TribBlog: More Calls for Innocence Commission
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Michael Anthony Green was supposed to be freed today after serving 27 years for a rape he didn't commit. But, as the Houston Chronicle reported, his angry outburst over the injustice he has endured means he'll spend another day behind bars.
The exoneration is the second in two weeks to come from Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos' Post Conviction Review Section. And the latest DNA exonerations add to the tally statewide, which is the largest in the nation.
State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said the findings give more credence to his argument that Texas needs a state innocence commission to prevent more innocent people from spending years behind bars. Ellis has tried and failed to get state lawmakers to approve a Texas Innocence Commission, particularly following the posthumous exoneration of Tim Cole who died while serving a sentence for a rape he did not commit. "I suspect that our state has a continuing need for an independent body to review these cases," Ellis said in a press release, "so I want to stress the importance of creating a state Innocence Commission."
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