--- title: John Grisham’s 'The Innocent Man' Gets New Spot on Netflix description: A John Grisham classic true crime is getting a new chapter on Netflix. The six-part docu-series 'The Innocent Man' will debut on Dec. 14. canonical: https://time.com/5472331/john-grisham-innocent-man-netflix/ author: Judy Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-06T11:09:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T22:12:55.088Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: John Grisham’s True-Crime Classic 'The Innocent Man' Gets a New Chapter on Netflix og:description: Director Clay Tweel weaves together Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz’s story og:url: https://time.com/5472331/john-grisham-innocent-man-netflix/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe0ced803bbc2aee/698940ce7cdbac69abd5e9bc/innocent-man-tv-show1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1817 og:image:height: 1022 og:image:alt: 1 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Grisham’s True-Crime Classic 'The Innocent Man' Gets a New Chapter on Netflix twitter:description: Director Clay Tweel weaves together Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz’s story twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbe0ced803bbc2aee/698940ce7cdbac69abd5e9bc/innocent-man-tv-show1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # John Grisham’s True-Crime Classic _The Innocent Man_ Gets a New Chapter on Netflix > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account.  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Dec 6, 2018 11:09 AM UTC  Ward has been fighting for his freedom since 1985 Ward has been fighting for his freedom since 1985Netflix  by [Judy Berman](https://time.com/author/judy-berman/)  ## Judy Berman TV Critic Dec 6, 2018 11:09 AM UTC John Grisham has written dozens of legal thrillers but just one book of nonfiction: _The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town_. Published in 2006, the true-crime story profiles Ron Williamson, a mentally ill man who, along with his friend Dennis Fritz, was wrongly convicted in the 1982 rape and murder of cocktail waitress Debbie Sue Carter. Grisham was hardly the first reporter on the case, but his best seller put a tale of egregious judicial corruption in sleepy Ada, Okla., back in the news. Although the six-part Netflix docuseries _The Innocent Man_, which will be available to stream on Dec. 14, further updates that investigation, the shared title is a bit misleading. Director Clay Tweel weaves together Williamson and Fritz’s story–which culminated in their exoneration by DNA evidence–with that of a minor character from the book: Tommy Ward, a gentle, devoutly Christian inmate at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, serving a life sentence in the abduction and murder of 24-year-old Ada resident Denice Haraway. The case the DA mounted against Ward and his co-defendant in 1985 is eerily similar to the one that convicted Williamson and Fritz three years later: both relied on bizarre coerced confessions in lieu of definitive physical evidence. And the two investigations shared a cast of police, prosecutors and snitches. Yet Ward has remained behind bars for decades, desperate to prove his innocence. The stylistic conventions of prestige true crime have ossified over the past few years, and Tweel adheres to them: there are tasteful, dimly lit re-enactments. Archival audio is paired with closeups of dusty cassette tapes spinning their tiny wheels. The soundtrack alternates between hysterical strings and the wholesome country chestnuts filmmakers love deploying, to grimly ironic effect, while uncovering the evil that lurks within some little town. An intrepid reporter turns up to inject suspense into the final few episodes with her search for alternate suspects in the Haraway murder. Yet this isn’t a typical whodunit; it’s a character-driven study of the power that broken institutions wield over vulnerable individuals–which includes the families of victims who are led to believe justice has been served when it hasn’t. Tweel and Grisham, an executive producer who appears in the miniseries, ask why the justice system so thoroughly failed these people, and demonstrate how hard it is to get convictions overturned. This can, at times, make the series feel like an ad for the Innocence Project, the nonprofit that uses DNA to contest suspicious verdicts. (Grisham sits on the group’s board of directors.) But Ward’s story is powerful enough to underscore the necessity of such a compassionate appeal. –J.B. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5472331/john-grisham-innocent-man-netflix/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5472331/john-grisham-innocent-man-netflix/"},"headline":"John Grisham’s True-Crime Classic The Innocent Man Gets a New Chapter on Netflix","datePublished":"2018-12-06T11:09:06.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T22:12:55.088Z","description":"A John Grisham classic true crime is getting a new chapter on Netflix. 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