May 09 2008
Texas Exonerees Urge Reforms at Texas Senate
Yesterday, nine men who were wrongfully convicted of crimes in Texas urged Texas lawmakers to consider reforms which could help to prevent future wrongful convictions. The men gathered on the Senate Floor in Austin during a roundtable event organized by Senator Rodney Ellis. The event was widely attended by lawyers, law enforcement, judges, and legislators. The associated press reports:
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said he will sponsor a bill during next year’s legislative session that would mandate police departments use specific procedures when presenting live lineups or photo arrays to eyewitnesses.
Among the more intriguing reforms mentioned was a crime lab oversight group. Judge Barbara Hervey of the Court of Criminal Appeals said Texas would be the first state in the nation to enact such a plan.
Along the same lines was the idea of regional crime and DNA labs operated independently of police departments, a topic broached by Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt.
Reforms in Dallas County also drew praise. Under District Attorney Craig Watkins, Dallas has begun a program in which law students, supervised by the Innocence Project of Texas, are reviewing hundreds of requests by inmates for post-conviction DNA testing.
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