{"id":14597,"date":"2023-09-04T16:23:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T21:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/norwoodlegal.com\/?p=14597"},"modified":"2023-09-06T11:28:30","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T16:28:30","slug":"ada-wrongful-convictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/norwoodlegal.com\/ada-wrongful-convictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Ada prosecutors from \u2018The Innocent Man\u2019 Netflix series may lose again as Norwood.Law client awaits ruling"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Perry James Lott in 2022. Image: Keaton Ross\/Oklahoma Watch<\/i><\/a><\/div>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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By G.W. Schulz<\/p>

A state judge in southern Oklahoma will soon decide whether to formally throw out the conviction of a man who spent 30 years behind bars before DNA evidence excluded him from a rape victim\u2019s vaginal swab. Perry James Lott, who is represented by Norwood.Law, was first set free from confinement in July of 2018 following a DNA analysis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Only now is Pontotoc County District Judge Steven Kessinger in Ada, Oklahoma, weighing whether to go one step further and overturn Lott\u2019s 1988 conviction for rape, burglary, and robbery. The deciding factor could be DNA technology that was unavailable when Lott first went to prison. Vacating Lott\u2019s conviction would not mean he was \u201cexonerated\u201d or \u201cinnocent\u201d of the crimes. But it would mean he was no longer convicted of them in the eyes of the law.<\/span><\/p>

Yet another step would be necessary for Lott to meet the definition of \u201cexonerated.\u201d Erik Johnson, the district attorney for Pontotoc County, which is southeast of Oklahoma City, would have to decide whether to re-try the case in front of a fresh jury, offer a deal of some sort, or dismiss the case altogether. Any outcome would affect whether Lott met the criteria for entry into the <\/span>National Registry of Exonerations<\/span><\/a>, which has tracked over 3,350 wrongful convictions in the United States since 1989.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Led by the University of California Irvine, <\/span>the registry says a person is exonerated when<\/span><\/a> there\u2019s \u201ca dismissal of all charges related to the crime for which the person was originally convicted.\u201d Further, the dismissal \u201cmust have occurred after evidence of innocence became available that was not presented at the trial at which the person was convicted.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Criminal convictions can be vacated for any number of reasons. For example, it may happen where prosecutors prior to a trial failed to hand over evidence that pointed to a defendant\u2019s innocence. Or it can result from key witnesses recanting their claims against a defendant. Or it can be due to defense attorneys giving their clients shoddy representation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Driving Judge Kessinger\u2019s decision to vacate Lott\u2019s conviction would likely be more concrete: advancements in DNA testing. Specifically, Lott \u201cwas excluded as a source of the male DNA in this profile.\u201d Those are the words of forensic scientist Meghan Clement of Bode Technology in Virginia. She conducted a review of biological evidence from the case\u2019s rape kit and wrote up her findings in a 2017 affidavit. Lott has maintained his innocence since he was first arrested in 1987.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

However, to gain his freedom back in 2018, Lott was forced to accept a compromise with prosecutors that meant he was still considered a criminal. At the time, former Pontotoc County District Attorney Paul Smith refused to recognize Lott as innocent despite what DNA evidence was showing. Norwood.Law\u2019s efforts to fully exonerate Lott have continued in the years since.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Erik Johnson, the top prosecutor for Pontotoc County who took over in early 2023, may hold a different view of the case and be more agreeable to dismissal. If so, it would be a striking contrast to earlier Ada prosecutors, including the two who sent Lott to prison in 1988: Chris Ross and Bill Peterson.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

During the same time period in the 1980s when Perry Lott was put on trial, Peterson and Ross helped <\/span>vault the small, rural community of Ada into the national spotlight<\/span><\/a> with their high-profile, zealous pursuit of four men in two separate murder cases involving young women victims. DNA cleared two of the men after 11 years in prison. A star witness in that case turned out to be the true killer. (Prosecutor Chris Ross played a limited role in the first case.) A third man in the second case was <\/span>declared \u201cactually innocent\u201d and freed in 2019<\/span><\/a> after being incarcerated for 35 years. For the fourth man, <\/span>a state judge dismissed his charges in 2020<\/span><\/a>. But then he lost when the state appealed, and he has remained in prison.<\/span><\/p>

\"\"<\/p>

Peterson and Ross are today retired but <\/span>continued to defend<\/span><\/a> their handling of the cases<\/span><\/a> after they were tried in court. The cases have fueled innumerable news stories, podcast episodes, books, and other media. But arguably the best-known among them is \u201cThe Innocent Man,\u201d <\/span>a bestselling 2006 book by John Grisham<\/span><\/a>, the prolific author of legal thrillers. The book remains Grisham\u2019s only work of nonfiction and went on to become a <\/span>popular, six-part Netflix series of the same name<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

There\u2019s even a <\/span>sixth troubling Ada case dating back to 1982<\/span><\/a> that was handled by Bill Peterson\u2019s office. A jury convicted Calvin Lee Scott of rape after just 30 minutes of weighing the evidence. Scott was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Hair samples supposedly linked Scott to the crime scene. Then DNA testing of a sperm sample showed that the evidence matched someone else. As a result, Scott was released from prison in 2003, but only after he\u2019d been locked up for 20 years. Bill Peterson in the end was forced to concede that Scott had not committed the rape.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Continue reading below to learn more about Perry Lott\u2019s efforts to prove his innocence.<\/span><\/p>

If you\u2019ve been accused of a crime, don\u2019t wait to act. You\u2019ll need Norwood.Law to tell your side of the story. And it\u2019s not just criminal law we practice. If you find yourself ensnared in a family, business, or personal-injury dispute, Norwood.Law will bring the same commitment and skill to your corner that we have to the case of Perry Lott. When the time comes that you need our help, contact Norwood.Law for a free consultation at 918-582-6464.<\/span><\/p>

A difficult choice<\/b><\/h2>

Sexual assault is a matter of grave concern that occurs all too often in the United States and around the world. But no forensic evidence of any kind has ever connected Perry James Lott to the 1987 sexual assault of victim Donna Reed. With no physical evidence, the state\u2019s case against Lott depended entirely on an eyewitness identification made by the victim in a police lineup. That was enough for Lott to be convicted and sent to prison in 1988. Not until March of 2014 did the rape kit become eligible for DNA testing. Those results showed that male genetic material contained in the kit did not belong to Lott.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>