Exonerated Texas Death Row Inmate Anthony Graves Not Eligible For State Payment

Anthony Graves

A man freed from death row last year after prosecutors determined evidence didn't support his murder conviction isn't immediately eligible for more than $1 million in compensation because his legal documents don't precisely declare him innocent, his attorneys said Monday.

Anthony Graves spent 18 behind bars, nearly half his adult life, before prosecutors determined last October that he wasn't involved in the 1992 slayings of six members of a family in Burleson County, about 100 miles northwest of Houston.

The only evidence tying him to the murders came from his co-defendant, Robert Earl Carter, who absolved Graves shortly before he was executed 10 years ago. An appeals court eventually tossed Graves' conviction, and prosecutors — proclaiming Graves' innocence — decided to drop the case.

But documents submitted to the Texas Comptroller's Office lacked the word "innocent," which is "the magic word," said Graves' attorney, Nicole Casarez. The rejection was outlined in a Feb. 2 letter she received from the comptroller's Office.

"We need to see what our legal options are," Casarez said. "One possibility is a civil lawsuit . . . I don't think there's a precedent for a situation like this because there hasn't been another claimant that had a situation like this before. Usually, these are DNA exonerations, but this was a case where charges were dismissed."

Graves was "incredibly disappointed, as we all are," she said. "As I am too."

Comptroller's Office spokesman R.J. DeSilva said either a pardon from the governor or a court order granting relief needed to be submitted with the wrongful imprisonment compensation claim in order to comply with the compensation law.

"Neither of those documents was sent in with the Graves application, so it could not be approved," he said.

DeSilva said Graves' lawyers had until next week to remedy the situation so the claim could be reconsidered.

Graves spent 2 years awaiting his 1st trial, then another 4 in jail awaiting a 2nd trial. He also spent a dozen years on death row.

Graves and Carter were convicted separately of the murders of Bobbie Davis, 45; Nicole Davis, 16; Denitra Davis, 9; Brittany Davis, 6; Lea 'Erin Davis, 5; and Carter's 4-year-old son, Jason Davis. Court records showed that Carter was upset that one of Davis' daughters, 4 days earlier, had named him in a paternity suit, a step toward seeking child support.

The 6 victims had been stabbed or shot, or both, and were discovered by firefighters responding to a blaze at a home in Somerville in the early morning hours of Aug. 18, 1992. Their killer tried to burn the bodies to hide the deaths, prosecutors said.

Carter took full responsibility for the mass slayings in his final words from the death chamber gurney in Huntsville in May 2000.

During questioning by police, Carter said he set the house on fire but blamed Graves for the murders.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans overturned Graves' conviction in 2006, ruling that prosecutors withheld evidence and elicited false testimony. Graves was removed from death row, then held in the county jail to await retrial.

Current prosecutors in Burleson County blamed the district attorney at the time for botching the case, but Charles Sebesta has defended himself against their criticism.

Source: Associated Press, February 14, 2011

Feb. 17 Update: Perry pledges to help Graves get compensation

GALVESTON — Gov. Rick Perry said that Anthony Graves' capital-murder conviction was a "great miscarriage of justice" and pledged to assist in the effort to win the state compensation denied to Graves by the Texas Comptroller's Office.

Perry said he would help Graves, who spent 18 years behind bars before charges were dropped in October, either through legislative action or "directly with the comptroller's office."

In a Houston appearance Tuesday to discuss the importance of small business to the economy, Perry said he would support efforts to "get this individual the appropriate reimbursement for years that he has spent incarcerated for something that he did not do."

Governor's office spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said Perry could not pardon Graves because a federal appeals court had thrown out the original conviction, and a governor could only pardon a convicted criminal.

The governor's office has been consulting with Graves' attorneys, Nashed said.

"We understand that Anthony Graves is innocent, and have been in contact with his lawyers, who are pursuing every available option to ensure that he is granted the restitution he deserves," she said.

Graves attorney Jeff Blackburn of Amarillo said the governor's statement that Graves is innocent gives a moral boost to the effort to win compensation for him. Click here to read the full article.

Source: Houston Chronicle, February 17, 2011.
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