Senator Ellis' Innocence Commission backed by Dewhurst
10/04/2007
Dewhurst backs panel to study wrongful convictions
By MAX B. BAKER
Star-Telegram staff writer
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said he supports creating a state innocence commission to study wrongful convictions and possible reforms to the criminal justice system.
In a meeting Tuesday with the Star-Telegram's Editorial Board, Dewhurst said that he will ask the Senate to conduct an interim study during the Legislature's hiatus to determine the commission's charge. He did not offer detailed ideas about how much authority the commission should have on issues such as how law enforcement agencies use DNA technology and preserve evidence.
Dewhurst's support of an innocence commission follows 14 DNA exonerations of prison inmates from Dallas County, which has reversed more convictions because of DNA evidence than any other U.S. county.
"We only want the truly guilty to be subject to punishment in Texas. None of us want an innocent person convicted," Dewhurst said. "I've been supportive of this in the 2003 and 2007 sessions, and I'd like the Senate to coalesce on a position."
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, sponsored legislation this year to create an innocence commission. His bill passed the Senate but not the House.
Ellis said Wednesday that he was pleased to hear of Dewhurst's support for a commission but that he was "getting a little impatient." He noted that Gov. Rick Perry or Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson could form a commission without legislative approval, as could the state Court of Criminal Appeals.
"Any opportunity to review the criminal justice system in Texas is certainly well-warranted," Ellis said. But "if nobody else is willing to step up and show leadership on this issue, I may just do it for them."
Ellis said he may hold a series of public meetings on the issue. His bill proposed allowing the governor, lieutenant governor and House speaker to make appointments to the commission, which would have the power to investigate individual cases, identify defects in the system and suggest changes to the Legislature.
Dewhurst, who considers requests for stays of execution when Perry is out of the state, said he wants to make sure the system is working properly.
For example, he agreed with Perry's decision in August to commute Kenneth Eugene Foster's death sentence to life in prison. Perry encouraged the Legislature to re-examine the state law that allows an accomplice to be tried by the same judge and jury as the shooter.
Last month the Dallas County district attorney's office withdrew its request that Joseph Lave, who was convicted under the same law, get a lethal injection. Authorities discovered that crucial evidence was not turned over to Lave's defense attorneys.
And in Houston this week, DNA evidence prompted the Harris County district attorney's office to ask that a man convicted of sexual assault in 1995 be released from prison.
Dewhurst said he supports the death penalty but believes that it must be applied fairly and objectively. "I think we have to bend over backwards that we dot the i's and cross the t's," he said.
Jefferson, the chief justice, has spoken in favor of an innocence commission in two speeches to the Legislature.
Sen. John Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, which would probably conduct the study, said getting the commission approved would need the support of Jefferson and others.
"It seems like in this building we are talking about a smarter approach to fighting crime," said Whitmire, D-Houston. "You want to do it right, and it is only as good as it works and as people respect it.
"There is something to be said about scrubbing decisions and court actions. How do we prevent the next mistake?"
Staff writer Richard Stubbe contributed to this report.
