The six-part docuseries series, based on John Grishams 2006 best-selling non-fiction book The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town, tells the story of Ronald Keith Williamson, a man wrongfully convicted of rape and murder who spent 11 years on death row before he was exonerated. OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) - Convicted murderer Tommy Ward has filed a brief in response to the Attorney General's motion to keep him locked up in prison. attempted to take on Fontenot's case in 2013, a 2017 interview with The Marshall Project. Fontenots and Wards attorneys did not respond to requests for comment. YOU'VE REACHED YOUR MONTHLY ARTICLE LIMIT. The Innocent Man - Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot now - Digital Spy But now, Wards release has been blocked by the state Attorney Generals Office. Since the age of 16, Ward has had the opportunity to work alongside industry veterans and legends. Tommy Ward to be set free . Ward and a co-defendant, Karl Fontenot, were convicted and sentenced to life in prison in the 1984 kidnapping and killing of Donna Denice Haraway, a convenience store clerk in Ada, Oklahoma. Attorneys in Ada 'Innocent Man' murder case 'blown away' by content of Oklahoma seeks to uphold the murder conviction of Karl Fontenot in the murder of Donna "Denice" Haraway. We cant do it without your support. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? The Innocent Man, released by Netflix in 2018, looked at two murder cases having taken place in Ada in the 1980s, including the one which resulted in Wards conviction. Tuesday, July 6th 2021, 11:00 pm. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. News 9 Team Holds Severe Weather Expo At Penn Square Mall, Sauced On The Paseo Re-Opens 2 Years After Fire, Read Across America Celebration Held At Belle Isle Library, OKC Thunder, Big Brothers & Big Sisters Host Clinic For Kids At Park, TCSO, 'Color Free America' Hold Dialogue Between Citizens And Law Enforcement, First Responders Host Recruitment Fair In Tulsa, Doctors Warn Dangers Of Cannabis Edibles For Children. Instead, she had died from a gunshot wound. Attorneys For Tommy Ward 'The Innocent Man' Continue Fight For His Release From Jail. A federal judge in Muskogee overturned Fontenot's conviction in late 2019. Ward is the subject of a Netflix docuseries and a book by John Grisham. The organization has not offered an update on the status of their efforts. The Court of Criminal Appeals ordered Tommy Ward, 60, to remain imprisoned while the state appeals the lower court's ruling that he be released. Tommy Ward: The Innocent Man (@WardInnocentMan) / Twitter Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in, Prisoner seen in Netflixs The Innocent Man has conviction reinstated, refused to take up the case and to examine the states appeal, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off & extra perks with Booking.com Genius Membership, 50 cash with friend referrals at Virgin Mobile, 15% off extra plans with this Vodafone promo, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK March 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this March, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. The judge found Tommy Ward didnt get a fair trial. The victim, Donna Denice Haraway, disappeared from the McAnally's convenience store in Ada on April 28, 1984. sharing the stories, pictures and loves of Oklahomans across our great state. More to come. Oklahoma Attorney General's Office Appeals Release Of Tommy Ward. Tommy Ward is still behind bars waiting for an appeal. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Oklahomas Court of Criminal Appeals, however, argued that the district court had abused its discretion in that instance. Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. This contradicted the confessions, which stated that Haraway had been stabbed to death. tommy ward released 2022 The attorneys claim a trove of hundreds of new documents uncovered in a police storage room back up Fontenots claims of innocence. And Mr. Fontenot has also established that evidence suppressed by the State prior to his new trial in 1988 led to a violation of his constitutional right to due process., More:Human remains found, Oklahoma white supremacist leader might be connected. Fontenot has been released pending a decision from the United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Ward and a co-defendant, Karl Fontenot, were convicted and sentenced to life in prison in the 1984 kidnapping and killing of Donna Denice Haraway, a convenience store clerk in Ada, Oklahoma. To the extent that this could be the next Sinatra of our time." Keep up-to-date with everything that happens in your world. Tommy Ward one of the subjects of Netflix's true-crime docuseries "The Innocent Man," who was convicted of abduction, rape and the murder of an Oklahoma woman is to be released from . Fontenot's case was picked up by The Innocence Project in 2011, but there's . In 2020, District Judge Paula Inge vacated his conviction, dismissed