Appeals court resets murder trial after finding evidence withheld

New evidence has come to light in the case of Alfred Dewayne Brown, left, with defense lawyer Robert Morrow at trial in 2005. New evidence has come to light in the case of Alfred Dewayne Brown, left, with defense lawyer Robert Morrow at trial in 2005. Photo: Jessica Kourkounis, Contract Photo: Jessica Kourkounis, Contract Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Appeals court resets murder trial after finding evidence withheld 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Texas' highest criminal court on Wednesday threw out the 2005 conviction and death sentence of Alfred Dewayne Brown after finding that the Harris County District Attorney's Office withheld material evidence favorable to Brown's case.

In a brief order, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals sent the case back to the lower court for a new trial.

District Attorney Devon Anderson now will have to decide whether to retry Brown for the 2003 death of veteran Houston Police Officer Charles R. Clark. Clark was shot while trying to stop the burglary of a check-cashing store.

Past coverage: Catch up on earlier articles about Alfred Dewayne Brown

On Wednesday, Anderson released a statement saying that the District Attorney's Office discovered that the defense was not provided material information at trial.

"As a result of this review, our office agreed that Mr. Brown should receive relief in his case so that justice could be served," read the statement. "Following our office's agreement that relief should be granted, today the Court of Criminal Appeals sent Mr. Brown's case back to the trial court for a new trial."

However, Anderson stopped short of saying whether she would go to trial again or dismiss the case.

"I will now carefully review and evaluate the case to determine the appropriate proceedings," Anderson said in the statement.

Brown had always maintained his innocence, insisting he was at his girlfriend's apartment the morning of the shooting, and made a land line call that could prove it. But his attorneys presented no evidence to back up that alibi. And his strongest alibi witness, his girlfriend, later changed her story and testified against him after being threatened by a grand jury.

After Brown lost his direct appeal, a private law firm, K&L Gates LLP, took Brown's case in 2007 and began searching for evidence to support his alibi.

Then, in the spring of 2013, a Houston homicide detective found an old box of documents from Brown's case while cleaning out his garage. Inside was a phone record that showed a land line call was made from the girlfriend's apartment exactly when Brown said he made it.

The phone record had been requested by the lead prosecutor on the case, Dan Rizzo. The district attorney's office said at the time the document must have been inadvertently misplaced and former DA Mike Anderson, the late husband of the current district attorney, quickly agreed to a new trial, although prosecutors still maintain Brown is guilty.

The new trial had to be approved by the court of criminal appeals.