Both are model prisoners. a man whose murder conviction in Oklahoma was overturned, Fontenot and Thomas Ward were convicted of killing Ada convenience store clerk Donna Denice Haraway in 1984, which became a Netflix documentary series, Oklahoma Army veteran gets probation for role in Jan. 6 US Capitol riot, Human remains found, Oklahoma white supremacist leader might be connected, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. Attorneys in Ada 'Innocent Man' case request judge vacate Ward's Fontenots conviction was overturned in 2019, and he was freed pending an appeal by the state. Thomas Ward, known to the public as Tommy Ward, was convicted in 1999 of the 1984 murder of Donna Denice Haraway in Ada, Oklahoma. Ward's newly released EP "From This Moment On," (2022) produced by LeCoq Records, showcases his stunning vocal abilities . Appears the state will retry Karl Fontenot, who was released 2 years ago and subject of #netflix special. More:Oklahoma Army veteran gets probation for role in Jan. 6 US Capitol riot. Fontenot is free on bond as the appeals process plays out. Newly filed court documents reveal that a man who was one of the subjects of "The Innocent Man" is set to be released from prison. In addition to his impressive performances, Ward has a true passion for music and the arts. Back in December a Ponotoc County judge overturned Wards conviction saying prosecutors withheld evidence in the case. Tommy Ward - YouTube So where are the two men now, more than 30 years later? 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. Shot by Shot: Tracking Oklahoma police shootings in 2023, Listen Frontier: Sen. James Lankford speaks with The Frontier about abortion, immigration and more, Frontier content sharing and collaboration terms. Im still holding out hope that the attorney general of Oklahoma will change course here, take a close look at the case, said Greg Swygert, one of Wards attorneys. The investigators seem to have taken on the role of prosecutor, judge and jury, determining that the only relevant evidence was evidence that fit their theory of the case.. Both Ward and . Though no physical evidence tied them to Haraways disappearance, Fontenot and Ward initially confessed to the crime after questioning by investigators. Ward is a hardworking and dedicated artist who continues to make a name for himself in the entertainment industry. Back in December a Ponotoc County judge overturned Wards conviction saying prosecutors withheld evidence in the case. Tommy Ward to be set free . 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. This contradicted the confessions, which stated that Haraway had been stabbed to death. 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. To the extent that this could be the next Sinatra of our time." 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. Additional reporting by The Associated Press. 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. Ward and Fontenot were sentenced to death on January 21, 1985 after being found guilty of murdering Haraway. 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. . Breaking news: Judge orders Tommy released and vacates his conviction. The Oklahoma attorney generals office, which appealed Inges order, declined to comment on Thursdays ruling. 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. U.S. Supreme Court declines to hear 'Innocent Man' case But the men quickly recanted and have claimed for decades that police coerced them to say they killed Haraway. Attorneys representing Tommy Ward continue to fight for his release from jail. Subscribe for the latest music videos, performances, and more!Tommy's new album "From This Moment On" available n. He is now 58 years old and says he will not admit guilt even if it means improving his chances at parole. You can opt-out at any time. That evidence includes previously undisclosed suspects and whether police provided Ward with information about the victim's blouse, which prosecutors said he had described. Prisoner seen in Netflix's The Innocent Man has murder conviction Ward was convicted in the case in 1989 along with a co-defendant named Karl Fontenot. @WardInnocentMan. 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! The response filed by Fontenots lawyers this week said the vast majority of evidence that the state claims was available in the 1980s was actually being suppressed by the state. 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 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 of Criminal Appeals ordered Tommy Ward, 60, to remain imprisoned while the state appeals the lower courts ruling that he be released. Denice Haraway of Ada, Oklahoma went in for an ordinary day of work at her convenience store job on April 28, 1984. He reminds me of working with Frank Sinatra in some strange way." Tommy Ward, Convicted Murderer and Subject of Netflix's 'The - TheWrap This is new info, and were trying to figure what this means right now. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. Please refer to our. Tuesday, July 6th 2021, 11:00 pm. Tommy Ward is a critically acclaimed singer and entertainer from Las Vegas who has a deep love and appreciation for legendary musicians and crooners. Position: WR Height: 6-0 Weight: 190 College: Rutgers Hometown: Canton, PA High School: Canton HS 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. