Texas Summit on Wrongful Convictions
On May 8, 2008, State Senator Rodney Ellis (D-Houston) held a summit in Austin to find legal responses to the systemic problems in the Texas criminal justice system, which have led to high numbers of exonerations.
This includes the recent DNA exonerations of Thomas McGowan and James Lee Woodard, both exonerated in the two weeks prior to the summit. Woodard spent 27 years in jail, making him the longest imprisoned exoneree cleared by DNA evidence in the country.
Among the issues emphasized at the conference was the fact that DNA evidence is only available in a small number of cases. Therefore, efforts to promote innocence must go beyond just post-conviction DNA testing in the state. Other issues discussed were problems of faulty eyewitness identification, Brady violations by prosecutors, and bad lawyering in the state of Texas.
Ellis pledged to sponsor a bill in the next legislative session that would mandate a series of best practices that police departments would be required to follow with regard to eyewitness identification. Mistaken eyewitness identification is a major problem in the state of Texas, leading to 82% of all wrongful convictions in the state.
Further coverage of the Summit on Wrongful Convictions:
Wrongly Convicted Gather at Texas Capitol to Share Stories (AP, 05/08/08)
Exonerated Inmates Urge Criminal Justice Changes in Texas (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 05/09/08)
Innocence Summit Drew Officials, Opinion Leaders from around the State (Grits for Breakfast, 05/08/08)
More from the Texas Innocence Summit (Grits for Breakfast, 05/09/08)
