Innocence Blog

Dallas District Attorney's office will add special DNA review team

Posted: April 24, 2007

New Dallas DA Craig Watkins won approval today from county commissioners for a special new group in his office that will be devoted to reviewing cases involving DNA evidence. One of the team's tasks will be to review nearly 400 convictions in which defendants claim innocence and have been denied DNA testing. The Innocence Project of Texas will be working with Watkins' office on this project. In several other jurisdictions nationwide in recent years, District Attorneys or state law enforcement leaders have created institutional structures to review a similar number of convictions to determine whether innocent people are in prison.

“What we’re doing in Dallas County is going to send a message to everybody,” Mr. Watkins said after the vote. “It’s a good day in Dallas County.”

Read the full story. (Dallas Morning News, 4/24/07)