05/04/2008

Associated Press

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins, whose office leads the nation in wrongful convictions overturned by DNA testing, says prosecutors who intentionally withhold evidence should face criminal charges or other harsh sanctions.

Watkins said the worst offenders might deserve prison time, and that he's considering a campaign to mandate disbarment for any prosecutor who intentionally withholds evidence from the defense.

"Something should be done," Watkins told The Dallas Morning News in Sunday's editions. "If the harm is a great harm, yes, it should be criminalized."

Thirty-one people have been formally exonerated through DNA testing in Texas and 17 in Dallas County — both figures the highest in the U.S. since 2001. Those totals don't include at least four whose exonerations are not yet official.

Read the entire article HERE [1].