Tim Harris (attorney)

Tim Harris is the former Tulsa, Oklahoma District Attorney and a 2022 Tulsa School Board candidate. His work while District Attorney was the subject of an 2020 NBC Dateline investigative episode where he allegedly coerced one of two formerly convicted Black Tulsa brothers into confessions.[1][2][3] Harris graduated from and taught at Oral Roberts University.[4][5] For School Board, he ran against Susan Lamkin in a runoff election for District 7, running on an anti-Critical Race Theory and book banning platform.[6][7][8][9] He had no personal connection to Tulsa Public Schools.[10] He lost the school board race, though Harris raised more funds and "also received far more out of city, out of state and PAC donations than Lamkin. Nearly $10,000 more."[11]

Tim Harris
In office
1998–2014
Preceded bySteve Kunzweiler
Personal details
Political partyRepublican

Time as District Attorney and Campaign Efforts

Harris was the longest serving DA in Tulsa History.[12] He was the "prosecutor in Tulsa County for more than 27 years and served 15 years as the district attorney."[13] In 2010 there was an alleged conspiracy in the Tulsa jail to kill Harris.[14] In 2021, Harris helped file "a motion for dismissal of a then-86-year-old indictment" of 56 Black men related to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.[15] He was first elected in 1998. In 2010, he ran unopposed.[16] In 2014, Tim Harris and other DAs, such as David Prater and Mike Fields accused the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board of being mismanaged.[17]

In 2006, Harris failed to file campaign reports that could have had him fined "up to $1,000 per rule violation."[18] In 2011, he went ahead with the trial of Lawrence Wheeler, despite the victim's family claiming Tulsa was too "corrupt" to handle the case.[19][20] One of the first cases Tim Harris prosecuted as DA was against April Rose Wilkens, which lead to her conviction for killing Terry Carlton to the "outcry from those who say she acted because of battered woman syndrome."[21][22][23] He later accepted campaign contributions after the trail from Terry Carlton's father, Don Carlton, as well as from the wife of his predecessor, Steve Kunzweiler.[24][25] In 2017, Harris declared his run for U.S. Congress District 1.[26] He ran as a Republican candidate seeking election to the U.S. House for Oklahoma's 1st Congressional District. Harris lost the primary runoff against Kevin Hern on August 28, 2018, after advancing from the primary on June 26, 2018.[27][28] Five republicans ran for the seat.[29] When Corey Atchison’s conviction was later overturned, Harris "denied claims that misconduct had marred the trial, calling claims of witness coercion 'absurd.'" Kunzweiler also defended Harris's work.[30][31] Harris was an assistant attorney when "he took Atchison’s case to trial."[32] Attorneys for Atchison's family accused Harris of not wanting to admit the system "made a mistake" and that Harris's stance "keeps hundreds of requests pouring into the Oklahoma Innocence Project each year from men and women."[33] Harris claims that "he had never coerced, forced testimony or presented false testimony in his career."[34][35][36][37][38] In 2019, Harris was accused of conspiring against wrongfully convicted Michelle Murphy, whose conviction was later overturned.[39] She served 20 years before exoneration, being sentenced around the same time as April Wilkens.[40] In 2014, arguments were heard on whether Harris should be "held in contempt for what Murphy's attorneys" said were "false statements."[41] Harris had the file sealed by the Judge William Kellough so that the case cannot be reexamined.[42]

