Kansas City, Missouri ), attended the 60th annual gala event, at the American Society of Criminology in St. Louis, Missouri.


Upon invitation from Barbara Zaitzow,(the Chair person for the Appalachian State University Criminology Dept. ) Dennis Fritz and Tiffany Murphy met Barbara for the first time at the convention. Barbara’s zeal and radiant personality greatly inspired Dennis and Tiffany—as well as everyone else around her. Within the beautiful setting of the Hyatt Hotel ( located directly beside the renowned Arch, overlooking the mighty Mississippi ) thousands of people from all over the world, joined together, to gain a greater understanding about the theory and insight, of different types of criminal behavior. The atmosphere was bussing with high excitement and jubilation, as everyone anxiously checked into their rooms, and headed directly for registration.

Dennis quickly found a table and set up his books, then circulated throughout the crowds introducing himself; while making many new friends and future contacts. Even though the actual programs did not start until the next day, people were still coming in by the groves to get an early start on the beginning of the three day event.


After a long and luxurious breakfast, Dennis, Tiffany, and Barbara made their way upstairs to their assigned Rose Garden conference room. Before the event, Dennis and Tiffany just happened to bump into Cathleen Burnett, who is one of Kansas City’s very own leaders, in the Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. Once inside the conference room, Dennis, Tiffany, and Barbara took their places at the panel table. To an audience of around 50 people, Barbara began by introducing Mr. Fritz and Ms. Murphy. After sharing some of her own insights with the group, Barbara turned over the podium to Dennis, to tell his nightmare out-of-hell story, of having been wrongfully convicted of 1st Degree Capital Murder. He was sentenced to a life sentence, and had to do 12 hard, torturous years in a very tough penitentiary—before being exonerated by DNA evidence. As usual, Dennis gained everyone’s astute attention throughout his spellbinding presentation.


Next, Tiffany began her presentation by sharing with the audience, the tremendous hurdles and obstacles that have to be overcome in effectively running an innocence Project. Tiffany’s strong and assertive words were not only clear and convincing, but had everyone on the edge of their seats. When Tiffany finished, everyone in the room was much more aware and educated as to the overall pitfalls in successfully establishing an inmate’s actual innocence. Following her talk, each of the 3 panelists answered questions—which were quite diverse and challenging. At the close, Mr. Fritz autographed several of his book(s)—Journey Toward Justice!
What a wonderful and powerful conference this year turned out to be.
Click here for photos of event

Dennis Fritz Speaks At The National Association of Legal Secretaries Regional Conference

Dennis Fritz ( Author of Journey Toward Justice ), and Jay Swearingen ( Executive Director of the Midwestern Innocence Project ), were selected among other invited guests, to speak at the 6th annual NALS ( National Association of Legal Secretaries ) regional conference, in Kansas City, Missouri.


The conference started off with a bang, as Jay Swearingen gave his power point presentation to over 60 female professional secretaries. Jay is an excellent speaker, who captured everyones attention, concerning the overall duties and responsibilities of the Midwestern Innocence Project.

The special guest speaker, Dennis Fritz, took the microphone and told his harrowing story of having spent 12 long, nightmarish years in an Oklahoma penitentiary for being falsely convicted of 1st Degree Capital Murder. The viewing audience was overwhelmed by his detailed description of the sheer madness that he and his family suffered through. Mr. Fritz has now become the leading speaker in the nation on wrongful convictions. His easy-going and mild-manner personality, conveyed the horrendous amounts of injustice from being in a nightmare out of hell.

Following a thunderous round of applause, Mr. Fritz autographed copies of his book, Journey Toward Justice while visiting with each and every attendee in the group. Dennis Fritz and John Grisham travel around the country doing fundraisers for several Innocence Projects throughout the U.S. Dennis is one of the two main characters in Johns 1st non-fiction book, The Innocent Man. Dennis always says, "that it is such a great pleasure and honor to share his story, to bring about a much-needed greater awareness as to the impact of false convictions.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS

DENNIS FRITZ SHARES HIS ELECTRIFYING STORY AT THE MIDWESTERN INNOCENCE PROJECT KICKOFF AND VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION

February 15, 2008, the Midwestern Innocence Project in Kansas City, Missouri, launched the beginning of it’s celebrative kickoff, to establish their directives and goals to exonerate falsely-convicted people out of prison.
Lawyers, media, Paralegals, Investigators, and Volunteers, took their seats—following the “free lunch”—anxiously awaiting, as Executive Director, Jay Swearingen, introduced Dennis Fritz as the keynote speaker for the day’s event.

