Fontenot v. Crow, No. 19-7045 (10th Cir. 2021)
Annotate this CasePetitioner-appellee Karl Fontenot was twice tried and found guilty of the 1984 kidnapping, robbery, and murder of Donna Haraway in Ada, Oklahoma. Almost no evidence connected him to the crime other than his own videotaped confession, a confession that "rang false in almost every particular." Nearly thirty years after his second conviction, Fontenot brought a petition for habeas corpus in federal district court, arguing the actual innocence gateway allowed for his constitutional claims to be heard on the merits. The district court agreed, and granted relief on all of Fontenot’s claims, including his assertion that the prosecution suppressed material evidence prior to his trial. The district court ordered the State of Oklahoma to release Fontenot or grant him a new trial. The State appealed, but the Tenth Circuit found its arguments for reversing that order lacked merit. "Mr. Fontenot has brought forth new evidence that is sufficient to unlock the actual innocence gateway and to allow his substantive claims to be heard on the merits. And Mr. Fontenot has also established that evidence suppressed by the State prior to his new trial in 1988 led to a violation of his constitutional right to due process." Accordingly, the Court affirmed the district court’s grant of Fontenot’s petition for habeas relief.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.