In a recent meet­ing with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial Board, Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst (pic­tured) urged leg­is­la­tors to re-exam­ine the state law that allows an accom­plice to be tried by the same judge and jury as the shoot­er in mur­der cas­es, adding that he agreed with Governor Rick Perry’s deci­sion to com­mute Kenneth Eugene Foster’s death sen­tence to life in prison based on sim­i­lar con­cerns. Dewhurst also called on leg­is­la­tors to estab­lish a state inno­cence com­mis­sion to study wrong­ful con­vic­tions and pos­si­ble reforms to the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem. ​“We only want the tru­ly guilty to be sub­ject to pun­ish­ment in Texas. None of us want an inno­cent per­son con­vict­ed. … I’d like the Senate to coa­lesce on a posi­tion,” Dewhurst said.

Dewhurst stat­ed that he will ask the Texas Senate to con­duct an inter­im study dur­ing the Legislature’s hia­tus to deter­mine the com­mis­sion’s charge. Dewhurst, who con­sid­ers requests for stays of exe­cu­tion when Gov. Perry is out of the state, did not offer specifics about the scope of review the com­mis­sion would have, but said he wants to estab­lish the com­mis­sion to ensure the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem is work­ing prop­er­ly. His con­cerns, in large part, stem from a series of 14 DNA exon­er­a­tions in Dallas County, which has reversed more con­vic­tions because of DNA evi­dence than any oth­er U.S. coun­ty. In addi­tion, just this week in Houston, where con­cerns about wrong­ful con­vic­tions and the han­dling of DNA evi­dence have gained sub­stan­tial atten­tion in recent years, DNA evi­dence has prompt­ed the Harris County dis­trict attor­ney’s office to ask that a man con­vict­ed of sex­u­al assault in 1995 be released from prison.

This year, Texas Senator Rodney Ellis intro­duced leg­is­la­tion to cre­ate an inno­cence com­mis­sion, but the bill failed to pass in the House after its approval by the Senate. He wel­comed Dewhurst’s back­ing of the mea­sure, but voiced frus­tra­tion that Gov. Perry, the Texas Supreme Court, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals had all failed to estab­lish the com­mis­sion with­out leg­isla­tive approval, a pow­er that each enti­ty holds. Even Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, who has spo­ken in favor of the com­mis­sion in two speech­es to the Legislature, has not estab­lished a com­mis­sion inde­pen­dent­ly. ​“Any oppor­tu­ni­ty to review the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem in Texas is cer­tain­ly well-war­rant­ed. (But) if nobody else is will­ing to step up and show lead­er­ship on this issue, I may just do it for them,” Ellis not­ed.

Senator John Whitmire, chair­man of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, said final approval of the com­mis­sion will require the vocal sup­port of Chief Justice Jefferson, Lt. Gov. Dewhurst, and oth­er lead­ers. He observed, ​“It seems like in this build­ing we are talk­ing about a smarter approach to fight­ing crime. 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?”

(Fort Worth Star-Telegram, October 4, 2007). 

See Innocence, Arbitrariness, and New Voices.

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