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the judges ruling last year, saying that, Almost no evidence connected him to the crime other than his own videotaped confession, a confession that rang false in almost every particular., The appeals court said Fontenot has brought forth new evidence that is sufficient to unlock the actual innocence gateway and to allow his substantive claims to be heard on the merits. Fontenot is currently awaiting the results of a federal appeal. He is 54 years old and is being held at the at the North Fork Correctional Center in Sayre in Oklahoma. The Court of Criminal Appeals ruled Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021 that 60-year-old Tommy Ward remain imprisoned while the state appeals the lower court's ruling. 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. The victim, Donna Denice Haraway, disappeared from the McAnally's convenience store in Ada on April 28, 1984. Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? But a Pontotoc County district judge ruled last month that prosecutors withheld key evidence in the case, including witness interviews and police reports, and ordered Wards release. "They have now been in prison for 31 years, serving hard time for a murder committed by someone else. Ward's case, and others, have been the. 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. 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.. - QUINCY JONES, 27 time GRAMMY-award-winning producer "A fine singer A lovely, silky voice." Fight for his release from jail crime Netflix Series was released back in 2018, and temporary. This photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Tommy Ward, who has spent 35 years in prison in a murder case featured in the book and television series The Innocent Man'. You can opt-out at any time. Attorneys For Tommy Ward 'The Innocent Man' Continue Fight For His More to come. Court Extends Temporary Stay 1 Day Before Tommy Ward's Expected Release Oklahoma seeks to uphold the murder conviction of Karl Fontenot in the murder of Donna Denice Haraway. It was based on the 2006 true-crime book The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham. Tuesday 30 August 2022 23:08 Tommy Ward in the 2018 Netflix docuseries 'The Innocent Man' (Netflix) A prisoner featured in the Netflix documentary series The Innocent Man has had his murder. Court Rules 'Innocent Man' Defendant to Remain Imprisoned OK man arrested for. [Warning: Spoilers for "The Innocent Man" ahead!]. Attorneys For Tommy Ward 'The Innocent Man' Continue Fight For His Release From Jail. Among Fontenots legal team is Donald B. VerrilliJr., the U.S. solicitor general from 2011 to 2016. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Tommy Ward has been in prison 35 years for a murder he swears he did not commit. Attorneys in Ada 'Innocent Man' murder case 'blown away' by content of Share In both Ward and Fontenots cases, judges issued rulings excoriating investigators for withholding favorable evidence from defense attorneys. Raising the same general categories on post-conviction that one raised on direct appeal, even if the basis is different, will result in a procedural bar," according to the state court's opinion. 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. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has reinstated the murder conviction and life sentence of a man featured in the book and television series The Innocent Man.. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. We cant do it without your support. Ward and Fontenot were both granted a retrial a few years later, and again found guilty of Haraway's death. Later that year, an Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation Agent interviewed Tommy Ward, who said he, Karl Fontenot, and another man robbed the store Haraway worked at, then stabbed and raped. The circumstances surrounding Ward and Fontenot's confessions were suspicious from the start, and in fact were later proved to be inconsistent with what had actually happened to Haraway: Her body was ultimately found years after she vanished, 30 miles away from where the duo said they had deposited it. - STEVE WYNN, founder Wynn Resorts "I just saw Tommy in Las Vegas at a corporate event and I was BLOWN AWAY. Ward and co-defendant Karl Fontenot's initial convictions and death sentences for Harways death were overturned, but both were again convicted on retrial with Fontenot again receiving a death sentence and Ward being sentenced to life in prison. Ward's newly released EP From This Moment On, (2022) produced by LeCoq Records, showcases his stunning vocal abilities and features truly unique arrangements played by some of the world's most respected musicians, including Bill Cunliffe, John Pattitucci, Vinny Colaiuta, and others. All rights reserved. The case was the subject of the book, The Dreams of Ada, by Robert Mayer, and was also described in John Grishams The Innocent Man, which became a Netflix documentary series. 7726 5241 Dial by your location +1 346 248 7799 US Are allowed finish! tommy ward released 2022 He's very disappointed that he's still in prison for a murder he didn't commit, Ward's attorney, Mark Barrett, said Tuesday. Tommy Ward was one of two men serving a life sentence for the 1984 murder of Denice Haraway in Ada. Breaking news: Judge orders Tommy released and vacates his conviction. Tommy Ward is a critically acclaimed singer and entertainer from Las Vegas who has a deep love and appreciation for legendary musicians and crooners. Tommy's legal team dedicated to freeing Tommy Ward from prison for a crime he did not commit.. and his videos on social media have racked up millions of views. Tommy Ward, who was convicted twice for the 1984 kidnapping and murder of Ada convenience store clerk Donna "Denise" Haraway, had his conviction and life sentence overturned and was ordered to. The Official YouTube Channel of Tommy Ward. Attorneys in 'Innocent Man' case eye federal court after lower court's 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. 