They Falsely Accused
Another Innocent Man in Ada, Oklahoma
Book Topics
CONTENTS (the book's Table of Contents)
Introduction-------------------------------3
Meeting Ruby------------------------------6
12 Days------------------------------------18
She's Confused----------------------------33
Falsely Arrested--------------------------45
Make Us A Confession-------------------52
I'm Dreaming, Right?--------------------62
Praying For Truth and Justice---------70
Trial----------------------------------------75
Innocent But Guilty---------------------86
Prison--------------------------------------92
New Evidence---------------------------102
Expecting Release Soon---------------118
Texas Investigation--------------------128
L.C.C. and Another Lost Appeal-----140
Juror's Affidavits-----------------------153
Still Waiting For Release--------------163
Pro Se Brief------------------------------170
Fritz and Williamson Freed-----------180
Free From Prison-----------------------186
What To Do If Falsely Accused-------193
INTRODUCTION (as it appears in the book)
This is a true story. The facts of the case are from pre-trial interviews, conversations and phone calls, trial transcripts, investigator's reports and sworn affidavits. All of the new evidence is documented and was formally presented at some point in the appeal for a new trial. Some names have been changed.
This book certainly won't exonerate me for this felony that has my name attached to it. In fact, you may carry doubts with you deep into the book, or might just not believe me. But here I get to tell my story instead of forever defending and explaining myself.
I started keeping a journal from the first day in jail. I didn't know how I would ever prove my innocence, but I did know that I was an innocent man starting a prison sentence. The journal entries in the second part of the book carry you through the ups and downs of prison days and my appeals. These original entries give a different perspective than most true crime books.
Experience as I did, the arrest, conviction and sentencing for a crime I didn't do. After nineteen months in prison, you'll discover the new evidence as I did: investigator's reports and sworn affidavits telling about Ruby and her accusations against men of rapes, beatings, abductions, knifings, shootings, devil ritual participations, animal killings, burglaries, molestation of her children and setting fire to her homes. Waiting for my legal appeal and new evidence to save the day, I was on a rollercoaster of hope for justice.
BASIC FACTS OF THE CASE
I was tried on charges of rape and anal sodomy-crime against nature. I was acquitted of the sodomy charge. Her story was that she was abducted at knifepoint near a convenience store parking lot into an older yellow car by a man with long hair and a ponytail, a pockmarked/acne-scarred face and tattoos on his hands and wrists. I didn't fit this description at all. At first she said she was then taken to a location where she was beaten, raped and anally sodomized before later being thrown out of the same vehicle while it was still moving. When she came back for trial twenty months later, she changed her story to say he took her to a convenience store to buy beer before going to the apartment. This story was not possibly true, because that store was closed. There were no eyewitnesses to any of her story.
My story was that I met and conversed with her at the 24-hour Hardee's restaurant, that we voluntarily left in my girlfriend's red Firebird car to "go drink a beer", and then had voluntary sex just up the street from Hardee's at an apartment of a friend of mine.
THE CONFESSION
There was a "confession" also in my case. The day before my arrest, I was asked to come in and give a voluntary statement, which I did. I told the truth, thinking they would further investigate that. The next day I was arrested. Sitting in that jail cell, I thought I might have something wrong with my memory or something. I mean, I remembered everything about the one night stand with her, but she and the police were saying something completely different.
I decided to speak with the police later in the day. I had nothing to hide, and thought I could help myself. I was asked to provide "a statement to please the DA", saying yesterday's videotape was untrue and to provide a different scenario of how things may have happened. That is just what I did. Although I never signed anything, nor was the word confession ever used, it is ultimately what hung me at trial.
RAPE EVIDENCE
The State did not use a medical report or rape kit as part of their evidence at trial. I have never seen or known of the existence of an actual rape kit. I do know that no semen was found (I said I never ejaculated) and the lack of evidence for the anal sodomy charge was probably responsible for the acquittal on that charge. Of course, that suggests the jury only believed half of her story and not all of it.
NEW EVIDENCE
The new evidence that we began to discover after nineteen months in prison was evidence that backed up my story of the truth. We felt it was overwhelming in showing her habit and practice of falsely accusing. In fact, seven of my jurors (out of nine we were able to locate) signed affidavits that we presented to the appeals court saying that they would have acquitted me of the rape had they known of this evidence.
