Associated Press
HOUSTON — Gov. Rick Perry says the capital murder conviction of a man exonerated after 18 years in prison was a “great miscarriage of justice” and that he recognizes the man’s attorneys are trying to win him compensation.
Perry made his comments about Anthony Graves’ case during an appearance Tuesday in Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle.
The Texas Comptroller’s Office has denied compensation to Graves, even though prosecutors declared him innocent last October of the 1992 slayings of six members of a family in Burleson County, about 100 miles northwest of Houston.
The only evidence tying Graves, 45, to the killings came from his co-defendant, Robert Earl Carter, who absolved Graves shortly before he was executed 10 years ago. A federal appeals court eventually overturned Graves’ conviction, and prosecutors — proclaiming Graves’ innocence — decided to drop the case.
“We see that there has been a miscarriage of justice. His attorneys are pursuing every avenue to obtain compensation,” Perry spokeswoman Lucy Nashed told The Associated Press on Wednesday night.
Nashed told the Chronicle the governor’s office had been in contact with Graves’ lawyers. She declined later Wednesday to say what if anything the governor’s office might be doing to help Graves or his attorneys.
Graves’ attorney, Jeff Blackburn of Amarillo, said Perry’s comments gave Graves and his legal team a moral boost in their efforts to obtain compensation for Graves.
“We never lost our commitment to this case, and now we are going to re-enter the fray,” he said.