http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/10/us/10exonerate.html?hp

But no suit was filed on Mr. Phillips�s behalf. Instead, the lawyer, Kevin Glasheen, lobbied the state Legislature to pass a bill that in 2009 increased the payout to exonerated prisoners. What had been a simple payment of $50,000 for every year served became $80,000 for every year behind bars; the bill also called for paying freed inmates an additional $80,000 a year. Those who had been exonerated still had the option of suing, but the richer terms for settling outright significantly shifted the balance of the decision.

It was on that basis, as a successful lobbyist, that Mr. Glasheen claimed a share of Mr. Phillips�s compensation for himself and another lawyer.

Mr. Phillips was astonished.

�I was trembling,� he said. He called his mother and said, �I�m not fixing to give those dudes a million bucks.� So he sued Mr. Glasheen.

So did Patrick Waller, another exonerated inmate billed by Mr. Glasheen who had served nearly 16 years after a false conviction for aggravated robbery and kidnapping. And now so has the state bar association, which asserts that the fees are �prohibited by law� and �unconscionable.�

The disputes have bitterly divided the community of lawyers and activists who struggle to help the falsely accused, and they have brought an uncomfortable spotlight on the practices of some within the Innocence Project of Texas, whose co-founder and chief counsel, Jeff Blackburn, is in line to collect $413,000 of the Glasheen fee for referring the Phillips civil case to him.

...Wait. He was specifically hired to file a lawsuit. He decided on his own not to bother to file the lawsuit and do something else instead, and now he wants to be paid for it??

For all his altruistic ideals expressed in public press releases and interviews, the Innocence Project was never more to Jeff Blackburn than treasure to be plundered.....

[This message was edited by GPuryear on 05-10-11 at .]

Did Mr. Glasheen really say he "got drug behind the pickup truck?"

Among other offensive things that he is doing, that statement itself shows his true colors (ok, "true colors" is not really what I wanted to say but I respect Shannon's authority on the forums).

[This message was edited by Gretchen on 05-09-11 at .]