2023 www.oklahoman.com. Share. Tommy Ward - Official Site The Oklahoma Innocence Project, an organization that helps to exonerate those wrongfully convicted, attempted to take on Fontenot's case in 2013, but itsappeals were denied in 2015. Ward is currently still in prison while the appeals process continues. A prisoner featured in the Netflix documentary series The Innocent Man has had his murder conviction and life sentence reinstated after previously being granted relief. Donate to The Frontier to support local independent investigative journalism. FILE - This photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Tommy Ward, who has spent 35 years in prison in a murder case featured in the book and television series 'The Innocent. We promise to never spam you. The tribulations faced by the pair are depicted in Netflix's latest true crime docu-series, "The Innocent Man," based on the John Grisham book of the same name. The judge said newly discovered evidence about Fontenot's alibi and other suspects in the murder provided "solid proof" of his probable innocence. The state court of criminal appeals voted unanimously to reinstate Tommy Ward's murder conviction. 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. The state also claims witnesses saw men matching Ward and Fontenots descriptions in the convenience store where Haraway worked before she disappeared. So thats the reason I gave them an untrue statement so they would leave me alone.. At time of writing, he is still serving his life sentence without the possibility of parole, and is now 54 years old. Courtesy. 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. Tommy Ward was scheduled to be released in December 2020, but . 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. Tuesday, they filed a brief with the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Tommy Ward has been in prison for 35 years and was supposed to be released today after a judge dismissed Ward's murder conviction. Tommy Ward. Ward is currently still in prison while the appeals process continues. Tommy has been recommended for parole at least twice, but turned down by the board in Oklahoma. Ward has also had a widely celebrated opening act run for comedy legend Louie Anderson during his tenure at the Plaza Hotel. ADVERTISEMENT Meanwhile, Fontenot, as explained in the Netflix series, had perhaps offered his testimony to the aggressive police because he both feared for his safety and wanted to escape from what was described as poverty and homelessness. The judge also called the evidence against Ward circumstantial and said nearly all of the details in his confession were inaccurate. Last week, a Pontotoc County District Court judge ordered Tommy Ward be released from prison. She said police and prosecutors withheld evidence that would have assisted Wards defense. Tommy Ward: The Innocent Man (@WardInnocentMan) / Twitter The most recent exculpatory disclosure came in 2019, 31 years after Fontenots conviction.. Attorneys For Tommy Ward 'The Innocent Man' Continue Fight For His Release From Jail. Subscribe and Follow on Facebook and YouTube for the latest music. Want to support our mission to hold powerful people accountable, give a voice to the voiceless, and shine a light on darkness in Oklahoma? Keep up-to-date with everything that happens in your world. The state Attorney Generals office appealed the order to overturn Fontenots conviction in federal court and has now announced its intent to appeal the order to release Ward. In 2020, District Judge Paula Inge vacated his conviction, dismissed the charges against him, and ordered him set free. When you read their briefs, they dont take issue with the fact that this information was withheld from him. 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. 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. But now, Wards release has been blocked by the state Attorney Generals Office. The attorneys claim a trove of hundreds of new documents uncovered in a police storage room back up Fontenots claims of innocence. Ward remains in prison as the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals weighs his case. Fontenot has been released pending a decision from the United States 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. Coverage of the latest true crime stories and famous cases explained, as well as the best TV shows, movies and podcasts in the genre. I received Christmas cards last week from both Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, so we keep in touch," Grisham said. A federal judge in Muskogee overturned Fontenot's conviction in late 2019. The Oklahoma Attorney General's 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. 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. Oklahoma seeks to uphold the murder conviction of Karl Fontenot in the murder of Donna Denice Haraway. The convictions of Ward and Fontenot have been the subject of numerous books, including John Grishams The Innocent Man, which he produced into a six-part documentary. The two insisted they were innocent, but still ended up convicted of Haraway's murder. Karl Fontenot, Tommy Ward. 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'. 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. sharing the stories, pictures and loves of Oklahomans across our great state. attempted to take on Fontenot's case in 2013, a 2017 interview with The Marshall Project.