The Innocent Man

Ron's sister Annette was twelve when Ron was born, and she helped to raise Ron while both of their parents worked. In many ways, Annette acted as a second mother to Ron, especially after the death of their actual mother. Annette feels a sense of responsibility for Ron throughout his life, and when he comes to her asking for (or demanding) money or a place to live, she gives him as much as she can. She visits Ron in prison regularly, though she left the visits "emotionally drained" (143) (especially when he is so psychotic that he does not seem to recognize her), and always maintains her belief in his innocence. Annette is a devout Christian and the organist at her Pentecostal church, but when her pastor refuses to welcome Ron after his release from prison, she quits the church. Annette is the rock of support on which Ron leans when he needs help, which is often.

Ron’s mother and father are quiet, hard-working, Christian people who love their children and dote especially on Ron. Roy works as a door-to-door salesman, and Juanita is a nurse. After Ron’s father dies, Ron intermittently lives with his mother, staying rent-free on her couch. Juanita is Ron’s alibi witness, but she dies before the trial and is unable to testify on his behalf.

Bruce is Ron’s best friend in high school, and the two make big plans to go on to the major leagues, but neither one achieves the success they hope for in baseball. The two partied hard together even in high school, and when they reunite as twentysomethings, they become raucous fixtures on the bar scene. 

Dennis Fritz was a mild-mannered young man who lived with his wife and young daughter and worked for the railroad, but his life changed suddenly when his wife was murdered by a neighbor. Dennis was "emotionally scarred" after this event (34) and unable to care for his daughter, so his mother took in young Elizabeth while Dennis sought work in another town. On a trip to Ada, Dennis happened to meet Ron Williamson, and the two became buddies. Dennis and Ron would hang out at Ron's house and play their guitars, then go cruising the bar scene. Dennis began to pull away from Ron as Ron's mood swings and wild plans became less and less appealing. However, the Ada locals knew the two men as friends, and when the police were looking for someone to nail as Ron's accomplice, Dennis was their best bet. Already traumatized from his wife's murder, Dennis was shocked and horrified when he found himself on trial for, then convicted of, Debbie Carter's murder, but he was confident of his innocence and determined to prove it.

Bill Peterson, "a heavyset young man from a prominent Ada family" (38), is the prosecutor in charge of the Carter murder trial. Completely convinced that Williamson and Fritz are guilty, Peterson has no ethical qualms about leading witnesses, suppressing evidence, or violating suspects' constitutional rights in order to get a conviction. Peterson and his team enrage Ron with their blatant lies, but easily convince a jury that Ron "deserve[d] to die for what [he] did to Debra Sue Carter" (133). Even when DNA testing reveals Ron's innocence, Peterson is unable to admit any possible error on his own part, insisting to the end that "overwhelming" evidence (189) had led him to the reasonable conclusion that Ron was guilty. He never apologized or acknowledged any injustice after Ron was released from prison after nine years, and remained in office as District Attorney at the time of this book's publication.

Detective Dennis Smith is the police officer in charge of the investigation of Debbie Carter's murder. A veteran officer, he knows all the locals and is a good friend of the Carter family. Under pressure from the community to solve the murder as soon as possible, Smith is determined to identify a suspect, and he is undeterred by the absence of evidence linking any individual to the crime. Smith does not hesitate to use his authority to influence both experts and witnesses to fall into line with the story he has come to believe in: that Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz had to have done it. Once Smith has convinced himself, it is simply a matter of finding (or fabricating) support for this claim. If one expert submitted a report that contradicted Smith's story, he would simply find another expert who agreed with him. To Smith, suspects are as good as convicted, and merit no respect or decency in their treatment. Any and all tactics, including cruelty for the sake of entertainment, are allowable in the name of making the streets safe from killers like Williamson and Fritz.

Glen Gore was the last person to be seen with Debbie Carter, and as such, should have been a prime suspect. Instead, he was the one who pointed the police toward Ron Williamson. A drug dealer who was the "primary supplier" for Ada police officers (85), Gore had received "favorable treatment" from the police until he stopped selling. Gore was serving a 40-year prison sentence for "breaking and entering, kidnapping, and attempting to kill a police officer" (84) when he was pressured by the police to make a statement implicating Williamson. He did so, and was rewarded with a plea bargain. DNA testing was later to reveal that Gore was, in fact, Debbie Carter's killer.

Often mentioned together, Tommy and Karl are two young men who have been convicted of the murder of Denice Haraway, another sensational murder committed in Ada during this same period. Tommy was fingered because of his resemblance to a composite sketch, and Karl was simply deemed guilty by association. Despite obvious falsification of both men's "confessions," and an abundance of evidence that should have exonerated them, both men ended up serving life sentences for murder. The case of Ward and Fontenot was the subject of a book, The Dreams of Ada, a highly-critical account of the miscarriage of justice by the police and the prosecution that severely ruffled local egos. Rather than inspiring the relevant officials to take greater care in their handling of capital cases, the book increased the urgency of the pressure to solve Debbie Carter's murder and show the world that the Ada criminal justice system was working just fine.

Barney was a blind lawyer who represented Ron Williamson at his trial for Debbie Carter's murder. Barney was known as a great defender, but by the time he took Ron's case (for which he was paid a pittance by the state), he was past his prime, and made many errors of judgment and procedure. The inadequate job he did in representing Ron is one of the factors that led a judge to grant Ron a new trial in the habeas corpus appeal process.