Dennis Fritz The Other Innocent Man

In 1982, 21-year-old Debra Sue Carter was brutally murdered in the small town of Ada, Okla.

In 1988, former Lee’s Summit resident Dennis Fritz and his acquaintance Ron Williamson were charged and convicted of the murder. Fritz was sentenced to life in prison and Williamson received the death penalty­­.

On April 15, 1999, Fritz and Williamson were exonerated by DNA evidence.

In 2006 John Grisham released his first non-fiction book based on the events of the case, “The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town.” And shortly after, on Oct. 6, 2006, Dennis Fritz released his own memoir about the case, “Journey Toward Justice.” On Saturday, Sept. 12, Fritz will host a book signing from 2 to 6 p.m. at Maxwell’s, 301 S.E. Douglas in downtown Lee’s Summit.

Revisiting the past

Although Fritz had already written a little about his trial, his appeals and his conviction while in prison, once he was released he wasn’t eager to revisit that portion of his life.

“Anyone who has spent several years in a penitentiary — a hard and violent place —will walk out with post traumatic stress,” Fritz told the Journal last Friday.

And he just wanted to get on with his life.

But after five years had passed, and he had adjusted to life after prison, he began to work with Grisham on “The Innocent Man.”

“I told myself, if John (Grisham) can write about my case, then so can I,” Fritz said.

But writing his own story proved to be more difficult than he had anticipated.

“It was tremendously difficult,” he said. “When I started writing my book I began to be revisited by my thoughts and fears from the trial.”

Fritz said he became almost paranoid again.

“Whenever I saw a cop car or heard sirens drive by my house I was afraid they would pull in,” he said. And Fritz had every reason to be afraid. The arresting officers and the former district attorney who prosecuted him were still telling media outlets they believed Fritz and Williamson were still guilty.

“There’s no statute of limitations on murder,” Fritz said. “I was fearful I was going to go back.”

In 2003, DNA evidence convicted another Ada resident, Glen Gore, for Carter’s murder. But after his death sentence was overturned in 2005, he was sentenced to life without parole in 2006.

The Never-ending Case

Although Gore had been convicted and both Grisham’s and Fritz’s books had been written and become widely popular, Fritz wasn’t done with his journey through the courts system. Only this time it was in civil court.

In 2007, former Pontotoc County District Attorney, William Peterson, and former Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation employees, Gary Rogers and Melvin Hett, sued Fritz, Grisham and their publishers for libel.

“They made a mistake and even now, they don’t want to admit it,” Fritz said about the investigators.

In September 2008, a judge dismissed the lawsuit, calling the petition’s claims “not plausible,” but Fritz said the decision was appealed.

“From the time of her death in 1982 until now, 27 years have passed by and this is still going on,” Fritz said.

Working for the innocent

Although Fritz spent more than 11 years in prison for a crime he did not commit and is still entangled in a civil lawsuit regarding the same case, Fritz isn’t too bothered by his past these days.

“Especially after spending 12 years in a hard and violent penitentiary, nothing bothers me too much.” Fritz said. “Things are meant to happen for a reason and I was sacrificed to bring about reform.”

In fact, Fritz said his case is one of the leading cases used to expose corruptness in the legal system.

“I want to focus on bringing awareness, and I use my book for that,” he said.

Now Fritz serves as a board member for the Innocence Project, the same organization he contacted while in prison.

With the help of the organization, DNA samples found at the crime scene were re-tested and none of it was found to match DNA from either Williamson or Fritz.

Now Fritz helps the same organization that helped him. He frequently makes appearances to talk about his case and works to raise money for the organization so more innocent prisoners can be exonerated.
Source Miranda Wycoff, Journal Staff

Link

Dennis Fritz "IF" There Were No Flowers

Dennis Fritz, author of "Journey Toward Justice", read the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling to the lone juror who saved him from the death penalty.
The poem was read to Bonnie Flowers at a book signing in Ada, Oklahoma. Fritz told the audience, that if Bonnie had not had the courage to stand up for him then he was sure he would have been put to death.


