Oklahoma County has 2nd most death row convictions overturned in the US. Who are the 11 people?
After 48 years in the Oklahoma prison system for a murder he has always claimed he did not commit, Glynn Simmons is considered the longest-served wrongful conviction in U.S. history, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.
But Simmons was not the first in the state to see his lengthy wrongful conviction overturned. Oklahoma County, where Simmons was convicted, is now tied with Cuyahoga County in Ohio and Philadelphia County in Pennsylvania for the second-most death row exonerations of counties in the U.S., according to the Death Penalty Information Center — with Cook County, Illinois, being the highest.
Six of Oklahoma's overturned death row convictions originated in Oklahoma County. Counties with high numbers of wrongful convictions show patterns of systemic misconduct by police and prosecutors.
Researchers also argued race has played a role: Black people comprise just 8% of Oklahoma's population, but account for nearly one-third of the state's death sentences and executions. And the likelihood that a person charged with murdering a white female would be sent to death row in Oklahoma is also 10 times greater than if the victim were a minority male, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
The 11 people considered "exonerated" from Oklahoma's death row spent a combined 145 years wrongly imprisoned. More than half of the former convicts have sought financial compensation for time wrongfully served, and Oklahoma taxpayers have paid recompense to at least 5 of them, with some settlements amounting to millions of dollars.
More: Who's to blame for wrongful convictions? Accountability demands more than finger-pointing.
What constitutes an exoneration varies from state to state, but the National Registry of Exonerations considers convictions that have been vacated and dismissed as exonerations. Here are quick overviews of 11 cases in Oklahoma that would fit that definition, according to the Death Penalty Information Center:
Glynn Simmons
Convicted 1975; sentence dismissed: 2023
Age when convicted: 22
Race: Black
Court: Oklahoma County
Crime: Murder of liquor store clerk Carolyn Sue Rogers during 1974 robbery in Edmond
Reason for release: Freed due to the withholding of exculpatory evidence, inadequate legal defense concerns, and alleged mistaken eyewitness identification. Oklahoma County DA Vicki Behenna has objected to characterizing the dismissal of Simmons' conviction as an exoneration, claiming her office only could not prove the case against Simmons "beyond a reasonable doubt" and that an eyewitness would not recant her testimony.
Charles Giddens
Convicted: 1978; sentence dismissed: 1981
Age when convicted: 18
Race: Black
Court: McCurtain County
Crime: Murder of Buelah Fay Tapley during grocery store robbery in 1977 just south of Idabel.
Reason for release: Freed due to insufficient evidence tying him to the crime. Some capital punishment supporters have pointed out that, while the evidence in Giddens' case was not enough to prove guilt, he was not technically acquitted.
Clifford Bowen
Convicted: 1981; sentence overturned: 1986
Age when convicted: 49
Race: White
Court: Oklahoma County
Crime: Murder of three men at a pool outside an Oklahoma City hotel in 1980.
Reason for release: Freed due to mistaken eyewitness identification, withholding of exculpatory evidence, and misconduct from officials. The case was especially notable for involving highly-controversial Oklahoma County District Attorney Bob Macy, known for his aggressive pursuit of the death penalty.
Robert Lee Miller, Jr.
Convicted: 1988; sentence overturned: 1998
Age when convicted: 27
Race: Black
Court: Oklahoma County
Crime: The rapes and murders of 83-year old Anna Laura Fowler in 1986 and 90-year-old Zelma Cutler in 1987.
Reason for release: Freed due to DNA testing of semen evidence excluding Miller as a source, along with false confession, false accusations, perjury and misleading forensic evidence. The case relied heavily on the testimony of disgraced police chemist Joyce Gilchrist, who was fired in 2001 for numerous cases of misconduct. Oklahoma City later paid Miller $2 million to settle a lawsuit.
Richard Jones
Convicted: 1983; acquitted: 1988
Age when convicted: 25
Race: White
Court: Grady and Caddo counties
Crime: Murder of B. Charles Keene, whose body had been discovered in the Washita River.
Reason for release: Retried due to misconduct from officials and found innocent. Jones died in 2019.
Yancy Douglas
Convicted: 1995; sentence vacated: 2009
Age when convicted: 19
Race: Black
Court: Oklahoma County
Crime: Murder in the drive-by shooting death of 14-year-old Shauna Farrow in 1993.
Reason for release: Freed after a key witness revealed coercion of false accusations and other misconduct by police. Douglas later sued and settled for $1 million.
Paris Powell
Convicted: 1997; sentence vacated: 2009
Age when convicted: 19
Race: Black
Court: Oklahoma County
Crime: Murder in the drive-by shooting death of 14-year-old Shauna Farrow in 1993. Powell was convicted in the same murder case as Yancy Douglas but tried separately.
Reason for release: Freed after a key witness revealed coercion of false accusations and other misconduct by police. Powell also sued and settled for more than $2 million.
Curtis McCarty
Convicted: 1986; sentence dismissed: 2007
Age when convicted: 20
Race: White
Court: Oklahoma County
Crime: Murder in the rape and strangling of 18-year-old Pamela Kaye Willis
Reason for release: Freed due to DNA testing of semen excluding McCarty as the source. Investigations later determined that police chemist Joyce Gilchrist had offered false and misleading testimony about forensic analysis in the case, and that she had actually destroyed hair evidence in the case. The case also brought then-DA Bob Macy intense criticism for alleged misconduct. A later DA, David Prater, disputed descriptions of McCarty's release as an "exoneration," according to The Frontier, but McCarty did unsuccessfully attempt to sue for monetary damages.
Adolph Munson
Convicted: 1985; acquitted: 1995
Age when convicted: 37
Race: Black
Court: Custer County
Crime: Murder of convenience store clerk Alma Hall in 1984.
Reason for acquittal: Acquitted due to mistaken eyewitness identification, false accusations, false testimony from a medical examiner, and withholding of exculpatory evidence by prosecution. Munson was found innocent in 1995 of Hall's murder but returned to prison to continue serving another life sentence for a previous double homicide.
Gregory Wilhoit
Convicted: 1987; acquitted: 1993
Age when convicted: 30
Race: White
Court: Osage and Tulsa counties
Crime: Murder of wife Kathryn Wilhoit in 1985.
Reason for release: Conviction reversed due to misleading forensic evidence and inadequate legal counsel. Along with Ron Williamson, Wilhoit later became a subject of the 2006 nonfiction novel "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham. Wilhoit received $65,000 in compensation from the state, before his death in 2014.
Ronald Keith Williamson
Convicted: 1988; acquitted: 1999
Age when convicted: 29
Race: White
Court: Pontotoc County
Crime: Murder in the 1982 strangulation of 21-year-old Debbie Sue Carter in Ada.
Reason for release: Freed due to DNA testing, false confession, perjury/false accusation, misleading forensic evidence, misconduct from investigators and prosecutors, and inadequate legal defense. Also profiled in Grisham's "The Innocent Man," Williamson and codefendant Dennis Fritz sued the City of Ada and won a combined $500,000. Williamson died in 2004.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma death row: Which 11 people had wrongful convictions overturned?
