News Coverage of Yesterday's Summit

The AP dispatch, written by Jeff Carlton,"Wrongly convicted gather at Capitol to share stories," via the San Antonio Express-News.

One by one, nine wrongly convicted men stood up on the floor of the Texas Senate on Thursday to explain how innocent men ended up in prison and how to prevent it from happening again.

"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 did not commit. "We can do better in the justice system. The system failed all of us."

A week after a man who spent 27 years in prison became the 18th Dallas County man since 2001 to have his conviction tossed aside after DNA testing, state officials and men who lost years of their lives behind bars met in the Capitol to discuss what they said was Texas' "disturbing number of wrongful convictions."

The event was billed as the nation's first "Summit on Wrongful Convictions." It brought together lawyers, police chiefs, judges and lawmakers, who sought to identify systemic problems that could be addressed through changes in law.

Since 2001, DNA testing has cleared 33 Texans who spent a combined 427 years in prison, according to The Justice Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group. Eyewitness misidentification was a factor in 27 of those cases, easily the most common link.

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. Several of the men who were wrongly convicted talked about how an incorrect identification by an eyewitness was a key factor in their false convictions.

"Exonerated inmates urge criminal justice changes in Texas," is Max Baker's report in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

State Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the powerful Criminal Justice Committee, also attended, saying that he gets 300 letters a month from inmates seeking help and that many of them have a valid complaint.

The Houston Democrat said what "keeps him up at night" is that Harris County sends the most people to prison and to Death Row.

"Nothing is more important than clearing the wrongfully convicted," he said.

And:

Here are a few criminal-justice bills that have been introduced in the Legislature but did not pass:

Capital defender office -- Establish an office to handle all Death Row inmates' appeals.

Innocence Commission -- Create a nine-member commission to evaluate wrongful-conviction cases to try to determine what went wrong.

Eyewitness identification -- Establish guidelines for photo lineups, including not allowing the supervising case officer to attend.

Taping interrogations -- Require law enforcement agencies to record video or audio of interrogations.

Witness inducement -- Require law enforcement officials to report when witnesses have received payment or a reduced sentence in return for testimony.

Open files -- Require district attorneys to release certain evidence to the defendant within 30 days of indictment.

R.G. Ratcliffe has, "Nine who were wrongly convicted plead for reform," in the Houston Chronicle.  The San Antonio Express-News carries his report, as well; both are Hearst-owned papers.

Nine wrongfully convicted men who spent a collective 148 years in Texas prisons met with a select group of prosecutors, judges and police chiefs in the Senate chamber Thursday to urge the state to establish a commission to investigate claims of innocence.

"I'm crying out for mercy today for someone who may still be in prison," said James Curtis Giles, who served 10 years in prison for rape before DNA testing proved him innocent.

State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, has been leading the effort to have an "innocence commission" formed in Texas. Ellis told the gathering that he has asked Gov. Rick Perry and other state leaders to establish such a commission but has not heard back from them.

Perry's top criminal justice adviser, Mary Anne Wiley, said the governor shares Ellis' concerns on issues such as improving the legal defense for people on trial and separating control of crime laboratories from the control of police departments. But she said he does not want to create another layer of government in the criminal justice system.

News 8 Austin has, "Exonerees, lawmakers meet to address wrongful convictions.  Streaming video of the report is at the link.

Thursday marked James Woodard's ninth day of freedom after 27 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit.

The Dallas native was joined by eight other exonerated men who spoke with lawmakers and judges.

Carlos Lavernia, formerly labeled Austin's "Barton Creek Rapist," was another of the wrongly convicted. Twenty years into his 99-year sentence, a DNA test proved Lavernia's innocence.

"I feel great because now I can breathe the air, fresh air," Lavernia said.

My live blog of the Summit is here.  Earlier coverage is here.  Archived streaming video of the Summit should be posted soon at the Texas Senate website, here.  You must use Real Player, and can download a free version if you do not already have it on your computer.