The conviction for a man who served 10 years behind bars for aggravated sexual assault and got out of prison 17 years ago has been vacated, the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office says.
The DA's office said Judge Ryan Hill with the 371st District Court dismissed the charges against 49-year-old Roger Earl Hawkins after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals said on Aug. 24 that he was innocent of his 1993 conviction and that he had "established by clear and convincing evidence that he is innocent."
Hawkins, who was released from prison in 2005 after spending 10 years behind bars, has now had his conviction vacated.
According to the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office, they learned there were concerns about the conviction in 2016 and that the DA's Conviction Integrity Unit worked with Hawkins' court-appointed attorney, Adam Arrington, to reinvestigate his case.
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The DA's office said the appeals court's decision came after the CIU determined Hawkins was innocent of the alleged aggravated sexual assault charges and discovered that his due process rights were violated when prosecutors withheld favorable material evidence, including alibi information, and that his attorney provided him ineffective assistance of counsel.
"The criminal justice system failed Mr. Hawkins," CIU Chief Steven Conder said. "He was wrongfully convicted because there was no thorough investigation of his case or defense of him.
The DA's office said in a statement Tuesday that Hill's life was "fundamentally altered by mistakes made" and that they were "proud we were able to correct them."