the charges against him, and ordered him set free. Lawyers for a man whose murder conviction in Oklahoma was overturned after he served more than three decades in prison urged the U.S. Supreme Court this week not to grant the states request to review the case. Denice Haraway of Ada, Oklahoma went in for an ordinary day of work at her convenience store job on April 28, 1984. Fontenots conviction was overturned in 2019 by a federal judge in Muskogee, and that courts ruling was upheld last year by the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The convictions were based almost entirely on accounts they said they retrieved from dreams. sharing the stories, pictures and loves of Oklahomans across our great state. Attorneys representing Tommy Ward continue to fight for his release from jail. This is new info, and were trying to figure what this means right now. At 17, he and his band were one of the youngest opening acts in Las Vegas history, completing 90 shows for Billboard #1 artist and Las Vegas headliner of the year, Frankie Moreno. In June this year, the US Supreme Court refused to take up the case and to examine the states appeal. More to come. The most recent exculpatory disclosure came in 2019, 31 years after Fontenots conviction.. "The Innocent Man" Tommy Ward files another brief - KFOR.com Fontenot is currently awaiting the results of a federal appeal. News 9s Barry Mangold will have more on the story on News 9 at 10 p.m. Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News 9 delivered right to your inbox! Tommy Ward is a critically acclaimed singer and entertainer from Las Vegas who has a deep love and appreciation for legendary musicians and crooners. The appeals court did task the district court with handling a remaining claim from Wards team, according to which newly discovered evidence requires his conviction to be vacated. The Pontotoc County District Attorneys office relied solely on investigators to provide it with the evidence needed to prosecute the case without questioning whether the investigators had turned over all exculpatory and/or impeachment evidence, Judge Paula Inge wrote in her December order. The state of Oklahoma filed a petition in the U.S. Supreme Court in January arguing that a federal law placing strict time limits on appeals should have barred the claims made in 2016 by Fontenot. Which they did after I taped the statement," Fontenot said almost immediately after his interrogation, as described in Grisham's book. Fontenot was sentenced to death again but Ward was sentenced to life in prison, according to The Oklahoman. Ward was convicted alongside Karl Fontenot for murdering Donna Harraway in Ada. Back in December a Ponotoc County judge overturned Wards conviction saying prosecutors withheld evidence in the case. - BART TORRES, 99.7FM The Highway Vibe. Per The Associated Press, the convictions were based almost entirely on accounts they said they retrieved from dreams, and came after hours of interrogation by Ada police and state agents desperate to solve the disappearance of Haraway in 1984, just two years after the unsolved rape and murder of another young woman in the small central Oklahoma town.. Tuesday, they filed a brief with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Karl Fontenot, Tommy Ward. Tommy Ward, Convicted Murderer and Subject of Netflix's 'The - TheWrap We promise to never spam you. By, 'Deeply tainted': Oklahoma conservatives call for moratorium, abolition of the death penalty, Sheriff, jail health care provider seek public money to increase staff after two women died, AG Drummond orders independent counsel to review Glossip death penalty case, Oklahoma Attorney General requests more time in between executions. Courtesy Netflix. Tommy Ward has been in prison for 35 years and was supposed to be released today after a judge dismissed Ward's murder conviction. info@tommywardmusic.com | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use. Ward was featured in the Netflix documentary and John Grisham book An Innocent Man. Ward along with Karl Fontenot were convicted of killing Denice Haraway back in the 1980s. - QUINCY JONES, 27 time GRAMMY-award-winning producer "A fine singer A lovely, silky voice." The courts exhaustively reviewed voluminous amounts of withheld exculpatory evidence and correctly concluded that this is the rare case in which a habeas petitioner has credibly demonstrated actual innocence, the lawyers said. The only evidence the state used in convicting Ward was a confession that he later claimed was spun wildly from a dream he reported, and only came out after intense pressure and hours of brutal interrogation. PublishedDecember 26, 2020 at 10:50 AM CST, KGOU | Breaking news: Judge orders Tommy released and vacates his conviction. . In a 2017 interview with The Marshall Project, the author discussed their fates. Along with co-defendant Tommy Ward, Karl Fontenot was convicted twice in the kidnapping and murder of Donna Denise Haraway from an Ada convenience store in 1984 and sentenced to life without parole. The convictions of Ward and Fontenot have come under intense scrutiny for years and have been the subject of numerous books, including John Grishams The Innocent Man, which he produced into a six-part documentary. