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Task Force on Indigent Defense

Task Force on Indigent Defense. Actual Innocence – Establishing Innocence or Guilt The Use of DNA March 8-10, 2010. Jim Bethke, Director, Task Force on Indigent Defense. http://www.courts.state.tx.us/tfid. HB 498 Established:.

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Task Force on Indigent Defense

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  1. Task Force on Indigent Defense Actual Innocence – Establishing Innocence or Guilt The Use of DNA March 8-10, 2010 Jim Bethke, Director, Task Force on Indigent Defense http://www.courts.state.tx.us/tfid

  2. HB 498 Established: Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions, a bi-partisan group charged with assisting the Task Force on Indigent Defense (Task Force) with preparing a report with recommendations for preventing wrongful convictions

  3. Membership • Mr. Barry Macha • President, Texas District and County Attorneys Association • Criminal District Attorney, Wichita Co. • The Honorable Barbara Hervey • Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals • Four law schools designated: • Dr. Sandra Thompson • University of Houston Law Center • Representative from the Office of the Governor • Mary Anne Wiley • Deputy General Counsel • James D. Bethke • Director, Task Force on Indigent Defense The Honorable John Whitmire Chair, Criminal Justice Committee, Texas Senate The Honorable Jeff Wentworth Chair, Jurisprudence Committee, Texas Senate The Honorable Jim McReynolds Chair, Corrections Committee, Texas House of Representatives The Honorable Pete Gallego Chair, Criminal Jurisprudence, Texas House of Representatives Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association: Kathryn M. Kase, Texas Defender Service

  4. Exonerations in Texas Billy Miller, 22 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2006 Eugene Henton, 1.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2006 Billy Smith, 19 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2006 Larry Fuller, 19.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2007 Andrew Gossett, 7 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2007 Greg Wallis, 17 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2007 James Waller, 10 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2007 James Giles, 10 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2007 Steven Phillips, 24 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2008 Ronald Taylor, 12 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2008 Charles Chatman, 26.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2008 Michael Blair, 13.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2008 Thomas McGowan, 23 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2008 Patrick Waller, 15.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2008 Ricardo Rachell, 5.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2009 Timothy Cole, 13 years incarcerated (passed away in prison), exonerated in 2009 Johnnie Lindsey, 27 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2009 James Woodard, 27 years incarcerated, formally pardoned in 2009 Jerry Lee Evans, 23 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2009 (pending) Ernest Sonnier , 23 years, was freed on Friday, August 7, 2009, pending the Court of Criminal Appeals review of the District Court’s recommendation to vacate his conviction. • Gilbert Alejandro, 3.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 1994 • Kevin Byrd, 12 years incarcerated, exonerated in 1997 • Ben Salazar, 5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 1997 • A.B. Butler, 16 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2000 • Roy Criner, 10 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2000 • Carlos Lavernia, 15 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2000 • Anthony Robinson, 10 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2000 • David Pope, 15 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2001 • Calvin Washington, 13 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2001 • Mark Webb, 10 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2001 • Richard Danzinger, 11 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2002 • Chris Ochoa, 11.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2002 • Victor Thomas, 15 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2002 • Wiley Fountain, 16 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2003 • Donald Good, 13.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2004 • Josiah Sutton, 4.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2004 • Entre Karage, 6.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2005 • Brandon Moon, 17 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2005 • Keith Turner, 4 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2005 • George Rodriguez, 17 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2005 • Arthur Mumphrey, 17.5 years incarcerated, exonerated in 2006

  5. Source: The Justice Project • Texas has more wrongful convictions exposed by DNA than any other state in the country • Collectively, 39 men (not taking into account the two most recent exonerations) have spent more than 548 years in prison with an average of fourteen years • Over $17 million dollars have been paid by state and local governments in civil settlements and statutory compensation to those wrongfully convicted • Twelve counties in Texas have uncovered wrongful convictions through DNA evidence • Dallas County leads the state in the number of wrongful convictions, a direct result of preserving DNA evidence while other counties destroyed it • Nine people have been released from Texas’ death row based on evidence of their innocence

  6. Six of the 39 people (not taking into account the two most recent) exonerated from Texas’ death rowphoto credit: The Justice Project

  7. DNA Exonerations by Year • The Justice Project: http://www.thejusticeproject.org/convicting-the-innocent/

  8. The 39 DNA cases analyzed by The Justice Project clearly indicate that eyewitness misidentification is by far the leading factor in wrongful convictions in Texas.

  9. "Any wrongful conviction is a tragedy because it leaves the guilty unpunished and condemns the innocent to prison, or death." -- Wallace B. Jefferson, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court

  10. Eyewitness Identification, Informants, and Recording Interrogations • Examine existing state law • Review existing literature • Compile best practices • Examine reforms adopted in Texas jurisdictions and other states • Recommend best policy for Texas Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions   A Purpose-Driven Plan • Feasibility of an Innocence Commission • Examine previously filed legislation • Examine reforms adopted in states • Identify advantages and disadvantages • Recommend best policy for Texas • PurposePrepare a report on the causes of wrongful conviction, the policies that could be implemented to prevent wrongful convictions, the effects of state law on wrongful convictions, and whether to recommend the creation of an innocence commission. • Post-Conviction DNA and Writs of Habeas Corpus Based on Scientific Evidence • Examine existing state law • Review existing literature • Compile best practices • Examine reforms adopted in Texas jurisdictions and other states • Recommend best policy for Texas • Providing a Quality Defense • Examine existing state law • Review existing literature • Compile best practices • Examine reforms adopted in Texas jurisdictions and other states • Recommend best policy for Texas

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