| Perry ready to sign bill granting inmates easier access to DNA tests 04/04/2001 By Pete Slover / The Dallas Morning News
AUSTIN – It would become easier for inmates to get DNA testing needed to challenge convictions under a bill the House passed Tuesday and sent to Gov. Rick Perry for his signature.
The measure, a compromise between similar bills passed by the House and the Senate, allows prisoners to seek state-paid genetic testing on evidence in cases in which the results could change the outcome.
"This is a bill that would allow for those who are guilty to be convicted, and for those who are innocent to be freed," said Rep. Juan Hinojosa, D-McAllen, a measure sponsor.
Mr. Perry announced his support for the measure in February, declaring it an emergency piece of legislation, which will take effect immediately upon signing because it passed by more than a two-thirds vote. A spokesman said Mr. Perry is expected to sign the bill this week, after a final legal review of the measure.
"He thinks it will be an important improvement to the criminal justice system," spokeswoman Kathy Walt said.
A lawyer who represents death-row inmates said the proposal is a good one but does nothing to cure numerous other inmate grievances with the system, including poor legal representation and the use of questionable testimony against defendants.
"It is crucial to remember that it doesn't fix everything," said Maurie Levin, an attorney with the Texas Defender Service in Austin. "It only affects the small number of cases where DNA is an issue. It's a mistake to think it's a panacea."
One criticism from inmate advocates is that the bill places too tough a burden on inmates by requiring them to show by a "preponderance of evidence" that the DNA could make a difference, even before the testing occurs.
That provision had been stripped from the bill by the House but was reinstated by a conference committee.
"I hope that it provides the greatest opportunity for people who may well have been convicted erroneously to prove themselves innocent," said Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston.
Mr. Dutton read a statement into the House record making it clear that the Legislature intends for testing to be allowed when inmates meet either of two standards: With favorable DNA results they would not have been prosecuted, or, if prosecuted, they would not have been convicted.
An alternative interpretation of the law – that inmates must show that they would not have been prosecuted – would effectively let district attorneys disallow DNA testing by stating that they would have prosecuted a case regardless of the DNA results.
State experts estimate that about 50 inmates a year will initially qualify for the tests, estimated to cost about $73,000 annually. That number is expected to dwindle as the backlog of disputed cases is reduced and as DNA becomes more widely used in trials.
Victims' rights groups have expressed concern that the bill does not impose a time limit for DNA testing. Despite language in the measure prohibiting its use solely for delaying, opponents worried that condemned inmates could use DNA testing as a stalling technique.
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