McKINNEY, Texas AP — Billy Frederick Allen spent more than 25 years in prison before an appeals court overturned his convictions in two murders. Three years after winning his freedom, Allen is fighting the state again — this time for the $2 million he says hes owed for wrongful imprisonment.Although the appeals court declared the evidence against Allen too weak for any reasonable juror to convict him, Texas officials say he has not proven his innocence. Therefore, they say, he isnt covered by a state law that generously compensates the wrongfully convicted for the years they spent behind bars.Advocates say Allens case raises new questions about what evidence is needed to qualify for compensation in Texas, where more inmates have been freed because of wrongful convictions than any other state.DNA evidence has led to most of Texas exonerations. But with DNA testing essentially standard in most cases and the number of DNA-based exonerations expected to dwindle, more former inmates like Allen — whose case has no DNA evidence — are likely to account for more compensation cases.
via Ex-inmate struggles to cash in on compensation law – seattlepi.com.
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