Thursday, June 30, 2011
Earning it the hard way
The Texas Comptroller approved compensation to Anthony Graves for his false conviction under provisions in the new HB 417 just passed by the 82nd Texas Legislature. Congrats to Anthony and to everybody who helped him seek compensation. Just like exonerees freed on habeas writs, he'll receive $80K per year incarerated in a lump sum (around $1.4 million) and a like amount spread out over a lifetime annuity. Eighteen years incarcerated for a crime he didn't commit; 12 of them on death row (including two execution dates set). That's earning it the hard way!
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8 comments:
Yes I do believe he got his money the old fashioned way
Will he have to pay taxes on it?
loved this part!
"The Texas Comptroller approved compensation to Anthony Graves for his false conviction"
the comptroller had no damn choice once both the legislation and the governor signed the big FORCING it!
I read in Dallas Morning News there are no income taxes on the compensation paid for imprisonment due to wrongful conviction. Although, there has been substantial legal fees paid to attorneys in some of these cases, which is now being investigated by the State Bar of Texas. I believe the attorney under investigation is Kevin Glasheen out of Lubbock.
The DMN on 6/30/11 said "Glasheen was trying to collect up to $10 million from exonerees by filing their one-page applications for guaranteed compensation and claiming 25% of the compensation these men were entitled to." So its not the tax man they have to watch out for in this paticular instance.
Audrey, fwiw Glasheen is not Graves' attorney.
That's good news. I've been thinking about that quote from DMN and wondering if what Glasheen is getting paid for is much more than that one page application. I imagine there is ton of work associated with getting these guys exonerated. The justice system isn't exactly user-friendly....as has been discussed a million times in a million ways.
Audrey, Glasheen did not have ANY clients who hired him just to file the one-page application. All his clients hired him on contingency to file Sec. 1983 civil suits after rejecting statutory compensation at the lower (pre-'09) levels. Those suits were settled after compensation was improved in '09. Usually contingency fees on 1983 cases are 33-40%; he lowered his to 25%. See here for more.
IMO the Dallas News has had their head up their ass on that story from Day One. They don't seem to understand the difference between filing that "one page" application and rejecting that process to file a civil suit, and the whole story hinges on conflating the two processes.
Thanks for that clarification. I noticed the story also suggests that Michael Ware and Jeff Blackburn benefitted from such fees. That's what got me thinking it was far more than the application. Ware's involvement was prior to his taking position with Dallas DA's Integrity Unit and was disclosed. And of course Blackburn's position is with IPOT and we know the work he doing to help these guys. So it is DMN who is bringing up the associations (top notch investigative journalism}, whereas the civil lawsuit which created the inquiry from the Texas Bar is a result of exonerees sueing Glasheen only.
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