Texas man wrongly put away for 18 years denied compensation after legal glitch

[rsmith6621]

A courtroom technicality has cost a wrongly convicted Texas man the compensation that would otherwise be due him for the 18 years he'd served in Texas prison--14 of which he spent on Death Row.

Anthony Graves would have received $1.4 million in compensation if only the words "actual innocence" had been included in the judge's order that secured Graves's release from prison. The Comptroller's office decided the omission means Graves gets zero dollars, writes Harvey Rice at the Houston Chronicle, even though the prosecutor, judge, and defense all agreed at trial he is innocent.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110216/ts_yblog_thelookout/texas-man-wrongly-put-away-for-decades-denied-compensation-after-legal-glitch

[snappyturtle]

1. I am not surprised. nt

[gateley]

2. You know, there's the law, then there's JUSTICE. Justice is too often not served, sadly.

I hope this gets LOTS of coverage and something will be done. It's an injustice. It's wrong. :grr:

[Hosnon]

3. Goodness, this doesn't qualify as a scrivener's error? nt.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. UN. MOTHER. FUCKING. BELIEVABLE.