Guilt, innocence, and the death penalty: Why do mistakes happen?
Where: Atrium, 10th Floor :: LBJ Library and Museum :: 2313 Red River Street
Contact: Sarah McCracken [sarah@lbjfoundation.org...]
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
6:00 p.m. Arrival
6:30 p.m. Program start
Reception to follow.
10th floor Atrium
LBJ Library & Museum
In 1992 Anthony Graves was convicted of a brutal multiple murder and sent to Texas' death row. Eighteen years later, after the only witness against him recanted--and after it became apparent that Graves himself was the victim of a single-minded prosecutor--he was freed and exonerated. How did this happen? How can we prevent it from happening again? And what have we learned from Graves' ordeal? A panel discussion with the key figures in the case.
Anthony Graves was wrongly convicted of the 1992 murder of six people in Somerville, Texas. He was incarcerated for 18 years, 12 of them on death row. When his conviction was overturned by a federal court in 2006, he was transferred to the Burleson County jail, where he spent four more years awaiting retrial. In 2010, he was fully exonerated and freed.
Nicole Cásarez is an attorney and professor of journalism at the University of St. Thomas in Houston. Cásarez and her students conducted a meticulous investigation into Graves’s case beginning in 2002, ultimately concluding that he was innocent. Cásarez co-wrote the appellate brief that caused a federalcourt to overturn Graves’s conviction in 2006, and was instrumental in gathering key information that led to his exoneration.
Kelly Siegler is widely regarded as one of the most skilled prosecutors in thenation. During her 21 years at the Harris County D.A.’s office, she tried over 200 jury trials, including 20 capital murder cases. In 2010, she was brought in as special prosecutor for Graves’s retrial. While re-examining the case in preparation for trial, she became convinced of Graves’s innocence and succeeded in securing him a full exoneration.
Pamela Colloff has been a staff writer at TEXAS MONTHLY since 1997. Her work has also appeared in The New Yorker and three editions of Best American CrimeReporting. In 2010, she wrote “Innocence Lost,” a lengthy examination of Graves’s case that raised troubling questions about his conviction and garnered national attention. One month after its publication, the Burleson County D.A.’s office dropped all charges against Graves.
Michael Hall (moderator) has spent the past fourteen years at TEXAS MONTHLY writing about inequities in the justice system, with a focus on wrongful convictions. His work has also appeared in The New York Times and Best American Magazine Writing. His 2002 story "Death Isn’t Fair" called public attention to the case of then-death row inmate Ernest Willis, whose conviction was subsequently overturned after seventeen years behind bars.
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