Anthony Robinson
The latest appointment to the city’s crime lab oversight board brings a unique perspective to the post.
Anthony Robinson spent 10 years in prison for a rape he did not commit before being exonerated by the kind of DNA testing the proposed new crime lab will perform.
“I am very sensitive to the errors made by the defense bar in the use, misuse, or failure to properly use forensics, particular when the evidence is presented (or not presented) by the state,” Robinson wrote in an email from Beijing, where he had traveled on business. “Science is objective when properly performed and utilized.”
The City Council approved his appointment by Mayor Annise Parker on Wednesday.
Parker said Robinson’s appointment to the board of Houston Forensic Science LGC Inc., the local government corporation created by the City Council last year to develop a crime lab independent of the Houston Police Department, was based on more than just his compelling personal history.
“He’s going to be an even better board member because he has skills as an attorney and his being very familiar with the criminal justice system,” she said. “And community contacts and ties, as well.”
My interview with Robinson from his campaign for District D is here. He’s an impressive person, and he will be an insightful and much-needed voice on the crime lab’s board. Well done.