Innocence Blog
April 10, 2007
Innocence Project leaders and exonerees testify before Texas Senate committee
The Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee held a hearing today on three bills to reform the state's justice system. Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck testified, along with four Texas exonerees: James Giles, Brandon Moon, Chris Ochoa and James Waller.
The bills discussed today were introduced by Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis (the chairman of the Innocence Project Board of Directors) and would create a Texas innocence commission, expand the state's compensation statute and require law enforcement agencies to record custodial interrogations.
Watch video of today's full press conference, featuring Scheck, Ellis, Giles, Moon, Ochoa and Waller. (Real player required, download it here.)
Watch video of today's Senate Committee on Criminal Justice hearing.
Read background on Senate bill 262 and 263 and 799.
News coverage of today's hearing and press conference:
Ex-inmates urge reforms to aid wrongly convicted. (Houston Chronicle, 04/10/07)
News coverage of Monday’s hearing clearing James Giles
Yesterday, James Giles appeared with his Innocence Project attorneys in a Dallas courtroom, where evidence was presented proving that another man with the same name committed the rape for which Giles served 10 years in prison and 14 years on parole. Below, read and watch media coverage of yesterday’s event.
Dallas Morning News: Judge backs man's exoneration in '82 rape case
Video interview with comments from Giles, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck and Dallas DA Craig Watkins
Video: CBS11 – Dallas-Fort Worth: Judge Says Dallas Man Should Be Exonerated Of Rape
Fort-Worth Star-Telegram: Nearing exoneration, but paying heavy price
Today, Giles is with Innocence Project attorneys and three other exonerees in Austin to testify before a Texas Senate committee about the need for criminal justice reforms statewide. For more on Giles’s case, read the Innocence Project press release.
PREVIOUS DATE