Sunday, December 28, 2014

Will new Bexar DA back post-conviction innocence reviews?

A profile of outgoing Bexar County DA Susan Reed in the SA Express-News (Dec. 27) mentioned, while recounting her "missteps" sandwiched between mostly positive reviews, that "Her refusal to appoint a special prosecutor to review claims that Ruben Cantu was wrongly executed in 1993 after an eyewitness reportedly recanted. The decision raised eyebrows because Reed, as a judge, had denied one of Cantu’s appeals and set his execution date. A 19-month investigation by her office found Cantu was not wrongly sent to the death chamber." (See prior Grits coverage of that misbegotten DA's report.)

This recollection made me wonder: Will incoming DA Nico Lahood re-open that investigation, and more broadly, might he create a post-conviction review unit like Dallas' much-ballyhooed Conviction Integrity Unit to vet potential innocence claims? The new Tarrant DA has pledged to create one, and the new Dallas DA reportedly will continue efforts in this vein begun by her predecessor.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

"I have investigated myself and find that I did nothing wrong" - Susan Reed