A team of attorneys working to right the wrongs of the Austin Police Department’s (APD) failed DNA lab recently secured their second win.
On March 29, the Court of Criminal Appeals—the state’s highest criminal court—overturned the conviction of Billy Faircloth, who was sentenced to 60 years in prison for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2012. The state’s case against him relied on bad DNA analysis—a rampant problem in Austin under the regime of the defunct APD DNA lab.
“[Faircloth] contends, among other things, that unreliable DNA evidence was relied upon to secure his conviction,” the court’s opinion states. “The state and the habeas court both agree that he is entitled to relief.”