Dennis, through his positive attitude, and precise speaking abilities, conveyed the torturous account of his very painful and exhausting journey— of the 12 year nightmare that he underwent—of being falsely convicted for 1st Degree Capitol Murder. At times, during his talk, his voice would sometimes quiver as partial tears would form in his eyes.

He described the tremendous amounts of suffering that he endured throughout his horrible experience. All eyes were glued upon him, as he vividly described what prison life was really like. “Every day was filled with tremendous amounts of unbelievable stress and fear for my life.
You could never relax in prison, due to the fact that, at any time, other predatory inmates would often put sacks over their heads—with shanks (homemade knives) in hand—and steal everything you owned! If you reported the assault, then you would be labeled a “snitch” and would surely be murdered for your wrongful communication with the prison officials.”

Dennis captured everyone’s attention, when he most graciously introduced family members and their falsely convicted relatives.

To wit: Dale and Donna Horner, whose nephew Steve Allen has been falsely convicted for 17 years of allegedly murdering his wife—and, Evelyn Case, whose son Byron Case, has been claiming his innocence for the past 6 years.
The audience roared with laughter as Dennis told the story of an account that happened after he had been released from prison:

“When I was released from prison, after having spent several days with my daughter, Elizabeth, my mother and I returned to Kansas City—where I now reside. My Mom owned a 1966 Malibu Chevy, that at very first sight, I was itching to get behind the wheel.
Although I did not have a driver’s license, I got behind the wheel and put the key in the ignition.
There I was, driving down the road as a free man with zeal in my pounding heart, that was sending cold chills rushing down my spine. I realized that I had NOT forgotten how to drive a car after 12 long years.
It was GREAT!! That is, until I noticed that the gas gauge was on empty. I headed straight for the nearby convenience store with $5 in my wallet. I pulled up to the gas pumps, got out, and then realized that I didn’t know how to pump gas. It was a very strange feeling. I didn’t want to go inside the store and ask the attendant how to pump gas? Surely, he would have called the looney wagon to pick me up, and take me away to the funny farm.
I stood there pondering what to do? Then, from out of nowhere, the gas pump started talking to me!!!! I froze. The words, ‘What did I do wrong’ blurted out in my mind!!! I quickly jumped into the car and sped away, with the thought that the police would be right behind me at any time.” Later, I learned that things had definitely changed—and that gas pumps CAN TALK!!!

After Dennis’ presentation, Jay Swearingen, then proceeded to outline the parameters of the 2008 kick-start program. In an eloquent speaking style, Jay brought to light the financial aspects and barriers that would be involved in successfully moving forward to bring about the much-needed support and success for the Midwestern Innocence Project. In a free-style speaking manner, Jay brush painted his many objectives to the all-attentive audience, speaking as he slowly walked up and down the center isle that divided the seated guests.
His brilliant articulation and wholesome, honest personality penetrated throughout the congregated attendees. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind, that Jay was the MAN for the job—to help take the Innocence Project to the utmost heights of success!!!!!

Jay then introduced the new Director, Tiffany Murphy. With a huge smile upon her face, Tiffany wasted no time, as she started educating everyone—in her down-to-earth approach— as to the complicated phases of the judicial processes that an attorney must go through for their clients. Her composure was extra-ordinary!
Although the judicial guidelines seemed at first, very difficult for everyone to apprehend, Tiffany’s layman way of communicating, brought about an in-depth understanding to everyone there. Of course, by that time, everyone had finished their pizza and were whole-heartedly focused on her broad judicial explanations.

The audience asked many questions that had always perplexed them in the past. By the time that Tiffany had finished her power-point presentation, the people in the audience seemed very satisfied, relaxed, and knowledgeable as to their own particular circumstances. Tiffany Murphy!— such a wonderful, skilled, professional person and attorney, that is nothing short of a bulldog fighting for the rights of the wrongfully convicted.

The final event of the day was a book signing by Dennis Fritz. His book entitled, Journey Toward Justice, will live forever. Being the co-companion book of John Grisham’s, The Innocent Man, Dennis masterfully interwove his 1st perspective, in-depth accounts of his nightmare out of hell.
The book signing was also a success. Everyone was so interested in meeting Dennis, and found him to be such a inspirational person, as to his strength and determination, that was pivotal in helping him endure those unmerciful, 12 years of being wrongfully incarcerated.
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DENNIS FRITZ SHARES HIS ELECTRIFYING STORY AT THE MIDWESTERN INNOCENCE PROJECT

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