Sent to Local and Consent
ACLU Texas Executive Director Will Harrell is calling Rep. Terry
Keel (R-Austin) a "legislative genius" after he resurrected the bill that would free the Tulia 13.
Senate Bill 1948, by Sen. John Whitmire (D-Houston), was jammed
up behind Senate Bill 14, the big insurance reform bill that the House has been debating for the past three days.
Realizing his bill was in real danger, Keel, chairman of the House
Criminal Jurisprudence Committee, asked for a motion
to suspend House rules so that his committee could meet to revisit SB 1948.
At a hastily arranged hearing in the Speaker’s press room,
the committee voted unanimously to send Whitmire’s bill to the House Local and Consent Committee.
Now, Harrell and other supporters of the Tulia bill are hard at work
lobbying Local and Consent Committee members. Whitmire’s bill will permit a Swisher County judge to release the Tulia
13 from prison on bond while the Court of Criminal Appeals ponders the case. Harrell said Gov. Rick Perry supports the bill.
"We feel truly vindicated after three years of screaming about the injustice
of Tulia," said a delighted Harrell.
"Rep. Keel is a legislative genius. As a former law enforcement officer
he knows what happened in the Tulia case. He was not going to sit by and let justice for the Tulia 13 die in calendars. I
think he showed extraordinary legislative prowess to suspend House rules and find the last possible procedural mechanism available."
Harrell was disappointed, however, that Senate Bill 515, by Sen.
Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (D-McAllen), looked like it was dying on the Senate Intent Calendar. Known as the Tulia Corroboration Bill, the bill would instruct juries not to convict on the basis of the uncorroborated evidence
of a peace officer’s testimony. Harrell said it was ironic that Hinojosa had 13 votes in the Senate.
The author of the bill was more sanguine.
"You cannot change bureaucratic institutions overnight," Hinojosa said.
"We have made great strides over the past two sessions with major criminal justice legislation, such as the DNA bill, and
indigent defense. Law enforcement agencies are learning from scandals like Tulia."
May 23, 2003 by Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com