Dennis Fritz read the Rudyard Kipling poem “If”, to Bonnie Flowers as it had special meaning to him. The poem was given to him early in his prison sentence by his aunt who died just eight days before he was released. In his book dedication he writes-
"To the lord for giving me the emotional strength and perseverance to endure, and to my mother, Aunt Wilma, and Elizabeth for their continued strength and support" -

Here is the Poem
"IF" by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting

Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,

Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,

And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;


If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;

If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,

And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -

Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,

And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

LOCAL HARLEY DAVIDSON DEALER TO BE FILMED FOR SEGMENT OF NEW TELEVISION REALITY SHOW WHILE HOSTING A BOOK SIGNING

Harley riders and the public are invited to hang out while TV camera crews film the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club and their entourage at White’s Harley-Davidson/Buell, 1515 East Cumberland Street in Lebanon, on Saturday, July 28th, from 1pm until 4pm.

The Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club will be at White’s to attend a book signing there
by famed authors Dennis Fritz and Edward Winterhalder. While the Vietnam Vets are visiting White’s, part of an episode for the new “Living On The Edge” television reality show will be filmed.

For this pilot episode of the Harley-themed show, the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club of Pennsylvania will be the primary focus of the cameras. Camera crews will be filming the Vietnam Vets in the Reading, Lebanon and Philly areas for close to one week.

Each episode of “Living On The Edge” will feature a corporate personality or celebrity who will be infused into the lives of various motorcycle club members, spending time with the members’ families, at their jobs, and in the communities they live.

For this episode, Vietnam Vets spokesman Bruce “Fuzz” Terreson said that corporate executive Michael Crowe, from Milwaukee, will appear as a guest of the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club.

The Vietnam Vets Motorcycle Club, along with Mr. Crowe and their entourage, will be riding into White’s, where Mr. Fritz and Mr. Winterhalder will be autographing copies of their books for the public starting at 1pm.

Fritz’s book “Journey Towards Justice” and Winterhalder’s “Out In Bad Standings: Inside The Bandidos Motorcycle Club” are both currently best sellers in their genre. Copies of their books will be on hand for sale to the public.

Fritz spent 12 years of his life wrongfully imprisoned for a murder he did not commit. Freed from prison through DNA testing in 1999, his remarkable story is also the subject of John Grisham's latest blockbuster “The Innocent Man”. The movie rights for Grisham’s book have been sold to Hollywood star George Clooney and production is scheduled to begin in 2008.

Winterhalder, a high-ranking world leader of the notorious Bandidos Motorcycle Club until his departure from the club in 2003, is one of the world’s leading authorities on motorcycle clubs. In addition to “Out In Bad Standings”, he is a contributing author of “The Mammoth Book of Bikers” (to be released worldwide September 2007), and the Executive Producer of the “Living On The Edge” TV show.

Surrounded by the rolling hills of the Lebanon Valley, White's has been family owned and operated since 1953 when J. Herman White and his wife, Marion, started the business in a Lebanon garage. Currently owned by Joe White, the dealership expects hundreds of people to turn out for this once in a lifetime opportunity to possibly appear on a television show and to meet the authors.

# # #

For additional information please contact:

Megan Zengerle - Events Coordinator
White’s Harley-Davidson/Buell
1515 East Cumberland Street
Lebanon, PA 17042
717-272-4986
promotions at whitesharley.com (replace at with @ ) and no spaces in email

Meet Dennis Fritz At His Book Signing for Journay Toward Justice Borders 8626 N. Broadwalk Kansas City MO. Feb.10 at 2:00 P.M.

Meet Author Dennis Fritz for a Discussion and Book Signing for Journey Towards Justice 2 p.m. Feb. 10, Borders Books and Music, 8626 N. Boardwalk. (816-741-1787)

On Amazon - Journey Toward Justice Author Dennis Fritz On Amazon Here