The Case of False Confessions - Tommy Ward Pt. 1

📻 Episode #353
🎙️ Hosted by Jason Flom
📅 May 01, 2023

◆ EPISODE PROFILE

About This Episode

He thought the police would recognize this was just a dream, not reality.

The Case

He thought the police would recognize this was just a dream, not reality.

Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin bring us a story from Ada, OK where a young woman went missing. A few months after her disappearance, a man named Tommy Ward told police that he’d had a bad dream about her murder. Incredibly, the police took that dream and turned it into a false confession... and into a prison sentence that continues to this day, 35 years later.

Since this episode's original release, in January 2021, a District Judge vacated Tommy's conviction, yet he remained in prison while the state appealed. The state won, reinstating the conviction, and Tommy and his team are still fighting for his freedom.

At the end of this episode, Laura says that Part 2 will be available next week. However, this is a re-issue, so Part 2 is available right now in your feed!

http://www.centeronwrongfulconvictions.org/

https://www.facebook.com/tommywardslegalteam/

In Their Own Words — transcript excerpts

Short excerpts from the episode's official published transcript, with timestamps — listen from these moments, or read the full transcript via the podcast's own platforms.

00:02:53
“Speaker 3: that there are thousands of innocent people in prison, and Speaker 3: I've never realized that before. At that point I moved away, Speaker 3: for the most part, from suspense intrigue thrillers to something Speaker 3: still similar but much more issue driven capital punishment, wrong Speaker 3: for confiction, mass incarceration, the issues I care about in”

00:12:05
“Speaker 4: suspect will suggest on his own accord, you know, I Speaker 4: have had some dreams about this And what that does Speaker 4: is it gives police officers something to exploit. It allows Speaker 4: the conversation to continue, and the police officers end up Speaker 4: converting what was a dream into a confession.”

00:20:44
“Speaker 1: their confessions were false when it came to Odell's involvement, Speaker 1: and sure the facts that they seemed to get right, Speaker 1: like the pickup truck, had been fed to them by Speaker 1: their interrogators. But set all that aside, prosecutors said, we've Speaker 1: got proof. They said that Tommy and Carl's confession are reliable,”

Listen to the Episode

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🔊 How You Can Help

Share this case, follow the organisations working on it, and support the podcast's fight for the innocent at lavaforgood.com.

← #352 Terry Ceasor #354 False Confessions - Tommy Ward Pt. 2 →

Also on the podcast: #115 False Confessions - Origin Story · #116 False Confessions - Robert Davis · #117 False Confessions - Dixmoor 5