CAPDS Forensic Project Saves Man From 60-Year Imprisonment by Debunking Faulty DNA Evidence

Overturned Conviction Marks Forensic Project’s Second Successful TCCA Case to Date

The Capital Area Private Defender Service (CAPDS)’s Forensic Project has successfully overturned the conviction of a man sentenced to 60 years in prison based on faulty science.

The crime for which Billy Faircloth was found guilty occurred in February 2011: A 62-year-old woman had gone to her car in the employee parking garage at 100 Congress Avenue around noon to take a nap. After an hour, she headed for the elevators to return to work. As she was walking, she was struck in the head with what she said was a brick.

As the attacker continued hitting her, she turned around and saw he was wearing a yellow shirt.

Two bystanders came to the woman’s aid as the attacker fled. Security was called, and when the police arrived they arrested Faircloth, saying his clothing matched the description of the attacker’s.

A rock found in the parking garage’s stairwell, as well as a cigarette pack, were sent to the Austin Police Department’s DNA laboratory for testing.

In summer 2016, the APD DNA lab was shut down after the Texas Forensic Science Commission conducted an audit and found issues with materials-handling and testing protocols. In 2021, the Austin City Council voted to move the lab from the police department’s authority and make it an independent entity.

Regardless, the DNA testing results of the cigarette pack and the rock, and the victim’s statement that her attacker was wearing clothes similar to Faircloth’s, led to Faircloth’s conviction on Feb. 15, 2012.

Shortly after the APD DNA lab’s closure in 2016, the APD DNA Review Project was established by the Travis County District Attorney’s Office and

CAPDS. The goal of the project is to review cases that were decided in large part due to DNA evidence analyzed by the former APD DNA lab, and to provide post-conviction litigation if necessary.

On July 20, 2022, CAPDS filed a writ application and other post-conviction pleadings asserting, among other things, that Faircloth’s conviction should be reversed under Texas’s “junk science statute.” The writ was supported by a report from DNA expert Dr. Bruce Budowle.

In October 2022, Travis County District Court Judge Selena Alvarenga recommended, with Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza’s agreement, that Faircloth be granted relief based on the junk science statute. Faircloth has been out on bond since then.

On March 29, 2023, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals adopted Alvarenga’s recommendation. The charge has been dismissed and Faircloth will not be retried for the charge of aggravated assault.

“The Court of Criminal Appeals’ ruling underscores the importance of the review and litigation of these cases,” said Stacie Lieberman, director of post-conviction programs for CAPDS.

“We are thankful for the court’s decision and for the commitment by the District Attorney’s Office to work with us to correct unjust convictions that were the result of the use of unreliable DNA evidence. We are also grateful for the commitment of Travis County, the City of Austin, and the Travis County judges to correct injustices that arose from the problems in the former lab.”

Jane Eggers is the supervising senior attorney for the APD DNA Review Project and served as lead counsel in the effort to overturn Faircloth’s conviction.

“We are very pleased that the Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in Mr. Faircloth’s favor, granting him much-deserved post-conviction relief,” she said.

Faircloth is enjoying his freedom and privacy now, declining to provide any further comment other than that he is grateful for the Court of Criminal Appeals’s decision and appreciates the great work of the Forensic Project.

Faircloth’s case is the second that CAPDS’s Forensic Project has brought before the Texas Criminal Court of Appeals.

In January 2021, Travis County District Judge Cliff Brown dismissed the charge of a controlled substance with intent to deliver against Lamarcus Turner at the recommendation of Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza.

CAPDS’s Forensic Project argued, and the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals agreed, that the DNA evidence in the case analyzed by APD’s lab was unreliable. The Forensic Project is funded through an interlocal agreement between Travis County and the City of Austin and a grant from the United States Department of Justice. Learn more about CAPDS at CAPDS.org and more about the Forensic Project at ForensicProject.org.

ABOVE (L-R): Attorney Belinda Wright, lead counsel Jane Eggers, and investigator Christen Chipman all worked to overturn Billy Faircloth’s conviction.