Ex parte Thompson (2005)

In Ex parte Thompson, 153 S.W.3d 416, 418 (Tex. Crim. App. 2005) the applicant was convicted of sexually assaulting his five-year-old daughter, who was eight years old at the time of trial. At the habeas hearing, the complainant, now 20 years old, testified that the sexual abuse never happened, but that her mother had pressured her into making the allegations against her father as part of a custody dispute. Id. at 419. The complainant's mother also testified at the habeas hearing and admitted to having doubts about whether the applicant had committed the acts for which he had been convicted. Id. Additionally, there was testimony that the physical evidence of abuse in the case, a torn dress worn by the complainant at the time of the alleged abuse, which had led the mother to suspect that abuse had occurred, was the result of a fall on a bus and not the result of anything the applicant had done to the complainant. Id. Finally, the applicant presented the testimony of Lynn Corsi, "an attorney and licensed Master Social Worker who had worked as an assistant district attorney prosecuting cases of child abuse and neglect and who had founded the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center." Corsi, who had reviewed the transcript and record of applicant's trial, the affidavit and testimony of the complainant, a three-hour interview with the complainant, and the testimony at the habeas hearing, opined that the complainant's recantation was valid and explained in detail the bases for her opinion. Id. at 420. The trial court found that the applicant had satisfied his burden of proving his actual innocence and recommended relief. Id. The court of criminal appeals found that the trial court's findings were supported by the record and granted relief. Id. at 420-21.