If you’ve watched The Innocent Man on Netflix, you probably think you know the story. You saw the dusty streets of Ada, Oklahoma. You saw the grainy footage of a young Tommy Ward describing a "dream" that police turned into a murder confession. And you likely expected that, by now, justice would have sorted itself out.
But it hasn't. Not really.
As we move through 2024 and into 2026, Tommy Ward remains behind bars at the Dick Conner Correctional Center. He’s 65 years old now. While his co-defendant, Karl Fontenot, breathes fresh air as a free man, Tommy is stuck in a legal purgatory that is honestly hard to wrap your head around. It’s a mess of jurisdictional red tape, "procedural bars," and a state government that seems terrified of admitting a mistake this big.
The Tommy Ward ADA 2024 status is essentially a waiting game in the federal courts. While there was a massive breakthrough a few years ago when a state judge actually overturned his conviction, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals (OCCA) snatched that hope away on a technicality.
The 2024 Reality: Why is Tommy Ward Still Locked Up?
It feels unfair because it is. In 2024, the legal battle shifted almost entirely to the federal level. To understand why he's still in prison, you have to look at the "Brady material" discovered back in 2019.
Basically, the Ada Police Department had a "black hole" of evidence. They found boxes of documents—hundreds of pages—that had been buried for three decades. These weren't just random papers. They contained reports of other suspects, witness statements that contradicted the state's theory, and evidence that suggested the victim, Donna Denice Haraway, might have been seen alive after the time Tommy supposedly killed her.
Under the law, specifically Brady v. Maryland, prosecutors have to hand that stuff over. They didn't.
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In 2020, Pontotoc County District Judge Paula Inge saw this and did the unthinkable: she vacated Tommy’s conviction. She ordered his release. For a few days, it looked like the nightmare was over. Then, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office stepped in. They appealed, and the OCCA ruled that Tommy had waited too long to bring up these issues, even though he didn't know the evidence existed because the state had hidden it.
That is the definition of a Catch-22.
The Comparison: Tommy vs. Karl
Why is Karl Fontenot free while Ward is not? This is the question everyone asks.
They were arrested together. They were tried together. Their "confessions" were almost identical in their inaccuracies. However, their legal paths diverged because of which court heard their case first.
- Karl Fontenot: His case went through the federal system. A federal judge in Muskogee looked at the withheld evidence and was appalled. He ruled that no reasonable juror would have convicted Fontenot if they had seen the hidden files.
- Tommy Ward: His case went through the Oklahoma state system first. The state appeals court in Oklahoma is notoriously rigid. They focused on "procedural bars"—legal jargon for "you missed the deadline"—rather than the actual evidence of innocence.
As of early 2026, Tommy's legal team, led by Mark Barrett and the Center on Wrongful Convictions, is banking on the federal 10th Circuit to follow the same logic they used for Fontenot. They filed a federal habeas petition, and that is where the Tommy Ward ADA 2024 saga currently sits. It is a slow, agonizing process.
The "Dream" That Became a Life Sentence
If you’re new to the Ada cases, the "confession" is the most frustrating part. Tommy Ward didn't tell the police he killed Denice Haraway. He told them about a dream he had.
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In the dream, he saw the kidnapping. The police took those dream details and massaged them into a statement. But here’s the kicker: when Haraway’s body was finally found in 1986, the forensic evidence proved the confession was almost entirely wrong.
The confession said she was stabbed; the forensic report showed she was shot with a small-caliber weapon. The confession said she was wearing a certain blouse; she was found in something else. The confession named a third accomplice, Jim Smith, who had a rock-solid alibi and was never even charged.
None of it matched. But in a small town like Ada in the 80s, a confession—no matter how flawed—was a one-way ticket to prison.
Recent Developments and the State's Stance
In late 2024 and early 2025, the state of Oklahoma continued to play hardball. Attorney General Gentner Drummond has taken a slightly more nuanced approach than his predecessors, but the state is still fighting to keep the conviction active.
One interesting wrinkle is the recent ruling in Karl Fontenot's retrial process. A judge suppressed Fontenot's confession, calling it "fatally unreliable." Since Tommy's confession was obtained under the exact same circumstances by the same officers, this creates a massive precedent.
But Tommy’s team can't just point to Karl’s case and say, "Me too." They have to prove that the constitutional violations in Tommy’s specific trial were so egregious that the federal government must intervene and override the state of Oklahoma.
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What Most People Get Wrong
People often think Tommy is out. They see the headlines about The Innocent Man or they see Karl Fontenot’s face on the news and assume both "Innocent Men" are home.
Honestly, it’s heartbreaking. Tommy has spent over 14,000 days in prison. He has missed the birth of grandchildren, the death of parents, and the entire evolution of the modern world. He is a grandfather who spends his days in a cell for a crime that the federal courts have already hinted—via the Fontenot ruling—he likely didn't commit.
The legal strategy now is a "Habeas Corpus" petition. This is basically the "hail mary" of the legal world. It asks the federal court to step in because the state court failed to protect the defendant's constitutional rights.
Actionable Steps for Those Following the Case
If you are following the Tommy Ward ADA 2024 developments, there are a few things you can actually do rather than just watching the news.
- Follow the Center on Wrongful Convictions: They are the primary legal engine behind Tommy’s defense. Their updates are the most accurate source of information regarding court filings.
- Write to Tommy: Supporters often send letters to Ward at Dick Conner Correctional Center. For a man who has been isolated for 40 years, knowing the world hasn't forgotten him is huge.
- Monitor the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals: This is where the decision will ultimately be made. Any ruling here will be the "make or break" moment for his freedom.
- Support the "Innocent Man" Legal Fund: Legal fees for 40-year-old cases are astronomical. Private donations are often what keep these long-term appeals alive.
The wheels of justice in Oklahoma don't just turn slowly; sometimes they feel like they’re rusted shut. For Tommy Ward, the goal for the remainder of 2024 and 2026 is simple: get a federal judge to look at the facts, not the deadlines. Until then, he remains the "Innocent Man" who is still waiting for his ending.