Innocence Blog

April 11, 2007

Texas Senate committee approves reform bills

The Texas Senate Committee on Criminal Justice approved bills yesterday that would significantly improve the state’s justice system. The bills, introduced by Senator Rodney Ellis (the chairman of the Innocence Project Board of Directors), would create an innocence commission, improve eyewitness identification procedures and increase compensation for the wrongly convicted.

The committee heard testimony yesterday from four men (James Giles, Brandon Moon, Chris Ochoa and James Waller) who served decades in Texas prisons for crimes they didn’t commit. Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck also testified.

Watch video of yesterday's full press conference, featuring Scheck, Ellis, Giles, Moon, Ochoa and Waller. (Real player required, download it here.)

Watch video of yesterday's Senate Committee on Criminal Justice hearing.

The bills will now go before the full senate for approval. Read the full story on the committee’s vote. (El Paso Times, 4/11/07)

Dallas DA aims to restore credibility with a special prosecutor for DNA appeals

New Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins was in the courtroom Monday when evidence was presented to clear James Giles 24 years after he was wrongly convicted of a rape he didn’t commit. Watkins praised Giles yesterday for his perseverance. “If it wasn’t for him putting this fight on, I wouldn’t be here,” Watkins said Monday.

Watkins announced in February that his office would work with the Innocence Project of Texas to review more than 300 Dallas convictions for possible DNA testing. And on Tuesday he asked Dallas County commissioners to fund a special prosecutor position to review post-conviction DNA cases.

"We have an opportunity here in Dallas County to make a statement … an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past," Mr. Watkins told commissioners.

Read the full story here. (Dallas Morning News, 04/11/07)

Massachusetts exoneree awarded for his commitment to criminal justice reform

Dennis Maher served 19 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit. Since his exoneration in 2003, he has devoted himself to traveling the country to speak out in support of criminal justice reforms that will prevent future injustice.

He now works as a mechanic for Waste Management, a national company which recently awarded him its Erich Jenkins Life Changer Award for the work he has done.

Erich Jenkins was a former NFL player and vice president of a national fitness company who was killed when his vehicle was struck by a Waste Management truck in 2002. Jenkins believed in the power of one person to change a life and his mantra was adopted by Waste Management.

Working with the Innocence Project "makes me feel good, because I have an impact on other exonerateds' lives," Maher said. He added that the award was not something he was seeking, but that it feels good to be recognized.

Read the full story. (Gloucester Times (MA), 04/07/07)