DA Bill Peterson Who Is Suing John Grisham Dennis Fritz Robert Mayer and Their Publishers Retiring Jan.

by ba219 | November 6, 2007 at 08:34 pm

5679 views | 0 Recommendations | 12 comments

Bill Peterson district attorney for the 22nd district that includes Pontotoc, Seminole and Hughes counties, in Oklahoma said he plans to retire after Jan. 1. after 27 years.
In Sept. this year less then 2 months ago, Bill Peterson decided to sue John Grisham and Doubleday Dell Publishing Group.
The lawsuit also names:
•Dennis Fritz, the author of “Journey Toward Justice.”
•Robert Mayer, author of “The Dreams of Ada.”
•Barry Scheck, one of Fritz’s lawyers who helped exonerate him, and a co-author of “Actual Innocence,” that discusses the case of Williamson and Fritz.
•The Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, publisher of “The Innocent Man” and “Actual Innocence.”
•Random House Inc., which owns Doubleday Dell.
•Broadway Books, publisher of “The Dreams of Ada.”
•Seven Locks Press and/or James C. Riordan, publisher of “Journey Toward Justice.”The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges civil conspiracy, libel, placing a person in a false light and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Peterson says the defendants "coordinated their efforts to launch a massive joint defamatory attack" on him.

William N. Peterson got murder convictions on two men, Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson, who did 12 years in prison before they were cleared by DNA evidence. Fritz and Williamson's experiences are chronicled in two books, John Grisham's first nonfiction book, "The Innocent Man," and Dennis Fritz's, book, "Journey Toward Justice". Bill Peterson got questionable convictions on two other men, Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot, in a separate murder case.
They are still in prison.
Robert Mayer, is the author of “The Dreams of Ada.” A book written primary about the murder of Denice Haraway and the subsequent investigation, prosecution and conviction of Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot. The other Plaintiff in the lawsuit is Gary Rogers, a former agent for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.Bill Peterson and Gary Rogers were instrumental in the conviction of Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz in the murder of Debbie Sue Carter in Ada, Oklahoma in 1982.

"It is something I've been thinking about for a while and came to the conclusion that it is time,” Bill Peterson" told the Ada Evening News. "I am 64 years old and came to the realization it's time to go to another phase in my life.”

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BillPeterson IsEvil (not verified)

at 04:16 on November 22nd, 2008

I sincerely believe that Bill Peterson should be on death row. At the minimum, disbarred and the target of another major civil lawsuit against him and those individuals within Ada law enforcement who knowingly targeted innocent individuals and illegally trampled upon their rights. Bill Peterson: you are an unremorseful, evil man whom I would imagine many will be happier upon your death. Those of you in law enforcement in the area who still engage in such activity: BEWARE; the public is watching you!

For all practical purposes, Bill Peterson murdered Ron Williamson. He destroyed years of Dennis Fritz life and subjected him to of the most horrible predicaments possible: to be recommended for capital punishment and subsequently sentenced to life in prison and for something of which he was innocent. Bill Peterson sent other innocents to prison including Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot and apparently is content that they continue to suffer in incarceration.

Residents of Ada and Oklahoma should pressure their senators, congressmen, and govenor's office to conduct police internal affairs (with FBI involvement if possible) into the present and past connection of members of the police department and possibly district attorney's office with illegal drug trafficing. The link between the drug trafficing by Glen Gore and the Ada Police was mentioned in Grisham's The Innocent Man. It just might be continuing today particularly given the large cash flow generally assumed to exist in drug trafficing. John Grisham, Dennis Fritz, Robert Mayer, and the legal team responsible for the exhonoration of Williamson and Fritz should be commended for their perseverance, diligence, and call to duty for justice. It is furthurmore a disgrace that Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot remain in jail. Residents of Oklahoma, you have a civil duty to pressure your public officials to reverse the dreadful injustice led by Bill Peterson which continues to punish two innocent people who remain incarcerated today. Public officials of Oklahoma and especially those of Pontotoc County and in particular Ada: Shame on You!!! Clean up your act and serve your constituents rather than terrorizing them!!!

Lola Salamon (not verified)

at 10:59 on December 3rd, 2008

I agree wholeheartedly with the above statement(s). I currently reside in IL and after doing my own research of all books and authors and whatnot, I cannot believe the horrible injustices that have occured in ADA. Peterson should never had gotten the choice to retire. He should have been looked at and disbarred.

eric harris (not verified)

at 21:38 on March 17th, 2009

Just finished Grisham's book and googled Bill Peterson, and I am apalled at the fact that this"inhuman being" would try and "defend" his self. He should quietly go burn somewhere or crawl back under what he crawled from under. Nothing he has done good, was only for his ego and for his self righteousness. I am so afraid peop

sherry H (not verified)

at 13:49 on February 17th, 2009

I agree wholeheartedly with you. I have finished reading The Innocent Man and am now reading Dreams of Ada. I think Bill Peterson not only should have been disbarred years ago, but I also think he should be flooded with mail of letters stating that his whole career has been based on nothing but lies. How can he possibly feel he has had any success at all in his career? He has done nothing more than ruin peoples lives including their families. I think he needs to have repeated reminders of this. And I think we should flood Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot with letters that there are people out here that truly believe they are innocent and how very sorry for the wrongful hell they have had to pay.

