TULSA, Okla. — In July of 2024, William Henry Jamerson’s 1991 rape conviction was thrown out by a Tulsa judge after newly-tested DNA. He served 24 years in prison for a crime he says he did not commit.
The rape victim hugged Jamerson at court, telling him, “you’re innocent, you always have been,” as reported by The Frontier.
Prosecutors plan to appeal, and the 30-year saga of his rape conviction is one 2 News will continue to unfold. In the meantime, 2 News has learned that Jamerson was arrested on Thursday and then suddenly let go.
Jamerson said he was in downtown Tulsa, looking for his mom’s friend’s wheelchair, which she had left behind at the bus station, when he saw three Tulsa police cars racing by as he walked to his car.
“I hit the alarm on my car and was fittin’ to take off when (he makes siren sounds),” he explained. The police pull up to his car. “I looked and said, ‘what you want me for?’” he said.
Jamerson was arrested for failure to register as a sex offender. He was booked into jail. However, he was released within hours and had no bond to pay. He was told by jail staff that they arrested the wrong defendant.
Tulsa police impounded his car. When Jamerson and his attorney, Dan Smolen, went to get the car back, two officers and a supervisor were at the towing company. Smolen captured cell phone video and gave it to 2 News.
The officers are not ready to let the case go. Now, they are giving him an improper parking citation, telling Jamerson at the time of his arrest he had been parked in a no-parking zone.
“So you guys have come all the way up here, after you release him from jail, after you arrest him on false charges, you’ve now come up here to cite him on something you didn’t cite him earlier on?” Smolen is heard saying on the cell phone video. “I am just making sure I’ve got it right.”
It states on the jail website he is the “wrong defendant” for both the improper parking and failure to register as a sex offender complaints.
Tulsa police released this statement:
In December 1991, William Jamerson was convicted of two sex crimes which required him to register as a sex offender. According to State records, he is required to be registered as a sex offender at this time and through April 8, 2025, and he is currently non-compliant with those requirements. Although post-conviction relief was granted to Mr. Jamerson by the court in July 2024, that decision is on appeal. Further, although he has filed a petition asking the court to remove his sex offender registration requirements, the court has not made a decision but has set the petition for hearing next week. Upon discovering more facts after the arrest occurred, it was determined that the arrest of Mr. Jamerson would be withdrawn at this time.
Smolen finds it interesting that the hearing to remove Jamerson from the sex offender registry is scheduled for next Tuesday.
“I do not think it is a coincidence that every time there is a break in the case, they are on top of him with their foot on his throat,” he said.
Jamerson was arrested for failure to register as a sex offender in 2022. It was dismissed upon discovery he had properly registered, but the dismissal came the same week Smolen provided DNA test results that would ultimately clear his name.
“Without question, the Tulsa Police Department has harassed Henry Jamerson for decades,” said Smolen. “Anyone who looks at this case would be disgusted by what they see, and no one should be treated the way that Henry Jamerson has been treated.”
Jamerson says he has struggled to find solid employment while being listed as a violent sex offender. He said he just wants it all to be over.
“Tired of it,” said Jamerson. “You [referring to TPD] keep pulling me over for something I didn’t do, something y’all did, y’all created this I didn’t,” he said.
The Tulsa Police Department sex offender registry does list him as non-compliant. Smolen maintains that his client is compliant and that an arrest for failure to register as a sex offender must come with a warrant.
“TPD’s position regarding non-compliance is just another attempt to create probable cause after a knowingly false arrest,” he said.
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