WITHHELD EVIDENCE
From the post-conviction appeal which is done by the Pontotoc County judge who heard the case, my videotape of the truth that I gave the day before my arrest was mysteriously left out of the materials sent further up the appeal process line. So for more than two years it was not there until my appointed attorney for the appeal with the 10th Circuit Court in Denver, CO discovered this. Even then, the assistant DA in Ada said they had no copy of it, until continued pressure by my attorney make it miraculously appear.
LIE DETECTOR TEST
Talk about junk science. What a subjective test of someone's truthfulness. I took a lie detector test after my arrest and passed it with a +4 rating on a scale that went from -16 to +16. The man who gave it called that inconclusive, so it didn't help us. More about it in the book.
JOHN GRISHAM'S-THE INNOCENT MAN
Now I'm no Ron Williamson as a baseball player, but I was a decent little league and high school player myself. The Ada Evening News printed my name a time or two. Maybe that is part of the prosecution's decision to take someone to trial. Who knows? But seriously, you'll be astounded at the similarities, other than baseball, between my case and THE INNOCENT MAN and THE DREAMS OF ADA.
THE DREAMS OF ADA
I contacted the author (Robert Mayer) of THE DREAMS OF ADA a few years ago. I was trying to find help in publishing my book, and thought Mr. Mayer might be able to help me. He answered my letter and was very cordial, but said that he was not active anymore in the publishing arena and could not help me.
TOMMY WARD
I know of only a few people that knew Tommy Ward before his arrest, and also did time in prison with him. Me, Johnny Daniels and Tommy Ward were all together in 1997-1998 on Unit 6 at Lexington Correctional Center. That unit at Lexington is a really open unit because there are central bathrooms, like a dormitory. The doors to the cells are regular doors, and you are never really "locked down" for availability to the bathroom.
I met Tommy Ward the summer before the Denise Haraway murder. In the summer of 1983, I was 16 years old and working for a couple of Ada teachers that ran a lawn mowing business. A young man named John Daniels worked for them also and we became friends. One Saturday we were preparing to go swimming in Tishomingo at Pennington Creek when Tommy Ward stopped by and we invited him to go with us. I had never met him before. He lived on the west side of Ada near John's grandma's at 5th and Cherry streets.
We all went swimming and had a good time. That was really the only time I spent time with Tommy before his arrest the next year. I liked him from the start. He was quiet and kind and funny.
In the late 1990's I again spent time with him, prison time that is, at Lexington Correctional Center. We were on the same unit together, and by coincidence John Daniels was on the same unit too. I asked Tommy a lot about his case, day to day as we would go eat together, and he always said he was innocent. There is more about him in my book.
GLEN GORE
Glen Gore was at Lexington Correctional Center in 1996 when I was transferred there from Joseph Harp Correctional Center. He had heard I was on the yard from one of the preachers from Ada who came to Lexington. Gore looked me up to play on his softball team. I did and we won the yard championship that year. It is ironic that he was very involved in religion at this time. It was only a few more years before he would be charged with Debbie Carter's murder. There is more about him in my book.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY BILL PETERSON
It's a bit difficult for me to comment about Peterson. He is a mystery to me. I have never met him, never shook his hand, never introduced myself to him. I firmly believe that he should not have had me arrested with the evidence he had, but I know it must be tough to be a district attorney. As for the Debbie Carter and Denise Haraway cases, I just think he was overwhelmed by them and did the best he could. He made some bad decisions. We know Fritz and Williamson are innocent, and my opinion, based on the evidence, is that Ward and Fontenot are innocent too. A district attorney need not be a politician, he should fulfill the office much as a mayor does, as a matter of public service, and be limited to 8-12 years in office so his career does not depend upon his popularity.
HOW DNA MIGHT HELP ME
As mentioned, I don't know if there is a rape kit. I am sure one was completed at the hospital, but when it didn't help the State it may have been "misplaced". My accuser had a large scratch across her chest which she said I caused. I know I did not. I believe she self-inflicted the scratch. From it's position, it is more likely done by her (see more details in my book). She also said that she scratched her attacker. She did not scratch me.
If DNA found under her fingernails is her own, then that suggests that she scratched herself and didn't scratch me. Also, I didn't ejaculate, which is certainly unusual in a rape case. If any DNA comes from the vaginal swabs, it most certainly would not be mine. These findings would never exonerate me, but would just be more circumstantial evidence in my claim of innocence.
