MUSKOGEE, Okla. — A federal judge has placed the man at the center of the John Grisham book "The Innocent Man" on the path to potential freedom.
Karl Fontenot’s story was also made into a Netflix documentary series.
U.S. District Judge James Payne, of Muskogee, ruled there is reasonable doubt that Fontenot should have been convicted in 1988 in the kidnapping and killing of Ada convenience store clerk Denice Haraway in 1984.
Fontenot and co-defendant Tommy Ward were convicted in Haraway's murder in part due to a recording of them talking about dreams they had about her murder.
Judge Payne's opinion discusses alleged misconduct by police, investigators and prosecutors.