04/09/2026
Fun (disturbing) fact.... Oklahoma currently has ZERO conviction review units... despite a ridiculously high number of cases.
PART 1: TULSA COUNTY FACES CALL FOR CONVICTION REVIEW UNIT AS WRONGFUL CONVICTION COSTS CONTINUE TO IMPACT COMMUNITY
TULSA, OK — A Tulsa advocate is pushing for the creation of a Conviction Integrity Unit in the Tulsa County District Attorney’s Office, arguing the county can no longer afford to ignore wrongful convictions.
Jessica Downs, a Tulsa-area advocate for criminal justice reform, has submitted a proposal and launched a petition calling for a dedicated unit to review credible claims of innocence.
Her argument is straightforward. Tulsa County is already paying the price.
Over the past year, Tulsa County has paid out nearly $47 million in wrongful conviction settlements.
Three cases alone account for those payouts:
• $26.25 million — William Henry Jamerson
• $15 million — Malcolm Scott and De’Marchoe Carpenter
• $4.5 million — Corey Atchison
Those payouts followed years, and in some cases decades, of incarceration.
The petition argues those cases reflect broader issues within the system. It points to the lack of a dedicated local system to proactively review convictions before they result in lengthy litigation and costly settlements.
A Conviction Integrity Unit would be responsible for reexamining past cases, reviewing evidence, and identifying potential wrongful convictions earlier in the process.
Tulsa County does not currently have one.
Other jurisdictions do.
Downs says existing organizations like the Innocence Project are overwhelmed, with some cases taking years just to be reviewed. Her proposal calls for a local system that can respond faster and operate within the county.
She also points to the case of Terry Darnell, who is serving a sentence of life plus 109 years.
According to Downs, his case raises concerns that deserve closer review, including questions about eyewitness identification, the reliability of evidence presented at trial, and the severity of the sentence in a case where, according to Downs, no physical injuries were reported.
Cases like his, she argues, highlight the need for an independent review process.
The petition also raises broader concerns about the human and financial cost of wrongful convictions.
Families are separated for years. Children grow up without parents. At the same time, taxpayers are left paying millions after the fact.
It also points to the strain on Oklahoma’s prison system, arguing that every potentially wrongful conviction occupies space that should not be used in the first place.
The proposal is directed at District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler, whose office would ultimately decide whether to create such a unit.
The District Attorney’s Office has previously stated that the justice system already includes checks and balances through law enforcement investigations, prosecution, and decisions made by judges and juries.
Supporters of the proposal are not convinced.
Their position is that if the system is confident in its convictions, it should also be willing to review them.
The petition is currently gathering signatures as organizers work to build public support before formally presenting it.
The question now is whether Tulsa County will create a process to catch wrongful convictions earlier, or continue addressing them only after the damage has already been done.
