TULSA, Okla. — In July 2024, William Henry Jamerson’s 1991 rape conviction was thrown out by a Tulsa judge after new DNA testing. He served 24 years in prison for a crime he says he did not commit.

The rape victim hugged Jamerson in 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 of 2 News stories that will continue to unfold. Meanwhile, 2 News has learned Jamerson was arrested Thursday and then abruptly released.

Jamerson said he was in downtown Tulsa looking for his mother’s boyfriend’s wheelchair, which she had left behind at the bus stop, when he saw three Tulsa police cars speed by as he headed toward his car.

“I set the alarm on my car and it was only right to take off when (he pulls the siren),” he explained. The police approach his car. “I looked and said, ‘What do you want me for?'” he said.

Jamerson was arrested for failure to register as a sex offender. He was sent to prison. However, he was released within hours and had no obligation to pay. Prison staff told him they had arrested the wrong defendant.

Tulsa police impounded his car. When Jamerson and his attorney, Dan Smolen, went to retrieve the car, two officers and a supervisor were with the towing company. Smolen filmed it on his cell phone and gave it to 2 News.

The officers are not ready to let the case go. Now, they’re giving him an improper parking citation, telling Jamerson at the time of his arrest that he was parked in a no-parking zone.

“So you guys came all the way, after breaking him out of jail, after arresting him on trumped-up charges, you now come here to cite him for something you didn’t cite him for earlier?” Smolen is heard saying in the cell phone video. “Just making sure I got it right.”

The jail’s website lists him as the “wrong defendant” for both improper parking and failure to register as a sex offender.

Tulsa Police released this statement:

Smolen finds it interesting that the hearing to remove Jamerson from the sex offender registry is scheduled for next Tuesday.

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence that every time there’s a break in the case, they’re on top of him with their foot on his neck,” he said.

Jamerson was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender in 2022. He was dismissed after it was discovered that he had properly registered, but the dismissal came the same week that Smolen provided DNA test results that ultimately would delete the name.

“Without question, the Tulsa Police Department has been harassing Henry Jamerson for decades,” Smolen said. “Anyone looking at this case would be disgusted by what they see and no one should be treated the way Henry Jamerson was treated.”

Jamerson says he struggled to find steady employment while listed as a violent sex offender. He said he just wanted it all over.

“I’m sick of it,” Jamerson said. “You (referring to TPD) keep pulling me for something I didn’t do, something you did, you all created this that I didn’t,” he said.

The Tulsa Police Department’s sex offender registry lists him as noncompliant. 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 on failure to comply is just another attempt to create probable cause after a knowingly false arrest,” he said.

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