|
|
May 13, 2005, 10:33PM Death penalty study offers tips to TexasLegislation that would've included suggestions failsBy ROMA KHANNACopyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
To minimize the risk of innocent people being sentenced to death, Texas should work to establish public defender's offices, independent crime labs and other safeguards, an organization that represents death row inmates recommends.
In a study released Thursday, the Texas Defender Service studied the recommendations of an Illinois commission appointed to study its death penalty after a moratorium in 2000 and compared them with the Texas justice system. "Texas failed to comply with 80 percent of the best practices identified in Illinois," said Andrea Keilen, deputy director of the Defender Service and one of the study's authors. The study recommends that Texas' new Criminal Justice Advisory Council, created by Gov. Rick Perry in March, look to the findings of the Illinois group as it examines Texas issues. "The creation of this group is a recognition by the governor that there are flaws in the system, and hopefully they are going to consider these kinds of reform," Keilen said. The Illinois commission examined all aspects of its criminal justice systems from police procedures to issues of clemency. Among the issues the Texas study advises Perry's panel to examine are: • Establishing uniform investigating procedures for police and prosecutors, particularly for lineup and photo spread identifications. "Unfortunately, these efforts to improve the quality of criminal justice in Texas gained little support," he said. "I encourage Gov. Perry and the proposed Criminal Justice Advisory Council to follow the lead of Illinois and use this report as a road map for meaningful criminal justice reform in Texas."
|
|
|