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, A judge reversed the conviction of Thomas Ward, known to the public as Tommy Ward, in 2020, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile, Tommy Ward in the 2018 Netflix docuseries The Innocent Man'. Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, breaking news, sweepstakes, and more! Ward's most recent recording, "Home" with GRAMMY nominated country artist Mark Winston Kirk, is currently in the Top 100 on regional radio and is being played in more than 15 states across the United States, including Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina. Karl Fontenot was 20 years old in 1984, when he was arrested for the rape and murder of Donna Denice Haraway along with Tommy Ward. Forget Me Not EP available now on all major platforms. John 3:16. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Wards and Fontenots convictions were featured in the John Grisham 2006 book The Innocent Man and a 2018 Netflix series of the same name, as well as the 1987 book Dreams of Ada by Robert Mayer. So thats the reason I gave them an untrue statement so they would leave me alone.. Share. Fontenot, now 57,was tried twice and given the death penalty both times, though a retrial error led to a new sentence of life without parole. Mark Barrett and Greg Swygert , the attorneys representing Tommy Ward, spoke with The Frontier this week about the status of Ward's case to have his 1989 murder conviction and life sentence. His conviction is the subject of the Netflix docu-series "The . Fontenot was released from prison about one year ago after a federal judge found he also didnt receive a fair trial. "Tommy is the epitome of great music. 2023 www.oklahoman.com. Attorneys for a man convicted for the 1984 kidnapping and murder of an Ada woman say they plan to file a federal case to try and overturn his conviction after the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned a lower court's order that would have made him a free man. Heres a link to the decision, Mark Barrett & The Center on Wrongful Convictions tweeted, with the legal documents confirming the move attached. And the prosecutorial misconduct did not end with the trial: over the next thirty years, the State continued to withhold evidence, releasing it piecemeal only when compelled to do so by multiple court orders, the lawyers told the court. Fontenot. Oklahoma seeks to uphold the murder conviction of Karl Fontenot in the murder of Donna Denice Haraway. Additional reporting by The Associated Press. However, court documents filed on Monday (29 August) show that on Friday (26 August), Oklahomas Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the judges decision and reinstated Wards conviction. Haraway had been shot rather than stabbed, was 20 miles away from where the men said her body had been dumped, and she had been wearing different clothes than those Ward and Fontenot described. Attorneys For Tommy Ward 'The Innocent Man' Continue Fight For His Release From Jail. Both are model prisoners. Fight for his release from jail crime Netflix Series was released back in 2018, and temporary. The Court of Criminal Appeals ordered Tommy Ward, 60, to remain imprisoned while the state appeals the lower court's ruling that he be released. Fontenots death sentence was later reduced to life before his conviction was reversed by a federal appeals court. Critically acclaimed singer, musician, and entertainer. Ward remains in prison as the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals weighs his case. In addition to his impressive performances, Ward has a true passion for music and the arts. Tommy Ward is a critically acclaimed singer and entertainer from Las Vegas who has a deep love and appreciation for legendary musicians and crooners. OK man arrested for. An Oklahoma judge ruled that the case rested on circumstantial evidence. It was later upheld when the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the state's appeal. The state of Oklahoma engaged in an egregious, decades-long pattern of prosecutorial misconduct to ensure that the facts of Karl Fontenots innocence never came to light, Fontenots legal team told the court. I didnt even know what the word 'statement' or 'confessing' meant 'til they told me I confessed to it. 37 years since Ada murder, Ward still in custody - KTEN His previous EPs "Forget Me Not" and "Merry Christmas" both reached the Top 10 on iTunes jazz charts on the first day of their release. Both Ward and . More damningly, Haraway had not been been stabbed as the young men had described. After Haraways remains were found in 1986 in rural Hughes County, forensic analysis showed that many of the details in Fontenots and Wards confessions were wrong. The state court of criminal appeals voted unanimously to reinstate Tommy Ward's murder conviction. News9.com is proud to provide Oklahomans with timely and relevant news and information, About Tommy Ward The Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the conviction of one man in the 1984 murder of an Ada convienince store worker featured featured The Innocent Man. