The Best Prosecutor of 2007

[nancylebov]

http://www.theagitator.com/2008/01/03/the-best-prosecutor-of-2007/#comments

After his election, Watkins instituted significant reforms to the way Dallas fights and prosecutes crime, including major changes to the way police conduct lineups and interrogate suspects. He stopped the inexplicable tradition of destroying death penalty files after conviction, which is often a barrier to DNA-based innocence claims down the line. He fired overly aggressive subordinates, and caused still more to resign in protest or frustration.

But most notably, Watkins not only hasn’t fought innocence and wrongful conviction claims, he’s been seeking them out, correctly understanding that a prosecutor’s job isn’t to see how many people he can throw in prison, it’s to work toward the fair administration of justice.