Innocence Blog
May 25, 2007
Dallas hires new prosecutor to oversee DNA cases
Michael Ware, the director of the Innocence Project of Texas, will become the new Dallas County special assistant prosecutor for overseeing DNA evidence and ensuring that previous county convictions are reviewed for the possibility of DNA testing. Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins announced Ware’s appointment today.
Ware, a professor at Texas Wesleyan University Law School, will lead a new department created last month to ensure the intergrity of past convictions and ensure that the county’s DNA cases are properly handled in the future. Watkins requested funds to create the new department after several recent DNA exonerations in Dallas County. Thirteen people have been proven innocent in Dallas due to DNA evidence, more than any other county in America.
Mr. Ware's "expertise and professional experience are certain to be an asset to our justice system as we focus resources toward making sure we convict people who are indeed guilty of crimes," Mr. Watkins said in a prepared statement. "Equally important is the assurance that innocent people are not wrongfully imprisoned, and having Mr. Ware on board will help us in these critical areas."Read about the 13 people whose convictions were overturned by DNA testing in Dallas County.
Read the full story here. (Dallas Morning News, 5/25/07)
Georgia man to be compensated for 24 years of wrongful incarceration
Robert Clark was exonerated in 2005 after serving more than half of his life in prison for a 1981 rape he didn’t commit. Yesterday, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue signed a bill into law that grants Clark $1.2 million in compensation for the injustice he suffered. The bill was approved by Georgia lawmakers on March 19.
"I think his reaction is going to be a gigantic smile," said Aimee Maxwell of the Georgia Innocence Project, which helped clear Clark. "And I think he will be relieved that the process has reached its successful conclusion."
Read the full story here. (Atlanta Journal Constitution, 5/24/07)
Associated Press: Perdue signs bills, compensates man freed through DNA
Georgia does not have a general state law for compensating the wrongly convicted and this bill only applies to Clark. Perdue has said that the state should create standards for compensation of all wrongly convicted people.
- Read more about Clark's case.
- Read more about efforts to pass state compensation laws.
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