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. Ward was featured in the Netflix. In 2020, Fontenot's co-defendant in the case, Tommy Ward, also had his conviction overturned in state court, but prosecutors have appealed that decision to the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The court overturned a lower court decision that said because prosecutors and police withheld evidence that could exonerate Tommy Ward, 61, of the 1984 murder of Donna Denice Haraway in Ada. The Attorney Generals office claims in its filing that Fontenot and Ward attempted to minimize their involvement in Haraways death during their confessions by saying the primary aggressor was another man who was never charged with the crime. Heres a link to the decision https://t.co/21UQag7LEi, Tommy Ward: The Innocent Man (@WardInnocentMan) December 19, 2020. Ward is currently still in prison while the appeals process continues. "Everything about their confession has been proven wrong by the discovery of the body," attorney Janet Davis noted in the documentary. Position: WR Height: 6-0 Weight: 190 College: Rutgers Hometown: Canton, PA High School: Canton HS Want to support our mission to hold powerful people accountable, give a voice to the voiceless, and shine a light on darkness in Oklahoma? The Official YouTube Channel of Tommy Ward. The. ADVERTISEMENT Justices should reject the states request to review the case because the evidence in this case qualifies as new evidence of actual innocence under any definition of new evidence, Fontenots lawyers argued. Yale University Honors 9-Year-Old Scientist, Water Main Break In Tulsa Forces Limited Road Closure, Metro Summer Youth Camp Hopes To Prevent Violence In The Community, OKC Thunder, Big Brothers & Big Sisters Host Clinic For Kids At Park, TCSO, 'Color Free America' Hold Dialogue Between Citizens And Law Enforcement, First Responders Host Recruitment Fair In Tulsa, Doctors Warn Dangers Of Cannabis Edibles For Children. The judge said newly discovered evidence about Fontenot's alibi and other suspects in the murder provided "solid proof" of his probable innocence. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. More:Oklahoma Army veteran gets probation for role in Jan. 6 US Capitol riot. Evidence presented to exonerate Fontenot had been available since Fontenots trials in the 1980s, the state said, arguing that the high court should accept the caseto clarify that new evidence means newly discovered or newly available evidence as opposed to newly presented evidence. He often uses his platform to raise awareness for various charitable causes and uses his talents to give back to his community. Both judges found the defendants constitutional rights were violated by police and prosecutors who until 2019 didnt turn over more than 300 pages of documents that would have helped the defendants. You can opt-out at any time. Justices may determine before the courts term ends this summer whether to review the case. Tommy Ward was one of two men serving a life sentence for the 1984 murder of Denice Haraway in Ada. Both Ward and Fontenot would go on to recant their confessions. Tommy Ward. Tommy Ward from Netflix documentary has murder conviction reinstated Haraway was working as a clerk in a convenience store when she went missing in Ada in 1984. Tommy Ward andKarl Fontenot were sentenced to death in 1985 for the murder of Denice Haraway, despite the fact that their confessions didn't match the crime they were accused of. Attorneys representing Tommy Ward continue to fight for his release from jail. But the men quickly recanted and have claimed for decades that police coerced them to say they killed Haraway. She doesnt believe he could be given a fair trial after more than 30 years. What Happened To Tommy Ward And Karl Fontenot? 'The Innocent Man Ada store clerk Denice Haraway was abducted and killed on April 28, 1984. . Tommy Ward - YouTube Attorneys representing Tommy Ward continue to fight for his release from jail. Ward's attorney, Mark Barrett, will also be filing an appeal for exoneration. Courtesy. It also accounts the false convictions of Ward and Karl Fontenot for themurder of Denice Haraway and the false conviction of Greg Wilhoit for the rape and murder of his estranged wife. Fontenot and Thomas Ward were convicted of killing Ada convenience store clerk Donna Denice Haraway in 1984. 2022 Reader's Choice Winners . @WardInnocentMan. Ward has also had a widely celebrated opening act run for comedy legend Louie Anderson during his tenure at the Plaza Hotel. News 9s Barry Mangold will have more on the story on News 9 at 10 p.m. Be among the first to get breaking news, weather, and general news updates from News on 6 delivered right to your inbox! Oklahoma court reinstates murder conviction of Tommy Ward