See also

References
  1. IMDB. "The Long Road to Freedom".
  2. McDonnell, Brandy (June 18, 2020). "'Dateline NBC' special 'The Long Road to Freedom' to focus on wrongfully convicted Tulsa brothers". The Oklahoman.
  3. "Dateline Episode Trailer: The Long Road to Freedom | Dateline NBC". June 17, 2020.
  4. Bates, Michael (January 25, 2022). "Tim Harris for Tulsa School Board".
  5. "A Talk with Tim Harris (R), Who Is Running to Represent the 1st Congressional District of Oklahoma". Public Radio Tulsa.
  6. DuBose, Erika (January 26, 2022). "SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE LASHES OUT AT LGBTQ BOOKS, CRITICAL RACE THEORY". Black Wall Street Times.
  7. Mummolo. "Four candidates vying for Tulsa Public Schools board seat, including former Tulsa DA". KTUL.
  8. "Susan Lamkin will face Tim Harris again on April 5". Tulsa Beacon. February 17, 2022.
  9. "Former DA, Memorial PTA president vie for school board seat". Tulsa World. 2022.
  10. Slanchik, Amy (February 7, 2022). "Tulsa School Board Seat On The Line For Tuesday Ballot". News 9.
  11. "BIG MONEY FLOODS LOCAL TULSA SCHOOL BOARD RACES". Black Wall Street Times. April 4, 2022.
  12. Fisher, Rich (July 24, 2018). "A Talk with Tim Harris (R), Who Is Running to Represent the 1st Congressional District of Oklahoma". Public Radio Tulsa.
  13. "Tulsa District Attorney Tim Harris Will Not Seek Re-Election". News9.
  14. "Plot to kill Harris Alledged". Tulsa World. December 2, 2010.
  15. CNN (June 2, 2021). "A New York professor and Tulsa DA helped clear records of Black men accused of wrongdoing in Race Massacre".
  16. "Half of Oklahoma's district attorney incumbents go unchallenged". The Oklahoman & NewsOK. June 10, 2010. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022.
  17. Hoberock, Barbara (July 17, 2014). "Pardon and Parole Board criticized". Tulsa World. pp. A4.
  18. "Lag time Too many campaign reports incomplete". November 22, 2006. Archived from the original on March 25, 2022.
  19. "DA Stands Pat on Prosecution: A Son of a Slain Tulsa Businessman Says Authorities are 'Too Corrupt' to Prosecute Whitey Bulger". Tulsa World. July 19, 2011.
  20. "Family of mob hit victim wants trial to stay out of Tulsa". KRMG.
  21. "Defendant wanted to leave town, her neighbor testifies". Tulsa World. April 23, 1999. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021.
  22. PARRISH, ASHLEY (July 8, 1999). "Abused woman gets life sentence". Tulsa World. Archived from the original on November 17, 2021.
  23. "Woman Gets Life Sentence". The Oklahoman. April 27, 1999.
  24. "DA's Race Among Most Monied". Tulsa World. June 21, 2006.
  25. "FAMILY & PERSONAL".
  26. "Former Tulsa County D.A. Tim Harris Declares For U.S. Congress District 1". News on 6. April 24, 2017.
  27. Ballotopia. "Tim Harris (Oklahoma)". Archived from the original on March 24, 2022.
  28. SHAPARD, BILL (July 31, 2018). "Former Tulsa DA Tim Harris leads businessman Kevin Hern in first congressional district GOP run-off".
  29. Miller, Ken (June 27, 2018). "Harris, Hern in runoff for NASA chief's ex-House seat". Norman Transcript. Archived from the original on March 24, 2022.
  30. Rosenberg, Eli (July 16, 2019). "Two brothers were wrongly convicted of separate murders. Now they are reunited as free men". Washington Post.
  31. "Tulsa man sues state after wrongful murder conviction resulting in imprisonment for 28 years". Tulsa World. September 24, 2020. Archived from the original on October 24, 2020.
  32. "A 'fundamental miscarriage of justice': Man set free after 28 years in prison for crime he didn't commit now adjusts to life outside". Tulsa World. June 2019. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021.
  33. CHRISTIAN, TANYA A. (December 6, 2020). "Two Tulsa Brothers Speak Out After Being Wrongfully Convicted Of Separate Crimes". Essence.
  34. "Malcolm Scott, wrongfully convicted of murder, hopes to see shift in wake of George Floyd protests". NBC News.
  35. "'I can't hold no grudge. Life's too short:' Corey Atchison found actually innocent after 1991 murder conviction". Tulsa World. June 17, 2019. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021.
  36. "Dateline NBC episode on Friday features two Tulsa brothers wrongfully convicted for murders". Tulsa World. June 19, 2019. Archived from the original on December 31, 2021.
  37. "DATELINE NBC TO AIR FRIDAY SPECIAL ON DECADES-LONG FIGHT BY TWO BROTHERS TO OVERTURN THEIR WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS IN TULSA, OKLAHOMA". June 17, 2020.
  38. "Two brothers fight to prove their innocence on tonight's 'Dateline NBC: The Long Road to Freedom'". KARD. June 19, 2020.
  39. "Judge: DA Tim Harris not in contempt for actions in Michelle Murphy". Tulsa World. February 18, 2019.
  40. "Oklahoma Woman Who Wrongly Served 20 Years for the Murder of Her Infant Son Exonerated Based on DNA and Other Previously Undisclosed Evidence". Innocence Project.
  41. Aspinwall, Cary and Ziva Branstetter (October 12, 2014). "Shadow of Doubt: The Conviction and Exoneration of Michelle Murphy part 1 of 2". Tulsa World.
  42. "DA gets judge to seal murder file". Tulsa World.
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