The dis­ci­pli­nary board of the Texas State Bar reject­ed an appeal on February 9 from Charles Sebesta, the pros­e­cu­tor whose mis­con­duct led to the wrong­ful con­vic­tion of Anthony Graves (pic­tured, r.). The board­’s deci­sion dis­bar­ring Sebesta for what it called ​“egre­gious” mis­con­duct is now final. Anthony Graves was con­vict­ed in 1994 on the false tes­ti­mo­ny of Robert Carter, who claimed Graves was his accom­plice. Graves was exon­er­at­ed in 2010 and filed a com­plaint against Sebesta in 2014. Sebesta was dis­barred for elic­it­ing Carter’s false state­ments and with­hold­ing excul­pa­to­ry evi­dence from Graves’ defense. The dis­ci­pli­nary board made an ini­tial rul­ing to revoke Sebesta’s law license in 2015, but he appealed the rul­ing on tech­ni­cal grounds. Graves laud­ed the board­’s deci­sion, say­ing, ​“The bar stepped in to say that’s not the way our crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem should work. This is a good day for justice.”

(B. Grissom, ​“State Bar board affirms dis­bar­ment of pros­e­cu­tor who sent inno­cent man to death row,” Dallas Morning News, February 8, 2016.) See Prosecutorial Misconduct.

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