Texas: Ex-inmate says he is still wronged by state

GALVESTON, Texas (AP) -- Ex-inmate Anthony Graves considers the loss of a $250 speaking fee only the latest wrong done to him by the state of Texas. He spent 18 years in prison -- 12 on death row -- for a crime that prosecutors now acknowledge he did not commit. In October, the state refused him compensation for people who are unjustly convicted. Meanwhile, the Texas attorney general's office is garnishing wages for child support that a judge determined the 45-year-old Graves owed even though he was on death row at the time. When a $250 honorarium was withheld for a presentation to students at Prairie View A&M University, Graves said it was just too much. "If you feel I owe some compensation, fine, I'm not crying about that, but don't go after everything I make," Graves told the Houston Chronicle. "I'm tired of the state kicking me." A spokesman for the attorney general said Graves' situation is troubling, but the office is statutorily required to enforce the child support payments. The attorney general is garnishing $175 of the $3,000 monthly salary Graves receives as an investigator for Texas Defenders Service, which represents death penalty defendants. He has been told he owes more than $5,400. A Washington County judge decided in 2002 that Graves owed back child support from 1998 until 2002, even though he was on death row the entire time, said his attorney Nicole Casarez. Graves, Casarez and an attorney from Texas Defenders spoke about his case April 20 at Prairie View. The university offered Graves a $250 honorarium to pay for his travel expenses and time. When he did not receive the payment, he discovered the money had been withheld because he owed child support. "The state of Texas tried to kill me for something I didn't do and now they are trying to get child support out of me," Graves said. Graves said he feels powerless. Jeff Blackburn, another member of Graves' legal team, said Attorney General Greg Abbott is retaliating for a lawsuit Graves filed to force the state to compensate him for being unjustly convicted. The claim was denied by the state comptroller's office. The comptroller refused to pay Graves the $80,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment provided by law because the order dismissing the capital murder charges did not contain the words "actual innocence," as the statute requires. Graves has sued the attorney general, asking for a declaration of actual innocence, but Abbott's office said the law does not allow the attorney general to make such a declaration. "It's a completely immoral position, and to me it proves that Greg Abbott is at best a hypocrite and at worst just a cruel monster," said Blackburn. Abbott's spokesman Jerry Strickland said the attack on his boss is bizarre and baseless. Strickland said the attorney general's office is required to collect the child support. He said Abbott does not have legal authority to approve or deny a payment to Graves. "Despite his lawyers' meritless attacks on this office, the Child Support Division has been -- and will continue to be -- in communication with Mr. Graves about how he can fulfill his court-ordered child support obligations," Strickland said. "But the child support order and Mr. Graves' compensation claim are totally unrelated." Blackburn said he will sue to have the child support payments rescinded. Graves was convicted of the 1992 slayings of a grandmother and five children. Robert Carter confessed to the killings and absolved Graves moments before his 20000 execution. Carter said he lied during his testimony against Graves. A federal appeals court found that the prosecution withheld statements crucial to the defense and elicited false statements from witnesses during the 1994 trial. Published: Tue, May 3, 2011