2026 Wrongful Conviction Day Dinner - Join us friday, october 2nd at the skirvin hotel

The Oklahoma Innocence Project’s annual Wrongful Conviction Day Dinner is just around the corner, and we invite you to join us for an evening celebrating freedom, resilience, and the work still needed to prevent wrongful convictions.

This year, we are honored to welcome Malcolm Scott, former Oklahoma Innocence Project client and exoneree, as our keynote speaker. Malcolm spent more than 22 years in prison for a crime he did not commit before being exonerated in 2016. His story is one of extraordinary resilience and perseverance in the face of a wrongful conviction that took more than two decades of his life.

As we celebrate the Oklahoma Innocence Project’s 15th Anniversary, having Malcolm return as our keynote speaker makes this year’s dinner especially significant. Guests will have the opportunity to hear Malcolm share his experience, his journey to freedom, and his perspective on the lasting impact of wrongful conviction.

The Oklahoma Innocence Project is Oklahoma’s only statewide pro bono organization dedicated to freeing individuals who have been wrongfully convicted. Our clients are never charged for our assistance. We work to uncover wrongful convictions, support exonerees, and prevent future injustices through advocacy, reform, and education.

The Wrongful Conviction Day Dinner is our largest annual fundraiser and an important opportunity to see our mission in action. Your support helps us continue this critical work across Oklahoma.

Join us on Friday, October 2 at the historic Skirvin Hotel in downtown Oklahoma City for an evening of powerful stories, meaningful connection, and a shared commitment to a more just legal system. For tickets and sponsorship opportunities: https://law.okcu.edu/wcd-2026/

Tickets now available for the 2025 Wrongful Conviction Day Dinner

Tickets are now on sale for the Oklahoma Innocence Project’s 2025 Wrongful Conviction Day Dinner.

Date: Thursday, October 2, 2025
Location: Fordson Hotel
Time: 6:00 to 9:00 PM

This special evening is both a celebration of freedom and a call to action.

We will come together to honor Oklahoma’s exonerees, recognize their resilience, and reflect on the work still needed to prevent wrongful convictions. The dinner also serves as the Oklahoma Innocence Project’s largest annual fundraiser, supporting our legal, policy, and public education efforts.

Guests will hear firsthand stories, connect with advocates, and help further the mission of restoring lives and building a more just legal system in Oklahoma.

Reserve your tickets today at:
https://law.okcu.edu/wrongful-conviction-day-2025/

Your support makes a lasting impact.

Oklahoma Innocence Project

Tribute to Dennis L. Fritz

TRIBUTE TO DENNIS L. FRITZ - It is with a heavy heart that we share with you the news of the passing of Mr. Dennis L. Fritz. There are no words we can offer to his family other than may love and faith bring you comfort and strengthen you during this terribly difficult time Mr. Fritz was a man whose journey will not be forgotten. He was a son, husband, a father, a grandfather, an author, a teacher, a coach, a friend and a fighter. He spent 12 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, it is his tenacity and endurance that brings us the hope, the passion and the drive to continue his mission - to advocate and help free those who have been wrongfully convicted. He may be gone but his legacy will live on through his beautiful family. Everyone at the office is thinking of you and sending our love. May your father’s memory always be a blessing.

Our sincerest condolences,

OKIP, Andrea, Cheryl and Patrick

OKIP Client Beverly Moore released

On Wednesday, Nov. 15, our client Beverly Moore was released after spending nineteen years in prison for a crime she didn't commit. Upon her release, she was reunited with her son who was five years old at the time of her arrest. Oklahoma City Attorney Christine Cave began working on Beverly’s case in 2010 – the Oklahoma Innocence Project and OKIP Legal Director Andrea Miller became involved with the case in 2013.

City News OKC Article on 2023 Wrongful Conviction Day Dinner

Eight Exonerated Persons highlight Oklahoma Innocence Project dinner held on Wrongful Conviction Day

From left to right, Francisco ‘Franky' Carrillo of California, with Oklahomans Glynn Simmons, Cory Atchison, Jeff Williams, Michelle Murphy, Perry Lott, Ricky Dority, and Paris Powell. Each of these persons was convicted of a major crime, and subsequently exonerated by the use of previously unexamined evidence presented in courts of law. The seven men and one woman were featured guests at the 2023 Wrongful Conviction Day dinner of the Oklahoma Innocence Project at Oklahoma City University. Photo by Patrick B. McGuigan.

OKIP Client Ricky Dority's conviction overturned!

The Oklahoma Innocence Project is excited to announce that OKIP client Ricky Dority’s conviction has been overturned. In 2015, Ricky was convicted of first-degree murder in Sequoyah County and was sentenced to life without parole. OKIP took on Ricky’s case in 2021 working with Private Investigator Bobby Staton. Over the past two years, evidence was discovered that undermines the State’s case against Ricky and strengthens the alibi defense he presented at trial. Last week, the trial judge in Sequoyah County determined that Ricky’s right to the effective assistance of counsel was violated by counsel’s failure to find and present a witness whose testimony refuted key testimony from one of the State’s witnesses. In the course of OKIP’s investigation it was also discovered that the State had withheld important information about the same witness and his motives for testifying against Ricky. If that evidence had been presented at trial, the jury likely would have rejected the witness’s testimony and would not have had sufficient evidence on which to convict. The State of Oklahoma has 90 days to decide whether to retry Ricky or dismiss the case. Ricky has served 9 years for a crime he did not commit.

This result is the culmination of years of hard work by OKIP staff, investigator Bobby Staton, several Oklahoma City University School of Law students and University of Central Oklahoma Forensic Science students. We appreciate the work and dedication of everyone who worked on and believed in this case.