ADA, Okla. — After over three decades behind bars, Perry Lott is a free man.
In 1987, an Ada woman was raped in her home and identified Lott in a lineup. However, DNA evidence contradicted her identification.
Lott's release follows the recent exoneration of Glynn Simmons, the longest-serving exonerated man in U.S. History. A jury found Simmons guilty of a 1975 shooting at an Edmond liquor store despite the surviving victim not picking him out of a lineup.
These men are just two on a list of exonerees Tulsa attorney Joe Norwood has helped free.
"Perry was wrongfully ID'ed in a lineup. Glynn wasn't even ID'ed in a lineup. Someone else was and that was withheld," Norwood explained to 2 News Oklahoma.
The National Registry of Exoneration tracks these cases across the U.S. According to its database, 43 have been exonerated in Oklahoma since 1989. Those wrongfully convicted lost an average of nearly nine years of their lives.
While Oklahoma's exoneration statistics align with national figures, the Registry's Editor in Chief, Barbara O'Brien, warns these are only the known cases. "Exonerations are just a window into wrongful convictions," said O'Brien. "It could be that their system is better at catching them and correcting them."
O'Brien cites conviction integrity units as a key resource in the exoneration process. However, Norwood says the absence of these in Oklahoma is palpable.
"I'm not aware of any in Oklahoma," said Norwood. "There's an Oklahoma innocence project. There are private practice lawyers like myself. But there are no district attorneys who have conviction integrity units that I'm aware of."
When asked if he believes there are more innocent individuals incarcerated in Oklahoma, Norwood responded, "No doubt about it."
O'Brien echoes this sentiment on a national level. "The exonerations we see on the registry are really just the tip of the iceberg," she said. "We only know about the ones we can catch and ultimately remedy."
To donate to Perry Lott's GoFundMe, click here.
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