HOUSTON (AP) – A former Texas prosecutor who alleges he was fired for refusing to withhold evidence from a defendant is getting help in his efforts to revive a wrongful termination lawsuit from an unlikely source: the Innocence Project.
The nonprofit legal group is perhaps best known for helping to exonerate wrongfully convicted individuals. But on Wednesday, the Innocence Project joined attorneys for former Nueces County prosecutor Eric Hillman in asking the Texas Supreme Court in Austin to reinstate the lawsuit.
Hillman’s attorneys argued that his firing goes against a 2014 state law designed to prevent wrongful convictions.
Attorneys for Nueces County and Texas say the state has immunity from lawsuits and that the 2014 law doesn’t protect prosecutors.
A ruling is expected on a later date.
