Text of Resolution Passed by Texas House on "Day of Innocence" to Honor Death Row Exonerees

82R12583 MMS-D
	By: Dutton	H.R. No. 829

	R E S O L U T I O N
	WHEREAS, Six former death row inmates who have been
	exonerated of the crime for which they were convicted are visiting
	the State Capitol on March 16, 2011, the Day of Innocence, in
	support of a moratorium on executions and other related measures;
	and
	WHEREAS, These men are among the 138 individuals who have
	been released from death row since 1973, either because their
	convictions were overturned and they then won acquittal at retrial
	or had the charges against them dropped, or because they were given
	an absolute pardon by the governor based on new evidence of their
	innocence; their lives forever changed by their wrongful
	conviction, these six individuals are now working to reform the
	criminal justice system; and
	WHEREAS, Convicted of murder in Texas in 1981, Clarence
	Brandley was just weeks away from his scheduled execution when
	evidence of coerced testimony and blatant racism in his first two
	trials prompted the FBI to intervene; three years later, the
	charges against him were dismissed; Mr. Brandley subsequently
	married, apprenticed as an electrician, and became a Baptist
	minister; his life became the subject of a book, White Lies, and a
	cable TV movie, Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story; and
	WHEREAS, Sentenced to death in Louisiana in 1987, Albert
	Burrell was 17 days away from execution in 1996 when his attorneys
	won a stay; the attorney general's office dismissed the charges
	against him in 2000, citing "a total lack of credible evidence," and
	later DNA analysis reinforced that assessment; Albert Burrell
	currently lives and works in Center; and
	WHEREAS, Gary Drinkard was convicted in Alabama in 1995; in
	2000, the state supreme court ordered a retrial on the basis of
	prosecutorial misconduct, and the following year a second jury
	found him innocent; Mr. Drinkard's case was subsequently presented
	to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to illustrate the critical
	need that those facing the death penalty have for competent legal
	representation; and
	WHEREAS, Framed for murder, Shujaa Graham was sentenced in
	California in 1976; the state supreme court overturned his
	conviction because the district attorney had systematically
	excluded African American jurors in his first trial; Mr. Graham was
	ultimately acquitted in 1981, and since then he has played a leading
	role in the anti-death penalty and human rights movements; and
	WHEREAS, Ron Keine was sentenced to death in New Mexico in
	1974 after a witness, under intense pressure from prosecutors,
	fabricated a story about his guilt; the following year, the real
	killer turned himself in, and a new trial for Mr. Keine and his
	codefendants was eventually ordered; before the trial could be
	held, though, a judge threw out the murder indictment on the grounds
	that ballistic tests conclusively linked the confessed killer to
	the murder weapon; freed in 1976, Mr. Keine now owns a business in
	Michigan and is a leader in the campaign to abolish the death
	penalty; and
	WHEREAS, Anthony Graves of Brenham was arrested in 1992 and
	convicted in Texas in 1994, primarily on the testimony of one
	witness who later recanted his story; the Fifth Circuit Court of
	Appeals ultimately overturned Mr. Graves's conviction in 2006, and
	he was then sent to the Burleson County jail to await his new trial,
	which would be four years in coming; during that time, he was kept
	in solitary confinement; finally, in 2010, 18 years after Mr.
	Graves was first imprisoned, a special prosecutor determined that
	no case against him had ever existed, and the charges against him
	were dropped; and
	WHEREAS, There is no way to restore to these men the years
	they have lost, or to compensate them for the mental and emotional
	anguish they have suffered; notwithstanding the immeasurable pain
	they have endured, however, they have found the resilience to take a
	terrible ordeal and channel their response into constructive
	endeavor; their strength and purposefulness are a testament to
	their remarkable spirit and a continuing inspiration to countless
	fellow citizens; now, therefore, be it
	RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 82nd Texas
	Legislature hereby honor Clarence Brandley, Albert Burrell, Gary
	Drinkard, Shujaa Graham, Ron Keine, and Anthony Graves for their
	tenacity in the pursuit of justice and for their significant
	contributions to the debate over an issue of paramount public
	concern; and, be it further
	RESOLVED, That official copies of this resolution be prepared
	for these gentlemen as an expression of high regard by the Texas
	House of Representatives.

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