Tarrant County's electronic open-file system seen as gold standard for reducing wrongful convictions
Posted Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010
By ALEX BRANCH
Ft. Worth Star-Telegram
FORT WORTH -- A state panel studying ways to reduce wrongful convictions in Texas seemed to find what it was looking for during a visit to Tarrant County this year.
After reviewing the district attorney's open-file and electronic discovery system, Mary Anne Wiley, deputy general counsel for Gov. Rick Perry, offered one of several superlatives uttered by panel members.
"This sounds like a slam dunk," Wiley said.
Advocates of stronger open-discovery rules hope the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions will help lead Texas lawmakers to finally push through uniform statewide policies.
