London Lass
06-11-2008, 04:54 AM
Texas high court creates a judicial integrity unit
The mandate is to identify problems behind state's sorry record of wrongful convictions Last month, 9 men stood on the floor of the Texas Senate and described how they spent years behind bars even though they were innocent. All were wrongfully convicted. "I'm here to tell you I lost everything. I am still hurting. I am still broken," said James Giles, who spent 10 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit. "We can do better in the justice system. The system failed us."
The system also failed James Waller. He was identified by a rape victim by his eyes and the sound of his voice. The victim described her rapist as 5-foot-8; Waller is 6-foot-4. He also spent 10 years behind bars. Waller spoke of his wife, eight months pregnant, who was killed in a car accident on the way to one of his hearings. "I'm 52 years old and I have no kids," he said. "Texas took that away from me."
If the Giles and Waller cases were just rare mistakes, there would still be cause to be concerned about the state's criminal justice system. But, sadly and tragically, these mistakes are not rare. Since 1994, 33 men have been exonerated in Texas after DNA testing. They had served, collectively, 427 years in prison.
Think about that -- 427 years lost because of miscarriages of justice. The state can't restore those lost years and those ruined lives. What it can do is to try to insure that whatever is wrong with the criminal justice system be fixed so that there will be no more morally repugnant and criminally negligent wrongful convictions. Some progress is being made.
Last week, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said it was creating a Criminal Justice Integrity Unit to study the criminal justice system and make recommendations. "This is a call to action to address the growing concerns with our criminal justice system," said Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Barbara Hervey. "Although we applaud all previous studies and dialogue, it is now time to act and move for reform."
We applaud the court's action, though the court itself has often been a parody of justice. In one infamous case, that of Roy Wayne Criner, the court refused to overturn his rape conviction even though DNA evidence showed it was not his semen in the woman's body. He was pardoned by former Gov. Bush "for actual innocence." More recently, Sharon Keller, chief justice of the Court of Criminal Appeals, refused to keep the court open for a half hour after the 5 p.m. closing time so Michael Richard's attorneys could file an appeal. Richard was executed even though the U.S. Supreme Court had put executions on hold until it could review the constitutionality of lethal injections.
So Texas' highest court for criminal matters has not been overly concerned about the rights of the accused. That makes it all the more striking that this court is taking the lead on the issue of whether the state's criminal justice system is badly out of whack. The creation of the integrity unit follows a call by state leaders to create a statewide innocence commission. The creation of the integrity unit does not take away the need for a statewide innocence commission. There is enough work here for both.
We anticipate that the integrity panel, when it gets to work, will find a combination of problems ranging from sloppy police work, criminally negligent lab work, overzealous if not unethical prosecution, and often inadequate court-appointed legal counsel.
That 33 men were wrongfully convicted and spent 427 years in prison is a terrible indictment of Texas' criminal justice system, a system more concerned about getting an arrest and a conviction than getting the right man. More frightening is the possibility that this may be the tip of a very large iceberg. Many of these 33 cases only came to light because of the outstanding work of Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins. If other district attorneys in Texas were as diligent about reviewing old convictions, how many other miscarriages of justice might be revealed?
It's encouraging that Watkins is one of the members of the Court of Criminal Appeals' integrity unit, along with state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, long a crusader in the Legislature on this issue. Their appearance on the panel gives it substance and a good measure of integrity of its own.
(source: Editorial, Corpus-Christi Caller-Times)
http://people.smu.edu/rhalperi/updates.html
The mandate is to identify problems behind state's sorry record of wrongful convictions Last month, 9 men stood on the floor of the Texas Senate and described how they spent years behind bars even though they were innocent. All were wrongfully convicted. "I'm here to tell you I lost everything. I am still hurting. I am still broken," said James Giles, who spent 10 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit. "We can do better in the justice system. The system failed us."
The system also failed James Waller. He was identified by a rape victim by his eyes and the sound of his voice. The victim described her rapist as 5-foot-8; Waller is 6-foot-4. He also spent 10 years behind bars. Waller spoke of his wife, eight months pregnant, who was killed in a car accident on the way to one of his hearings. "I'm 52 years old and I have no kids," he said. "Texas took that away from me."
If the Giles and Waller cases were just rare mistakes, there would still be cause to be concerned about the state's criminal justice system. But, sadly and tragically, these mistakes are not rare. Since 1994, 33 men have been exonerated in Texas after DNA testing. They had served, collectively, 427 years in prison.
Think about that -- 427 years lost because of miscarriages of justice. The state can't restore those lost years and those ruined lives. What it can do is to try to insure that whatever is wrong with the criminal justice system be fixed so that there will be no more morally repugnant and criminally negligent wrongful convictions. Some progress is being made.
Last week, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said it was creating a Criminal Justice Integrity Unit to study the criminal justice system and make recommendations. "This is a call to action to address the growing concerns with our criminal justice system," said Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Barbara Hervey. "Although we applaud all previous studies and dialogue, it is now time to act and move for reform."
We applaud the court's action, though the court itself has often been a parody of justice. In one infamous case, that of Roy Wayne Criner, the court refused to overturn his rape conviction even though DNA evidence showed it was not his semen in the woman's body. He was pardoned by former Gov. Bush "for actual innocence." More recently, Sharon Keller, chief justice of the Court of Criminal Appeals, refused to keep the court open for a half hour after the 5 p.m. closing time so Michael Richard's attorneys could file an appeal. Richard was executed even though the U.S. Supreme Court had put executions on hold until it could review the constitutionality of lethal injections.
So Texas' highest court for criminal matters has not been overly concerned about the rights of the accused. That makes it all the more striking that this court is taking the lead on the issue of whether the state's criminal justice system is badly out of whack. The creation of the integrity unit follows a call by state leaders to create a statewide innocence commission. The creation of the integrity unit does not take away the need for a statewide innocence commission. There is enough work here for both.
We anticipate that the integrity panel, when it gets to work, will find a combination of problems ranging from sloppy police work, criminally negligent lab work, overzealous if not unethical prosecution, and often inadequate court-appointed legal counsel.
That 33 men were wrongfully convicted and spent 427 years in prison is a terrible indictment of Texas' criminal justice system, a system more concerned about getting an arrest and a conviction than getting the right man. More frightening is the possibility that this may be the tip of a very large iceberg. Many of these 33 cases only came to light because of the outstanding work of Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins. If other district attorneys in Texas were as diligent about reviewing old convictions, how many other miscarriages of justice might be revealed?
It's encouraging that Watkins is one of the members of the Court of Criminal Appeals' integrity unit, along with state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, long a crusader in the Legislature on this issue. Their appearance on the panel gives it substance and a good measure of integrity of its own.
(source: Editorial, Corpus-Christi Caller-Times)
http://people.smu.edu/rhalperi/updates.html