Ed Gray, attorney and author of the book Henry Wade’s Tough Justice, gave the program at the Bonham Rotary Club’s meeting on February 15. Ed worked for Henry Wade as a prosecutor in Dallas for five years. He spent about one and one half years studying and researching cases, mostly in Dallas County, of people who were wrongly convicted of a crime and spent time in prison.

With DNA testing now available, many people in prison are being released because they are proved to be innocent. In the last 10 to 15 years, 10% of the nation’s wrong convictions that were overturned occurred in Dallas.

Ed wanted to know how these innocent people got convicted. He told of many cases where the one that was convicted and sent to prison was actually innocent with solid evidence that they could not have been at the crime scene. Ed finally concluded that three things caused these mistakes which were: eye witnesses identifying the wrong person, the police work was sloppy, and some of the prosecutors were overzealous. After the meeting, many commented that we still have the best judicial system in the world.   

Ed is a Bonham High School graduate, Texas University graduate and he received his law degree from S.M.U.   

The Bonham Rotary Club meets every Wednesday at 12:00 noon at the Family Life Center.

(L-R): Rotarian and Fannin County Criminal District Attorney Richard Glaser, Ed Gray, Rotarian Bobby McCraw and Pat Porter