HOUSTON – A man who spent 18 years in prison, many of them on death row, was denied compensation from the state of Texas after he was cleared of the crime, officials said Monday.
Capital murder charges against Anthony Graves, 45, were dropped last year. He was convicted of killing a Sommerville woman, her teenage daughter and four grandchildren in 1992.
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Graves was supposed to get $1.4 million in compensation. But the word "innocence" was not used in his document ordering his release, so he was ineligible for compensation.
Graves' attorney said she is already getting the wording changed in court documents and will send it to the Comptroller's Office. Officials said as long as the paperwork is in by next week, Graves will get his money.
The district attorney that oversees both Burleson and Washington counties said that he exonerated Graves because there was not evidence linking Graves to the murders.
Robert Earl Carter was Graves' co-defendant in the killings. Detectives said the only evidence that linked Graves to the murders was Carter's testimony, which he recanted two weeks before his execution in 2000.
Carter said he was pressured to testify against Graves by a former Washington County district attorney.
Graves' alibi for the killings was that he was sleeping, which his mother and brother testified about, but the jury did not believe him.
Graves moved to Pflugerville after his release from prison.