On June 12, the State Bar of Texas dis­barred Burleson County District Attorney Charles Sebesta, the pros­e­cu­tor whose mis­con­duct led to the wrong­ful con­vic­tion of death row exoneree Anthony Graves (pic­tured, r.). The bar found that Sebesta vio­lat­ed no few­er than five of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct, includ­ing mak­ing a false state­ment to a court, using evi­dence known to be false, and fail­ing to dis­close excul­pa­to­ry evi­dence to the defense. In 2006, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit over­turned Graves’ con­vic­tion, find­ing that pros­e­cu­tors elicit­ed false state­ments and failed to pro­vide key evi­dence to Graves’ attor­neys. Graves was exon­er­at­ed in 2010, when a spe­cial pros­e­cu­tor re-exam­ined the case, found no cred­i­ble evi­dence against Graves, and dropped the charges against him. Assisted by pro bono attor­neys Neal Manne, Charles Eskridge, and Kathryn Kase, Graves filed a griev­ance against Sebesta in 2014 because, accord­ing to his attor­neys, ​“even after Mr. Graves’ exon­er­a­tion, Mr. Sebesta con­tin­ued to claim he had done noth­ing wrong in pros­e­cut­ing Mr. Graves. Grotesquely, Mr. Sebesta con­tin­ued to tor­ment Mr. Graves and his fam­i­ly by insist­ing both in pub­lic state­ments and on a web site he main­tained that Mr. Graves real­ly was a mur­der­er and was guilty of the crimes.” Graves said, ​“No one who makes it a goal to send a man to death row with­out evi­dence — and worse, while hid­ing evi­dence of my inno­cence — deserves to be a lawyer in Texas.”

(P. Colloff, ​“Ex-DA Who Sent Exoneree Anthony Graves to Death Row Is Disbarred,” Texas Monthly, June 12, 2015; ​“Statement of Counsel for Anthony Graves Regarding the State Bar’s Ruling that Charles Sebesta Should be Disbarred for Violating Ethical Rules,” Press Release, June 12, 2015; ​“Statement of Anthony Graves Regarding the State Bar’s Ruling that Charles Sebesta Should be Disbarred for Violating Ethical Rules,” Press Release, June 12, 2015.)

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