Introduction-------------------------------3
Meeting Ruby------------------------------6
12 Days------------------------------------18
She's Confused----------------------------33
Falsely Arrested--------------------------45
Make Us A Confession-------------------52
I'm Dreaming, Right?--------------------62
Praying For Truth and Justice---------70
Trial----------------------------------------75
Innocent But Guilty---------------------86
Prison--------------------------------------92
New Evidence---------------------------102
Expecting Release Soon---------------118
Texas Investigation--------------------128
L.C.C. and Another Lost Appeal-----140
Juror's Affidavits-----------------------153
Still Waiting For Release--------------163
Pro Se Brief------------------------------170
Fritz and Williamson Freed-----------180
Free From Prison-----------------------186
What To Do If Falsely Accused-------193
INTRODUCTION (as it appears in the book)
This is a true story. The facts of the case are from pre-trial interviews, conversations and phone calls, trial transcripts, investigator's reports and sworn affidavits. All of the new evidence is documented and was formally presented at some point in the appeal for a new trial. Some names have been changed.
This book certainly won't exonerate me for this felony that has my name attached to it. In fact, you may carry doubts with you deep into the book, or might just not believe me. But here I get to tell my story instead of forever defending and explaining myself.
I started keeping a journal from the first day in jail. I didn't know how I would ever prove my innocence, but I did know that I was an innocent man starting a prison sentence. The journal entries in the second part of the book carry you through the ups and downs of prison days and my appeals. These original entries give a different perspective than most true crime books.
Experience as I did, the arrest, conviction and sentencing for a crime I didn't do. After nineteen months in prison, you'll discover the new evidence as I did: investigator's reports and sworn affidavits telling about Ruby and her accusations against men of rapes, beatings, abductions, knifings, shootings, devil ritual participations, animal killings, burglaries, molestation of her children and setting fire to her homes. Waiting for my legal appeal and new evidence to save the day, I was on a rollercoaster of hope for justice.
BASIC FACTS OF THE CASE
I was tried on charges of rape and anal sodomy-crime against nature. I was acquitted of the sodomy charge. Her story was that she was abducted at knifepoint near a convenience store parking lot into an older yellow car by a man with long hair and a ponytail, a pockmarked/acne-scarred face and tattoos on his hands and wrists. I didn't fit this description at all. At first she said she was then taken to a location where she was beaten, raped and anally sodomized before later being thrown out of the same vehicle while it was still moving. When she came back for trial twenty months later, she changed her story to say he took her to a convenience store to buy beer before going to the apartment. This story was not possibly true, because that store was closed. There were no eyewitnesses to any of her story.
My story was that I met and conversed with her at the 24-hour Hardee's restaurant, that we voluntarily left in my girlfriend's red Firebird car to "go drink a beer", and then had voluntary sex just up the street from Hardee's at an apartment of a friend of mine.
THE CONFESSION
There was a "confession" also in my case. The day before my arrest, I was asked to come in and give a voluntary statement, which I did. I told the truth, thinking they would further investigate that. The next day I was arrested. Sitting in that jail cell, I thought I might have something wrong with my memory or something. I mean, I remembered everything about the one night stand with her, but she and the police were saying something completely different.
I decided to speak with the police later in the day. I had nothing to hide, and thought I could help myself. I was asked to provide "a statement to please the DA", saying yesterday's videotape was untrue and to provide a different scenario of how things may have happened. That is just what I did. Although I never signed anything, nor was the word confession ever used, it is ultimately what hung me at trial.
RAPE EVIDENCE
The State did not use a medical report or rape kit as part of their evidence at trial. I have never seen or known of the existence of an actual rape kit. I do know that no semen was found (I said I never ejaculated) and the lack of evidence for the anal sodomy charge was probably responsible for the acquittal on that charge. Of course, that suggests the jury only believed half of her story and not all of it.
NEW EVIDENCE
The new evidence that we began to discover after nineteen months in prison was evidence that backed up my story of the truth. We felt it was overwhelming in showing her habit and practice of falsely accusing. In fact, seven of my jurors (out of nine we were able to locate) signed affidavits that we presented to the appeals court saying that they would have acquitted me of the rape had they known of this evidence.
