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Anthony Graves Receives Compensation for Wrongful Imprisonment

Anthony Graves was awarded $1.45 million after being wrongly imprisoned for 18 years.
Erika Aguilar for KUT News
Anthony Graves was awarded $1.45 million after being wrongly imprisoned for 18 years.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs paid Anthony Graves $1.45 million today, to compensate for his 18 years of wrongful imprisonment. Graves was originally convicted of the 1992 killing a 45-year-old grandmother and five children. He served 12 years of his sentence on death row.

The payment comes after House Bill 417 was signed by Governor Rick Perry. The bill enacts guidelines to compensate people who were wrongfully imprisoned, according to the Texas Tribune. The payment came after a four-month legal fight with the state, after he was denied compensation after first being denied compensation in February.

"Thought the initial denial of my claims was frustrating, I know the Comptroller had no choice," Graves said in a news release issued by the comptroller's office. "As we worked with the Comptroller on this issue, I realized had and her staff are committed to helping me make up from my years lost in prison."

Co-defendant Robert Carter admitted he lied about Graves' involvement in the 1992 murder. The admission came minutes before he was executed for the crime in 2000.

 

Kristen Cabrera is a graduate of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies in Portland, Maine, where she saw snow for the first time and walked a mile through a blizzard. A native of the Rio Grande Valley, she graduated from the University of Texas-Pan American (now UTRGV) and is a former KUT News intern. She has been working as a freelance audio producer, writer and podcaster. Email her: kcabrera@kut.org