Wallace Jefferson Wallace B. Jefferson, partner in Alexander Dubose & Jefferson in Austin. (Courtesy photo)

In litigation with high-ranking Texas officials on one side, and a former death-row inmate on the other, a man who's seeking state compensation for his wrongful conviction might have scored a slingshot:  former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson joining his pro-bono legal team.

Alfred Dewayne Brown, who was declared actually innocent earlier this year, after a 2005 wrongful conviction for murdering a Houston police officer, already had a high-powered legal team lead by Neal Manne, managing partner in Susman Godfrey in Houston.

Now, the addition of Jefferson, once one of the most powerful jurists in the state, boosts his chances before the Texas Supreme Court.

Brown is arguing it was wrong when, this summer, the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts denied his application for $2 million under the Tim Cole Act to compensate him for the 12 years—nine on death row—that he was wrongfully imprisoned.

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Jefferson, who declined to comment, started on the high court as a justice in 2001 and then became chief justice in 2004, a post he held until 2013. Prior to becoming a justice, he won two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. Now back in private practice, he's a litigator with the Austin appellate boutique Alexander Dubose & Jefferson.

He joined the team at the request of Manne, who has given pro bono representation for Brown's quest for compensation since 2016.

Neal Manne Neal Manne of Susman Godfrey in Houston.

"He's someone I know, and a great lawyer and well respected," Manne explained. "Our firms have worked together on some cases, so I know him professionally, and I asked him if he was interested in this issue, since it was going to be before the Texas Supreme Court. He was interested."

Brown's actual innocence finding followed a rare procedure. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in 2015 granted habeas corpus relief and ordered a new trial based on prosecutorial misconduct. The Harris County District Attorney's Office in 2015 moved to dismiss the case.

Later, under a new district attorney, the office brought in Special Prosecutor John Raley to re-investigate the case. Raley found no credible evidence to implicate Brown, and strong evidence supporting Brown's alibi. Next, 351st District Judge George Powell in May reopened the case and granted District Attorney Kim Ogg's motion to dismiss based on actual innocence.

But  the comptroller's office questioned the court's jurisdiction to reopen the case and rule for Brown. In June it denied Brown's application for state compensation under the Tim Cole Act, which compensates people who were wrongfully incarcerated.

Chris Bryan, a spokesman for the comptroller's office, said that the office would allow its arguments in court to speak for themselves. The office hasn't yet filed a response.

Now, Jefferson has joined Brown's legal team. He and Manne worked together on a Sept. 30 petition for writ of mandamus in In Re Alfred Dewayne Brown.

The petition argued that under the Tim Cole Act, the comptroller's role is purely ministerial, and the office should have approved Brown because he had filed all of the documents the act requires. It argued the comptroller exceeded his authority by questioning the district court's jurisdiction—an alleged error that Brown claimed violated the Tim Cole Act and separation of powers.

 

Read the petition:

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