Search | Wrongly Convicted

$1 Million Settlement in Texas Wrongful Conviction Suit

Article • December 15, 2011 • from PLN December, 2011

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Malicious Prosecution, Sentencing, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, False Arrest

$1 Million Settlement in Texas Wrongful Conviction Suit by On March 31, 2011, a man who had been falsely convicted of burglary, rape and sexual abuse accepted a $1 million settlement after being exonerated by DNA evidence. Donald Wayne Good filed a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 civil rights suit in …

$150,000 Settlement in Wrongfully-Convicted Texan's Lawsuit

Article • July 15, 2011

Filed under: Medical, Brain Injury, Failure to Protect (General), Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

$150,000 Settlement in Wrongfully-Convicted Texan's Lawsuit by In March 2006, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) settled for $150,000 a lawsuit brought by the guardian of a wrongfully-convicted man who was beaten by another prisoner and suffered permanent severe brain damage. Richard Danziger, a former Texas prisoner, was wrongly …

Texas Controversy: Governor Guts Forensic Science Commission

Article • October 15, 2010 • from PLN October, 2010

Filed under: Government Misconduct, Expert Witnesses, Sentencing, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Death Penalty

Texas Controversy: Governor Guts Forensic Science Commission by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Texas Governor Rick Perry caused considerable controversy on Sept. 30, 2009 when he replaced three members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, just two days before the commission’s hearing on a report that an innocent man may …

Texas Youth Commission Pays $625,000 to Settle Abuse Suit

Article • August 15, 2010 • from PLN August, 2010

Filed under: Staff-Prisoner Assault, Prisoner-Prisoner Assault, Legality of Rules, Settlements, Wrongful Imprisonment, Mental Health, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Failure to Protect (Juveniles), Juvenile Prisons

Texas Youth Commission Pays $625,000 to Settle Abuse Suit by Gary Hunter To settle a federal lawsuit, the Texas Youth Commission (TYC) agreed to pay $625,000 in damages to four youths who were grossly abused by the states’ corrupt juvenile justice system. The largest payout of $345,000 went to plaintiff …

Rodriguez v. City of Houston, TX, Atty Fee Order, Wrongful Rape Conviction, 2009

Brief • December 22, 2009

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Attorney Fee Awards, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

Rodriguez v. City of Houston, TX, Atty Fee Order, Wrongful Rape Conviction, 2009 Case 4:06-cv-02650 Document 384 Filed in TXSD on 12/22/09 Page 1 of 7 Case 4:06-cv-02650 Document 384 Filed in TXSD on 12/22/09 Page 2 of 7 Case 4:06-cv-02650 Document 384 Filed in TXSD on 12/22/09 Page 3 …

Rodriguez v. City of Houston, TX, Motion for Atty Fees, Wrongful Rape Conviction, 2009

Brief • August 14, 2009

Filed under: Prosecutor/Attorney General Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment

Rodriguez v. City of Houston, TX, Motion for Atty Fees, Wrongful Rape Conviction, 2009 Case 4:06-cv-02650 Document 335 Filed in TXSD on 08/14/2009 Page 1 of 22 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS HOUSTON DIVISION GEORGE RODRIGUEZ, Plaintiff, v. CITY OF HOUSTON, et al., …

Texas Federal Judge Acquits VitaPro Defendants

Article • September 15, 2008 • from PLN September, 2008

Filed under: Contractor Misconduct, DOC/BOP misconduct, Criminal Prosecution, Food, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Texas Federal Judge Acquits VitaPro Defendants by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke On April 22, 2008, Houston, Texas, federal judge Lynn Hughes acquitted former Texas prison chief James “Andy” Collins, 57, and former president and CEO of VitaPro Foods Yank Barry of federal charges for bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and …

Compassionless Conservative Texas Judge Closes Court Promptly, Ensuring Execution

Article • July 15, 2008 • from PLN July, 2008

Filed under: Judicial Misconduct, DNA Testing/Samples, Judiciary, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Death Penalty

Compassionless Conservative Texas Judge Closes Court Promptly, Ensuring Execution by Matthew Clarke by Matt Clarke Sharon Keller, 54, presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, has come under sharp criticism for refusing to keep the court open twenty minutes past its usual closing time to permit a late …

Qualified Immunity Discussed in Texas Over Detention Suit

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment, Qualified Immunity

Qualified Immunity Discussed in Texas Over Detention Suit by The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that jail officials failed to present sufficient evidence to allow the question of qualified immunity to be submitted to the jury. This action was filed by a former prisoner of the Dallas County Jail …

Highest Texas Court Rules Actual Innocence Trumps Guilty Plea

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Disciplinary Hearings, Guilty Pleas, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

Highest Texas Court Rules Actual Innocence Trumps Guilty Plea by The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (TCCA) has held that newly discovered, unquestionable evidence of a prisoner's actual innocence may be raised on state habeas corpus even though the prisoner pleaded guilty. Wesley Ronald Tuley, a Texas state prisoner, filed …

Release of DNA Evidence Must Be Brought As Habeas

Article • May 15, 2007

Filed under: Searches, DNA Testing/Samples, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

Release of DNA Evidence Must Be Brought As Habeas by The plaintiff sued to obtain the release of biological evidence for DNA testing, alleging it would be exculpatory as to his criminal conviction. His suit was, in effect, a challenge to the validity of his criminal conviction that must be …

Dallas Fake Drug Cases Settle For Millions, Jury Awards Damages

Article • March 15, 2006 • from PLN March, 2006

Filed under: Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Police, False Arrest

Dallas Fake Drug Cases Settle For Millions, Jury Awards Damages by by Michael Rigby In 2001, police officers in Dallas, Texas, made 33 arrests in what has since become known as the fake drug scandal." The victims were all charged with possessing cocaine, based on supposedly positive field tests of …

Texas Jails Troubled by Deaths, Negligence and Failed Inspections

Article • January 15, 2006 • from PLN January, 2006

Filed under: Jail Misconduct, Medical, HIV/AIDS, Medication, Systemic Medical Neglect, Respiratory, Escapes, Databases, Totality of Conditions, Overcrowding, Staffing, Water, Wrongful Imprisonment, Medical Neglect/Malpractice, Failure to Treat (Mental Illness), Suicides

Texas Jails Troubled by Deaths, Negligence and Failed Inspections by Gary Hunter For decades Texas jails have been cesspool's of misery, medical neglect, brutality and over crowding. Class action litigation in the 1970's alleviated some of the worst aspects of the Texas jail system and led to modest improvements. By …

Zain Fallout Continues

Article • March 15, 1998 • from PLN March, 1998

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Settlements, Sentencing, Wrongful Imprisonment

Zain Fallout Continues by Fred Zain was a crime lab serologist, who tested evidence for the West Virginia state police from 1979 to 1989, and was chief of serology his last five years. During that time Zain falsified evidence and testified about the results of tests he never performed. In …

Section 1983 Proper Remedy for Illegal Confinement

Article • May 15, 1993 • from PLN May, 1993

Filed under: Police Misconduct, Civil Procedure, Frivolous Litigation, Complaints, Habeas Corpus, Wrongful Imprisonment

Section 1983 Proper Remedy for Illegal Confinement by Spencer Parker is a Texas state prisoner. He filed suit under § 1983 claiming he was arrested and indicted for a burglary even though no evidence linked him to the crime. After nine months in jail the charges were dropped and he …