I think Denice Haraway's family should be outraged that the true killers got away with murder!

Bill Peterson is jerk (not verified)

at 07:04 on March 25th, 2009

and should be punished severely. It's very evident that the police knew that they would be backed up in whatever scheme they had to keep people in jail to make themselves look good. Bill Peterson was their Man. Poor police work and crooked Lawyers/Prosecuters are just 1 more thing that will take this country down the drain.

djp (not verified)

at 08:22 on February 26th, 2009

People should not be so quick to judge until they have heard BOTH sides of the story, please. It is so easy to read Grisham's novel and take it as fact. If you really want to be informed and then decide who you believe, you should go to Bill Peterson's web site. Just Google "Grisham's Folly" and it'll take you there - I'm sorry I do not have the link to post. There, Peterson outlines his side of the story and rebuts several of Grisham's accusations. As I said, you have to want to hear the REAL truth of both sides and not just celebrity novelist Grisham's side and just jump onto his bandwagon without thinking for yourself. Grisham distorts timelines (Gore was never arrested for any kind of assault towards women until AFTER the Carter murder), misrepresents facts (Peters had said all along the body had been in rigor when he printed it the first time and always wanted to get another set of prints after the body was out of rigor), and, as, usual, puts his melodramatic spin on everything in that snotty Jr. high girl way of narrating that he uses in every one of his (amazingly) bestselling novels. I am not from Ada. I have never met any of the people involved. I just decided to hear both sides of the story before hanging Peterson and the Ada cops from a yardarm.

Did Williamson and Fritz get a raw deal? YES! Did the Ada cops make mistakes and are they blameless? YES THEY DID AND NO THEY ARE NOT! But Grisham takes the facts of this story and creates a story that is not there. He should be ashamed of himself.

the queen (not verified)

at 05:47 on July 14th, 2009

true. but it remains that there is not much deterrent for prosecutors who bend protocol and procedure to get what they want. let grisham tell the story he wants, but the testimonies are still all there, and even he bends timelines, he couldn't make up the bulk of the story.

Everybody makes mistakes, and even the hugest mistakes can be pardoned, but it's hard to pardon when no one is asking for forgiveness. Well, he'll get whatever he deserved anyway when he finally snuffs it, good and bad, so as a believer, I'm not too chuffed. Human judgement is what it is.

jstep (not verified)

at 08:19 on August 12th, 2009

I tried to find Petson's website but couldn't. Grisham creates a story that is not there? Seems pretty simple to me. Peterson and the Ada cops wrongly and knowingly convicted innocent people. You can't honesty tell me Peterson believed all those snitches from jail who were blatantly just seeking deals for themselves and the very questionable crime lab analysts. Peterson went to a second one after the first didn't give him the answers he wanted. He knew all about the "confessions" and how those took place. The line that made me the most sick in Grisham's book was Peterson's comment to Fritz during the sentencing, "Dennis Fritz, you deserve to die for what you and Ron Williamson did to Debra Sue Carter." I just don't think there is any possible way that Peterson believed those two men acutally did it, so the fact the he said that is just disgusting.

Richard Groenewald (not verified)

at 00:21 on March 21st, 2009

I read "The Innocent Man" and was outraged with the tactics that the police used to get confessions out of their suspects. Dennis Fritz and Ron Williamson got out of jail after many years in prison and they were lucky compared to Karl Fontenot and Tommy Ward. I mean, what kind of prosecutor viciously goes after four people with the slimmest of all evidence, gets convictions and has the nerve to actually sue people who criticize him afterward? I was appalled to see that so much can go wrong in the law and how Bill Peterson, the OSBI and the Ada police were so desperate to get a conviction that they badgered witnesses, made judges believe that it was actually legitimate and drove four people into a living hell. These events destroyed families - I mean Ron Williamson went insane because of the ordeal. Tommy Ward was interviewed for eight hours before his ILLEGALALLY gained confession. He's still in jail for a crime he didn't commit and the family of Denice Haraway will never be at peace because the true murderer(s) have not been brought to justice. Peterson should be disbarred and sued heavily for what he has done to these people. He not only screwed up, but he degraded the entire legal process. Thank God he's retiring so he can't do this to other people.

darren shields (not verified)

at 14:57 on July 2nd, 2009

I am only half way through Grishams "Innocent man" and think bill peterson is a disgusting man cant believe he is aloud to get away with it he should have died not ron williamson....

SusanW (not verified)

at 04:41 on July 19th, 2009

I don't care what Bill Peterson says he is just trying to cover his own butt. What he did was disgusting and unconstitutional. I've never been a big fan of John Grisham and so what if some of his timelines are a little off, I thought his book "The Innocent Man" was very well written and the facts are the facts. There is no getting around that. My suggestion to Bill Peterson is to get over yourself, you didn't get half of what you deservered and your day will come whether it be here on earth or otherwise.