Saturday, February 26, 2011

Govenor Goes to Bat for Exonerated Man

http://statesman.com/opinion/texas-govenor-goes-to-bat-for-exonerated-man-1263330.html

In an article by the Editorial Board, this story is directed to Texans in general. A man named Anthony Graves has been declared innocent by the District Attorney, Bill Parham, after 18 years in prison. The article brings to attention that Govenor Perry is trying to help this man receive the 1.4 million in state compensation that is entitled to him. The State Comptroller Susan Comb's, refuses to pay him because of a technicality. The person writing the article agrees with and supports Gov. Perry in his effort to compensate this man for what he is entitled. I agree, he has now joined the many wrongfully convicted people that have atleast been lucky enough to have there case reopened with modern day technology, techniques and have been found to be innocent. Now the State Comptroller doesn't want to pay him the money he should receive to attempt to make up somehow for the last 18 years of his life. He doesn't have a pardon letter because he wasn't pardoned he was found innocent. Shouldn't Perry be able to fix this technicality and write him a letter if that is what he needs, and he has already been found innocent. The man who was tried with him and already executed declared Graves' innocence and admitted that he wrongfully accused him. Still it took years even then before the case was reexamined to show that he was in fact innocent. The case was so twisted by the prosecutors to begin with to convict this man they could not even conduct a retrial. I don't want to speak anymore on this until I pay my respect to the people who lost their lives' so horrifically that day. This is one of the most terrible crimes enacted on the innocent I have ever heard of and may God bless them and keep them and their families. That being said I think that sometimes when such a horrible act is committed maybe the facts are tangled and truths pushed in ways so as to get a conviction onto someone and bring some amount of peace to the victim's families. It seems like this may have been the case in Graves' situation. Not to mention the other man, Carter, admitted to wrongfully naming Graves in this crime. I think he should receive the money to help him repair his life and enjoy it to he fullest. I mean 18 years is a long time to anyone, even more so when you're sitting behind bars and you know you are innocent.

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