Texan who was wrongly jailed getting $80K a year from state
Perry signs bill to compensate Graves
ROBERT STANTON
, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Published 05:30 a.m., Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Houston and Texas
Gov. Rick Perry has signed a bill authorizing $1.4 million in compensation for Anthony Graves, who was incarcerated for 18 years for murders he didn't commit.
Perry signed the bill on Friday, according to the Texas Legislature's online bill-tracking website. The legislation, allowing Graves to collect $80,000 for each year he was wrongfully imprisoned, passed the House and Senate in May.
Texas Comptroller Susan Combs in February denied Graves the compensation because the document ordering his release did not contain the words "actual innocence."
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2006 overturned Graves' 1994 conviction and ordered a new trial in the deaths of a grandmother and five children in Somerville, ruling that the prosecution hid evidence from the defense and elicited false statements.
Prosecutors dismissed charges against Graves in October, saying they were convinced of his innocence.
Graves and his lawyers say they will continue their lawsuit seeking a declaration of innocence from the state attorney general. The attorney general's office says it lacks the authority to make such a declaration.
