NEWS (12/18/20) — Texas:
The Texas Supreme Court has overturned a ruling by the state’s comptroller that had denied death-row exoneree
’s application for compensation and directed the comptroller to pay Brown the compensation mandated by state law.
Brown was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in 2005. Following his exoneration, he applied for compensation under Texas’ Tim Cole Act, but his application was denied because he had not been adjudicated “actually innocent” at the time charges against him were dismissed. After the trial court reopened his case and declared Brown actually innocent, Brown again applied for compensation. The comptroller denied the application again, this time asserting that the trial court had lacked jurisdiction to issue its declaration of innocence. The Texas Supreme Court admonished the comptroller that it lacked authority to question the trial court’s ruling and said that the comptroller had only a ministerial role in the compensation process. The court returned the case to the comptroller to provide compensation to Brown.