Tim Harris
BONUS EPISODE: Panic Button: The April Wilkens Case
Background on Tulsa Police officer Laura Fadem, who testified against April Wilkens during trial:
April’s attorneys recently filed for Post Conviction Relief for April Wilkens. Link includes exhibits (our earlier post has these same documents with OCR, text searchable). Laura Fadem’s testimony appears to be called into question in these documents.
Laura Fadem, born in 1958, testified against April Wilkens in 1998. You can learn more about what she said during the trial in episode 7, “Ninja in the Night – Part 2” of Panic Button: The April Wilkens Case.
Laura Fadem lied under oath previously, before April’s trial, and should not have been allowed as a witness during April Wilkens’s trial. This is part of new evidence brought to light in the latest Post Conviction Relief filing from Sept. 30, 2022 (read a statement from April’s attorneys at this post).
From a Tulsa World, Sept. 5, 1990 article:
The suit also states that Mrs. Shallcross and the attorneys rehearsed Fadem on what she should say at the divorce trial about her assets. Then, she claims, the three “attempted to have (Fadem) prosecuted for the false testimony they induced her to give.”
Shallcross called that allegation a “cheap shot, and it’s not going to fly.”
Staples wanted to ensnare Fadem’s father into “wrongdoing for the purpose of extorting money from him,” court records state.
Staples was the key prosecution witness in Grossich’s federal trial for wiretapping the telephones of his wife and daughters. Grossich was convicted in March 1989 and served 90 days in a federal jail.
Fadem claims “Staples contacted and reached an accord with Clark O. Brewster. What the defendants failed to accomplish separately they now attempted to achieve in concert.”
This post may be updated as more information comes to light.
Happened last night: Channel 8 story by Brenna Rose about April Wilkens
A decades old Tulsa murder is back in the spotlight. Lawyers filed post conviction relief for April Wilkens, alleging evidence was suppressed in her trial. More on the story @KTULNEWS 10pm #Tulsa #Oklahoma pic.twitter.com/fgzY3tY9Hz
— Brenna Rose (@BrennaRoseTV) October 1, 2022
NEW: Post Conviction Relief filed on behalf of April Wilkens
A message from April Wilkens sent on 9/19/22
Monday morning
Hi there. Late last week, I received the latest podcast transcripts you sent along with the interim study info and TPR article. Thanks!
Read the transcripts. I had no idea that the audiotape recording of Terry was actually ruled inadmissible at my trial after the prosecution filed a motion to keep it out, and this was done when the court reporter was not there so there. I’ve thought all this time that my attorney failed to discover it from Claire Eagan and that Tim Harris likely had it bc (I gave it to police) but just withheld that evidence. I’m flabbergasted!
I’m also a word nerd…
Manipulating the Truth
“Manipulate, in my opinion, means to behave or act in a certain way so as to influence the outcome to benefit or achieve your – your agenda.” (nothing about “manipulate” involving wily or fraudulent means or motives)
“[Truth] can change based on your perception.”
“And so that could be HER truth.” – IPV Expert at approx. 18:42 of Episode 11: The True Experts (emphasis added)
“We’re going to speak MY truth on the stand.” – IPV Expert at approx. 30:04 of Episode 11: The True Experts (emphasis added)
From Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary:
TRUTH
2a(1): the state of being the case: fact
2a(3): often cap: a transcendental fundamental or spiritual reality
2b: a judgment, proposition, or idea that is true OR ACCEPTED AS TRUE (emphasis added)PERCEPTION
1a: result of perceiving: observationPERCEIVE:
1a: obtain awareness or understanding of
1b: to regard as being such
2: to become aware of through the senses, especially: see, observeMANIPULATE
1: To treat or operate with or as if with the hands or by mechanical means especially in a skillful manner
2a: To manage or utilize skillfully
2b: To control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one’s own advantageAGENDA
1: A list or outline of things to be considered or done
2: An underlying often ideological plan or programHave a great day! 🙂
Next Saturday: An immersive podcast experience for Panic Button: The April Wilkens Case at the Center for Public Secrets
Join us for an immersive podcast experience to celebrate the completion of Season One of Panic Button: The April Wilkens Case. The podcast tells the story of April Wilkens, a domestic violence survivor serving LIFE in an Oklahoma Prison, and two attorneys’ journey to expose the truth about her conviction so we can finally bring her home.For the first time in 25 years, the harrowing experience April Wilkens endured at the hands of her ex-fiance, Terry Carlton, and the heart-breaking crusade against her led by former Tulsa County DA Tim Harris that followed, are brought to the light. You’ll see the exhibits from April’s trial up close, and hear excerpts from the podcast that tackles the question of how a victim of domestic violence can become a criminal in the eyes of the law.Join hosts Leslie Briggs and Colleen McCarty, as well as licensed master social worker and Battered Womens’ Syndrome Expert, Molly Bryant, and others to learn about how Oklahoma’s justice system treats criminalized abuse survivors–and what you can do about it.
Learn how to RSVP here: https://fb.me/e/2ayoYPE3x
Free April Wilkens Blog 