AUSTIN, Texas — For the past few years, the Innocence Project of Texas has been working to exonerate a man charged with a murder from more than 30 years ago.
But because of a new ruling by a Travis County judge, these legal proceedings are now moving up to the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Background on the case
Allen Andre Causey was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder of 21-year-old Anita Byington in East Austin in 1991.
The Travis County District Attorney’s Office and Causey’s attorneys have had several hearings this past year to prove his innocence. New evidence they introduced during these hearings implicated a new suspect in the case.
But Judge Chantal Eldridge ruled that while the new evidence does incriminate the new suspect in the case, it does not prove Causey’s innocence.
Causey’s attorneys objected to Eldridge’s ruling and are now asking the Court of Criminal Appeals to look at it. In a statement from the Innocence Project of Texas, they wrote that they are hopeful the Court of Criminal Appeals will rule in their favor. Below is a part of that statement:
While we disagree with the Judge’s reasoning for why she did not make an actual innocence finding, we are hopeful that the Court of Criminal Appeals will do so as the evidence of innocence is compelling and overwhelming and includes new DNA evidence forensically linking the true perpetrator to the crime, as well as testimony from credible newly discovered witnesses which completely disproves the singular piece of evidence against Andre, the police-typed confession.
The judge’s ruling also found evidence in Causey's statement and Austin Police Det. Hector Polanco's testimony could have been false or misleading. She said it violated Causey's rights because the false or misleading evidence could have affected or influenced the jury's judgment.
Causey’s fight for exoneration came out of documents the DA’s office found a few years ago, showing that during the early 1990s, several APD detectives were coercing people into making false written confessions of crimes. This era has now become known as the “Polanco Era" because of evidence proving that Det. Polanco coerced confessions out of several people.
Causey’s written confession to the murder of Byington came during the “Polanco Era.”
Eldridge recommended that, upon the Court of Criminal Appeal’s decision, there should be a new trial because of this potential false or misleading evidence in the original trial.
Byington's family's reaction
Byington's family and their attorney, Terry Keel – also a former assistant Travis County district attorney – have been fighting back against these proceedings. They claim that they have been left out of many important legal proceedings and findings, and they remain convinced that Causey is guilty.
"The DA's office and the Innocence Project collaborated together to present one side of this towards exoneration and excluded all the evidence that was in court that showed the guilt of the defendant,” Keel said.
Keel also said he believes there's something wrong with the current DA's office in Travis County and also in other cities across the U.S.
"The District Attorney's Office in Austin, in Travis County represents the criminal. They do not represent the victims of the crime, and Austinites need to understand that," Keel said. "The DA's Office is against you. They're going to work against you if it suits their political agenda."
On Monday, Kristina Byington, Anita Byington's, first cousin and several other family and friends traveled to see the crime scene for the first time on what would have been Anita Byington's 55th birthday.
"She lost everything – the kids she may have had, grandkids by now," Kristina Byington said. "Right now, she should be celebrating somewhere and instead, she's in a grave."
Kristina Byington said having to go through these legal proceedings has been retraumatizing. She didn't find out about the Innocence Project working to exonerate Causey until she saw a post on Facebook about it.
"It feels like if the murder happened again," Kristina Byington said. "It's a traumatization."
Statement from the DA's Office
The Travis County District Attorney's Office issues this statement regarding the legal proceedings:
"The murder of Anita Byington was a tragedy, and our hearts continue to break for her family and loved ones. The goal of the District Attorney’s Office in this case is to identify the person responsible for Anita’s murder and hold them accountable. We agree with the Judge’s recommendation in this case that Mr. Causey be granted a new trial because the trial prosecutor withheld evidence during the original murder trial. In addition, new evidence recently came to light that placed an alternate perpetrator at the scene of the crime and showed that the alternative suspect engaged in a cover-up. Because of this evidence, we believe that Mr. Causey is innocent and that the alternative perpetrator should be brought to justice. The District Attorney’s Office will continue to work through appropriate legal channels to achieve that goal."