A state agency shouldn't have denied compensation to a man who was wrongfully imprisoned - including for nearly a decade on death row - for the fatal shooting of a Houston police officer, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday.
After a judge signed an order in May 2019 declaring Alfred Dewayne Brown innocent in the April 2003 slaying of Officer Charles Clark during a robbery of a check-cashing store, Brown was eligible for nearly $2 million in compensation under state law. He spent more than 12 years in prison.
But the Texas Comptroller's office, which awards money to individuals who have been wrongfully imprisoned, rejected Brown's application. The comptroller's office had argued it was not sure the judge who declared Brown innocent had the jurisdiction to do so because of a previous order in the case.