Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
Phillips, State v. (2006)
Counsel:
Innocence Project, Inc., the Texas Center for Actual Innocence, the Innocence Project of Texas, and the Texas Innocence Network
Position: Urging court to reject narrow interpretation of Texas' postconviction DNA testing statute. Urges court to recognize that the "would not have been convicted" standard is met, even if an exclusion of defendant alone would not conclusively prove Innocence, where alternate sources of the DNA (e.g., the victim's husband) can be excluded by other testing, or where a database hit might prove Innocence. Also urges court to interpret the statute's "identity at issue" requirement so as not to exclude individuals who claim to have not participated in the crime.
