DNA tests this year helped free two Oklahomans who...

DNA tests this year helped free two Oklahomans who had been convicted of murder. Ronald Williamson and Dennis Fritz were charged with the murder and rape of Deborah Sue Carter in 1982. They were arrested four years after the crime. Both were convicted and Williamson received the death penalty. In 1997, a federal appeals court overturned Williamson's conviction on the basis of ineffectiveness of counsel. The court noted that the lawyer had failed to investigate and present to the jury the fact that another man had confessed to the crime. Recently, DNA tests from the crime scene did not match either Williamson or Fritz, but did implicate Glen Gore, a former suspect in the case. All charges against the two defendants were dismissed on April 15, and they were released, after spending 12 years in prison. A total of 7 innocent death row inmates have been freed in Oklahoma, making that state one of the leaders in such deadly mistakes.