83R15457 CBE-D

By: Dutton H.R. No. 971

R E S O L U T I O N

WHEREAS, Exonerated former death row inmate Clarence Brandley and citizens from across the Lone Star State are visiting the Capitol on March 19, 2013, the Day of Innocence, in support of a moratorium on executions and other related measures; and

WHEREAS, Since 1989, at least 117 individuals in Texas have been exonerated, according to the National Registry of Exonerations; these men and women were wrongfully convicted of a crime and lost years of their lives in prison before eventually being cleared of all the charges; data from 2012 ranks Texas among the top three states for number of exonerations; and

WHEREAS, Convicted of murder in 1981, Clarence Brandley was just weeks away from his scheduled execution when evidence of coerced testimony and blatant racism in his first two trials prompted the FBI to intervene; three years later, the charges against him were dismissed; Mr. Brandley subsequently married, apprenticed as an electrician, and became a Baptist minister; his life became the subject of a book, White Lies, and a cable TV movie, Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story; and

WHEREAS, Other exonerees from Texas include Randall D. Adams, Ricardo Aldape Guerra, Gilbert Alejandro, Billy Frederick Allen, Gilbert Amezquita, Jason Barber, James Blackshire, Michael Blair, Brandy Briggs, Stephen Brodie, Joyce Ann Brown, A. B. Butler, Jr., Kevin Byrd, Domingo Calderon III, Raul Cantu, Charles Chatman, Timothy B. Cole, Keith Coleman, Robert Carroll Coney, Darian Contee, Roy Criner, Anthony Curlin, Richard Danziger, Muneer Deeb, Gayle Dove, Dale Duke, Cornelius Dupree, Joe Elizondo, Mary Ann Elizondo, Hicks Elliff, Jerry Lee Evans, Hilliard Fields, Wiley Fountain, Sherri Frederick, Larry Fuller, Ronnie Mark Gariepy, James Giles, Donald Wayne Good, Andrew Gossett, Anthony Graves, Michael Anthony Green, Tony Hall, Ricky Dale Harmon, John Michael Harvey, Andre Haygood, Eugene Henton, Alejandro Hernandez, Raymond Jackson, Antrone Johnson, Morris S. Jones, Entre Nax Karage, Martin Kimsey, Carlos Marcos Lavernia, Johnnie Lindsey, Debbie Loveless, Federico Macias, Norman Mack, Thomas McGowan, Richard Miles, Billy Wayne Miller, John Miller, LaDondrell Montgomery, Patrick Montgomery, Brandon Moon, Michael Morton, Fredda Susie Mowbray, Arthur Mumphrey, Lacresha Murray, Christopher Ochoa, Randall Philen, Steven Phillips, Johnny Pinchback, David Shawn Pope, Allen Wayne Porter, Ricardo Rachell, Jesus Ramirez, Simon Angel Rivera, Shakara Robertson, Anthony Robinson, George Rodriguez, Stephen Lynn Russell, Ben Salazar, Christopher Shun Scott, Michael Scott, Daniel Roy Settle, Alberto Sifuentes, Claude Simmons, Jr., Billy James Smith, Marcus Lashun Smith, Robert Springsteen, Richard Sturgeon, Josiah Sutton, Ronald Gene Taylor, Rickey Dale Thomas, Victor Larue Thomas, Stephen Thompson, Michael Toney, Wesley Tuley, Keith Turner, Gilbert Valdez, James Waller, Patrick Waller, Gregory Wallis, Nathaniel Ward, Calvin E. Washington, Darryl Washington, Mark Webb, David Lee Wiggins, James Curtis Williams, Joe Sidney Williams, Thomas Wayne Williams, Ernest Ray Willis, Richard Winfrey, Sr., James Lee Woodard, Michael Anthony Woten, and Rickey Dale Wyatt; and

WHEREAS, There is no way to return the time that those who have been unjustly accused and imprisoned have lost, nor is there compensation for the mental and emotional anguish that they have suffered; notwithstanding their immeasurable pain, however, many exonerees have found the resilience to take a terrible ordeal and channel their response into constructive endeavors, and their strength and determination to overcome are a continuing inspiration to countless Americans; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 83rd Texas Legislature hereby recognize March 19, 2013, as the Day of Innocence and honor Clarence Brandley and the many other exonerated men and women for their tenacity in the pursuit of justice and for their contributions to the debate over an issue of paramount public concern.