AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - More than a dozen men who spent more than 200 years in prison for crimes they did not commit are asking Texas lawmakers to improve the system.
The men asked lawmakers on Tuesday to pass a series of bills to pay more compensation for the wrongly convicted and to improve eyewitness testimony. The bills are getting hearings in the Senate and House on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Many of the men were sent to prison after they were wrongly identified by a witness. One bill would require police departments to put in writing their policies for conducting suspect lineups.
Another bill would boost the lump sum compensation from $50,000 to $80,000 for each year of incarceration.
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