After spending 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Arthur Mumphrey received a full pardon from Texas Governor Rick Perry. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had unanimously recommended that Perry pardon Mumphrey based on DNA test results that showed he was not responsible for assaulting a 13-year-old girl in 1986, a crime for which Mumphrey was sentenced to serve 35 years in prison. “My action today cannot give back the time he spent in prison, but it does end this miscarriage of justice,” Perry said. Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Marc Brumberger, who filed for the pardon request, added, “I’m glad to hear it (the pardon) was signed so quickly. It’s a very nice thing to be involved in, despite the fact that our job is to try to keep people in jail. This is one of my most rewarding cases.” Mumphrey said, “I feel great.… [I]t’s a great relief to have it all behind me.” Mumphrey was released on January 17 after the DNA results were revealed, but the pardon was granted on March 17. A co-defendant had testified against Mumphrey in exchange for a lesser sentence.
(Houston Chronicle, March 18, 2006). See Innocence.
