Advisory Panel Looks at Cases of Wrongful Conviction in Texas
Being convicted of a crime in Texas is a high-risk endeavor. Texas leads the country in number of incarcerations, as well as executions. Unfortunately for Texas, it also leads the country in the number of wrongful convictions. Since the introduction of DNA evidence, there have been 41 exonerations in the state of Texas. Of the 41 people wrongfully convicted, 85 percent of them were put in jail on incorrect eyewitness identification.
According to Texas Sen. Rodney Ellis, Texas has “a serious problem in terms of eyewitness identifications.” He told KENS 5 News, “We ought to do everything we can to make sure another human being doesn’t have to go through what Anthony Robinson went through.”
Today, Anthony Robinson is a lawyer practicing international and immigration law. Still, he enters the Harris County Criminal Justice Center as infrequently as possible. That is because 23 years ago, Anthony Robinson was accused of rape, a crime he was convicted of, in spite of his innocence. As with so many convictions, this one was based on the victim, whom the prosecution called a dream witness. Jury deliberations took a single day, and Anthony Robinson spent nine years in prison. After being paroled, Robinson spent his own money to have DNA testing performed, testing which eventually led to his receiving a pardon. At the time of his trial, DNA testing was not allowed as evidence.
What is leading to Robinson, and others, being so easily misidentified? Many legal observers feel the problem stems from the age-old police lineup. Clete Snell, the Criminal Justice Department Chair at the University of Houston, agrees. “Failure to warn that a culprit might not be in the lineup resulted in 78 percent of eyewitnesses attempting an identification even though the culprit wasn’t actually in the lineup,” he told KENS 5 News.
Because of this, in March, Texas formed the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions. The panel, which will assist the Task Force on Indigent Defense, will prepare a report that will outline steps the state can take to safeguard against future wrongful convictions. Timothy Cole, like Anthony Robinson, was wrongfully convicted. Unlike Robinson, Cole died in prison, and it was only years later that DNA eventually exonerated him. Texas Governor Rick Perry gave Cole a posthumous pardon in March of 2010.
