Signs The Court Of Criminal Appeals Fears The Upcoming Election: An Integrity Unit

Although anything to bring some brand of “integrity” to death penalty cases in Texas is a good thing, you have to wonder about the timing of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals’ decision to create a new “integrity unit” to examine and problems in the criminal justice system:

The study group was announced by Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Barbara Hervey, whose court handles death penalty appeals and other criminal cases.

Hervey will be a member of the Texas Criminal Justice Integrity Unit and said its creation is “a call to action” for reform. Since 2001, 33 Texas inmates have been exonerated using DNA testing, including 17 in Dallas County.

While the commission will look at a number of issues, it will be ignoring the elephant stammering around the room like a drunk at a key party:

One issue not listed was use of the death penalty. Of the 42 executions in the United States last year, Texas accounted for 26. Texas has executed 405 inmates since the death penalty was reinstituted in 1982.

Hervey said the integrity unit is not a suggestion that she and the other judges on the court believe an innocent person may have been executed in the past.

While some appeals from death row cases may involve the same issues, “I don’t want to treat death row claims about innocence any different that somebody else’s claims,” Hervey said.

That’s just dumb. While it is nice to say “all innocence claims should be treated equally,” the fact is that death penalty cases and innocence claims take a bit more priority because, presumably, a date with the needle awaits someone on the end of a conviction.

Naturally (and rightfully so), criminal justice advocates pissed all over the Court’s new announcement:

Jeff Blackburn, the chief counsel for the Innocence Project of Texas, said the panel is tackling issues that have already been clearly identified as problems. The courts must consider overhauling how the courts deal with appeals filed by inmates who claim innocence but may not have DNA evidence to support them, Blackburn said, estimating there may be thousands.

James Woodard, a Dallas man who spent 27 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit, had been labeled an abuser of the appeals system for his repeated attempts to get someone in the system to pay attention to his case before it finally landed with the Innocence Project.

Woodard was sentenced to life in prison in 1981 and won his release earlier this year.

“Everybody knows you can go to prison being innocent,” Woodard said. “It sounds to me like (the court) is trying to do a little damage control.”

Bingo. It takes a man who spent nearly three decades on death row to get it right: damage control. Why damage control and why now? Two words: Susan Strawn.

If Strawn, a highly qualified candidate, runs even half of a legitimate campaign, the CCA is going to be beaten, battered, and bruised like never before.

Bookmark It