WITHHELD EVIDENCE
From the post-conviction appeal which is done by the Pontotoc County judge who heard the case, my videotape of the truth that I gave the day before my arrest was mysteriously left out of the materials sent further up the appeal process line. So for more than two years it was not there until my appointed attorney for the appeal with the 10th Circuit Court in Denver, CO discovered this. Even then, the assistant DA in Ada said they had no copy of it, until continued pressure by my attorney make it miraculously appear.
LIE DETECTOR TEST
Talk about junk science. What a subjective test of someone's truthfulness. I took a lie detector test after my arrest and passed it with a +4 rating on a scale that went from -16 to +16. The man who gave it called that inconclusive, so it didn't help us. More about it in the book.
JOHN GRISHAM'S-THE INNOCENT MAN
Now I'm no Ron Williamson as a baseball player, but I was a decent little league and high school player myself. The Ada Evening News printed my name a time or two. Maybe that is part of the prosecution's decision to take someone to trial. Who knows? But seriously, you'll be astounded at the similarities, other than baseball, between my case and THE INNOCENT MAN and THE DREAMS OF ADA.
THE DREAMS OF ADA
I contacted the author (Robert Mayer) of THE DREAMS OF ADA a few years ago. I was trying to find help in publishing my book, and thought Mr. Mayer might be able to help me. He answered my letter and was very cordial, but said that he was not active anymore in the publishing arena and could not help me.
TOMMY WARD
I know of only a few people that knew Tommy Ward before his arrest, and also did time in prison with him. Me, Johnny Daniels and Tommy Ward were all together in 1997-1998 on Unit 6 at Lexington Correctional Center. That unit at Lexington is a really open unit because there are central bathrooms, like a dormitory. The doors to the cells are regular doors, and you are never really "locked down" for availability to the bathroom.
I met Tommy Ward the summer before the Denise Haraway murder. In the summer of 1983, I was 16 years old and working for a couple of Ada teachers that ran a lawn mowing business. A young man named John Daniels worked for them also and we became friends. One Saturday we were preparing to go swimming in Tishomingo at Pennington Creek when Tommy Ward stopped by and we invited him to go with us. I had never met him before. He lived on the west side of Ada near John's grandma's at 5th and Cherry streets.
We all went swimming and had a good time. That was really the only time I spent time with Tommy before his arrest the next year. I liked him from the start. He was quiet and kind and funny.
In the late 1990's I again spent time with him, prison time that is, at Lexington Correctional Center. We were on the same unit together, and by coincidence John Daniels was on the same unit too. I asked Tommy a lot about his case, day to day as we would go eat together, and he always said he was innocent. There is more about him in my book.
GLEN GORE
Glen Gore was at Lexington Correctional Center in 1996 when I was transferred there from Joseph Harp Correctional Center. He had heard I was on the yard from one of the preachers from Ada who came to Lexington. Gore looked me up to play on his softball team. I did and we won the yard championship that year. It is ironic that he was very involved in religion at this time. It was only a few more years before he would be charged with Debbie Carter's murder. There is more about him in my book.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY BILL PETERSON
It's a bit difficult for me to comment about Peterson. He is a mystery to me. I have never met him, never shook his hand, never introduced myself to him. I firmly believe that he should not have had me arrested with the evidence he had, but I know it must be tough to be a district attorney. As for the Debbie Carter and Denise Haraway cases, I just think he was overwhelmed by them and did the best he could. He made some bad decisions. We know Fritz and Williamson are innocent, and my opinion, based on the evidence, is that Ward and Fontenot are innocent too. A district attorney need not be a politician, he should fulfill the office much as a mayor does, as a matter of public service, and be limited to 8-12 years in office so his career does not depend upon his popularity.
HOW DNA MIGHT HELP ME
As mentioned, I don't know if there is a rape kit. I am sure one was completed at the hospital, but when it didn't help the State it may have been "misplaced". My accuser had a large scratch across her chest which she said I caused. I know I did not. I believe she self-inflicted the scratch. From it's position, it is more likely done by her (see more details in my book). She also said that she scratched her attacker. She did not scratch me.
If DNA found under her fingernails is her own, then that suggests that she scratched herself and didn't scratch me. Also, I didn't ejaculate, which is certainly unusual in a rape case. If any DNA comes from the vaginal swabs, it most certainly would not be mine. These findings would never exonerate me, but would just be more circumstantial evidence in my claim of innocence.
