Archive for the ‘billyjamessmith’ Category

​If a man spends 26 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit, you can bet he's going to want every cent he can get through the state's statutory compensation plan for the wrongfully imprisoned. We spoke with Johnnie Lindsey for this week's cover story about the ongoing legal battle between Lubbock personal-injury attorney Kevin Glasheen and exoneree Steven Phillips over fees Glasheen says he's owed for his efforts to convince the state to raise the compensation rate from $50,000 for each year of wrongful imprisonment to $160,000. Lindsey decided not to sign with Glasheen and filed for compensation with the comptroller himself following the enactment of the Timothy Cole Act in September 2009. But the comptroller refused to pay Lindsey for eight years of his sentence, because along with the 26 he served for rape, he served another eight at the same time for a crime to which he pleaded guilty. He appealed the decision, but the state refused to reconsider in December 2009. So this morning, Lindsey filed suit against the comptroller in the Supreme Court of Texas, petitioning the justices to force the state to pay up.