| In March 2016, 51-year-old David Mackley was charged in McLennan County, Texas with failing to register as a sex offender. The charge was based on a conviction two decades earlier in Illinois for aggravated sex abuse.
Later in the year, when Mackley failed to appear for a hearing in McLennan County Criminal District Court, a warrant for his arrest was issued. On November 4, 2016, Mackley was arrested on a charge of unauthorized possession of a motor vehicle. He was also charged once again with failing to register as a sex offender.
On March 7, 2017, Mackley pled guilty to both charges of failing to register as a sex offender. He was sentenced to seven years in prison.
On December 13, 2019, when Mackley was released from prison on parole, Texas prison officials informed him that he was not required to register. In fact, officials said, the Illinois sex offense for which he had been convicted had been removed from the list of crimes that required registration in Texas.
As a result, in March 2020, attorney Walter Reaves, Jr. filed separate state law petitions for a writ of habeas corpus seeking to vacate Mackley’s two convictions for failing to register. The district court recommended that the writs be granted. On April 15, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals granted the writs and vacated the convictions.
On June 25, 2020, the McLennan County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the charges. Also in 2020, Mackley received $194,583 in state compensation for his wrongful conviction.
– Maurice Possley
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