featured in the book and television series, Reports: 3 children dead, 2 wounded in attack at Texas home, Kellyanne Conway, George Conway To Divorce After Decadeslong Marriage: Report, School punished teen girl for working out in sports bra in 100-degree Texas heat, ACLU says, U.S. court won't require FAA to make airplane seat size, spacing rules, 'Extremely dangerous': Spike in illegal crossings at Canada-Vermont border has feds sounding alarm. Oklahoma Attorney General's Office Appeals Release Of Tommy Ward Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. By: Dana Hertneky. have asked the court of appeals . 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. Tommy Ward, Convicted Murderer and Subject of Netflix's 'The - TheWrap The attorney generals office now has 20 days to respond. Local prosecutors again secured their convictions, based largely on their confessions. - QUINCY JONES, 27 time GRAMMY-award-winning producer "A fine singer A lovely, silky voice." OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) A man who has spent 35 years in prison in a murder case featured in the book and television series The Innocent Man must remain incarcerated even after a judge ordered his release, an appeals court ruled Thursday. Its clear as day.. Fontenots death sentence was later reduced to life before his conviction was reversed by a federal appeals court. When you read their briefs, they dont take issue with the fact that this information was withheld from him. mail Tommy Ward is a critically acclaimed singer and entertainer from Las Vegas who has a deep love and appreciation for legendary musicians and crooners. 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. However, she would never be seen alive again. and his videos on social media have racked up millions of views. Ada store clerk Denice Haraway was abducted and killed on April 28, 1984. . OK man arrested for. 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. In both Ward and Fontenots cases, judges issued rulings excoriating investigators for withholding favorable evidence from defense attorneys. Ward is the subject of a Netflix docuseries and a book by John Grisham. 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. The order is the latest in a string of decisions rebuking the convictions of Ward and Karl Fontenot for an infamous 1984 murder documented in two books and a recent Netflix documentary. Fight for his release from jail crime Netflix Series was released back in 2018, and temporary. 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. Tuesday, they filed a brief with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Position: WR Height: 6-0 Weight: 190 College: Rutgers Hometown: Canton, PA High School: Canton HS YOU'VE REACHED YOUR MONTHLY ARTICLE LIMIT. In a 2017 interview with The Marshall Project, the author discussed their fates. Get all your true crime news from Oxygen. 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. 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. Keep up-to-date with everything that happens in your world. The ruling came down Friday from District Judge Paula Inge in Pontotoc County, who concluded in post-conviction finding that the case rested on circumstantial evidence in the form of conflicted witness statements and Wards inculpatory statements he gave to police. The state court of criminal appeals voted unanimously to reinstate Tommy Ward's murder conviction. 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. tommy ward released 2022 A spokeswoman for Attorney General John OConnor declined to comment on the pending cases. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Attorneys For Tommy Ward 'The Innocent Man' Continue Fight For His "The Innocent Man" Tommy Ward files another brief - KFOR.com The Innocent Man - Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot now - Digital Spy I received Christmas cards last week from both Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, so we keep in touch," Grisham said. Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. I didnt even know what the word 'statement' or 'confessing' meant 'til they told me I confessed to it. This is new info, and were trying to figure what this means right now. In her 2020 ruling vacating Wards conviction, Judge Inge pointed to what she said were issues with the evidence in the case, and deemed that due to the passage of time, Ward would not be able to receive a fair trial. At time of writing, he is still serving his life sentence without the possibility of parole, and is now 54 years old. "They have now been in prison for 31 years, serving hard time for a murder committed by someone else. The most recent exculpatory disclosure came in 2019, 31 years after Fontenots conviction.. Tuesday, they filed a brief with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Karl Fontenot: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com The order is the latest in a string of decisions rebuking the convictions of Ward and Karl Fontenot for an infamous 1984 murder documented in two books and a recent Netflix documentary. Both are model prisoners. The young woman's disappearance sparked decades of controversy as police scrambled to solve the crime, leading to the convictions of two men: Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot. [Warning: Spoilers for "The Innocent Man" ahead!]. 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. 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 - YouTube The convictions were based almost entirely on accounts they said they retrieved from dreams. Among Fontenots legal team is Donald B. VerrilliJr., the U.S. solicitor general from 2011 to 2016. The attorneys claim a trove of hundreds of new documents uncovered in a police storage room back up Fontenots claims of innocence. Tommy has been recommended for parole at least twice, but turned down by the board in Oklahoma. Timmy Ward 2022 Gamelogs | The Football Database The Oklahoma attorney general is appealing the ruling. He often uses his platform to raise awareness for various charitable causes and uses his talents to give back to his community. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Tommy Ward from Netflix documentary has murder conviction reinstated Since the age of 16, Ward has had the opportunity to work alongside industry veterans and legends. 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 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. Additional reporting by The Associated Press. 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 . You can opt-out at any time. These dream confessions 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. Ive never been in jail or had a police record in my life and no one in my face telling me Id killed a pretty woman, that Im going to get the death penalty, so I told them the story hoping they would leave me alone.