HOUSTON – The Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association wants District Attorney Kim Ogg to request a special prosecutor to investigate a former prosecutor accused of knowingly sending an innocent man to death row.
"What we believe is he knowingly withheld exculpatory evidence, therefore a man was sentenced to death, possible could have been executed under his watch," said Tucker Graves, president of the Harris County Lawyers Association.
In a case prosecuted by Dan Rizzo in 2005, a jury convicted Anthony Dewayne Brown of capital murder for the shooting deaths of a Houston police officer and a store clerk during a robbery.
Brown maintained his innocence and said he was not even at the scene, citing a phone call to his girlfriend as proof.
No phone records were presented to the jury, but in 2015, an appeals court overturned Brown's conviction after investigators found phone records that backed up his alibi.
"This really was an iron-clad alibi that Mr. Brown had. These phone records were very relevant and I believe had the jury had access to them, they would have come back with a not guilty," Graves said.
In a letter to Ogg Monday, the HCCLA said it believes retired assistant district attorney Rizzo's mishandling of the case may have resulted in criminal act including "official oppression, obstruction of justice, perjury, criminal civil rights violations and may have included attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder."
"I think it's very important to show all prosecutors that they're not above the law," Graves told Channel 2.
The Harris County District Attorney's office would not say whether Ogg would ask for a special prosecutor.
In an email responding to that question, spokesperson Dane Schiller wrote, "We are continuing to do our work and proceeding responsibly and with dedication to justice and transparency."
Calls to Rizzo were not returned.
Brown is suing Rizzo, Harris County, the D.A.'s Office, and the police officer who worked the case.