Crime | Dallas Dallas DA Makes Waves by Overturning Convictions DA makes waves with quest to root out wrongful convictions By Rob Quinn Posted Nov 15, 2008 6:34 AM CST Copied Dallas County DA Craig Watkins points towards historical documents connected to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy during a press conference in Dallas, Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) Craig Watkins is becoming famous for something rather unusual for a district attorney: getting people out of jail, the Wall Street Journal reports. The Dallas County prosecutor is painstakingly going through hundreds of convictions secured by his predecessors, using DNA evidence to overturn wrongful convictions. His Conviction Integrity Unit has freed six convicts in the last year alone. One had served 27 years for a murder he didn't commit. The exonerations have put Watkins in the national spotlight and made waves in the legal world. Critics accuse Watkins of being a "hug-a-thug" DA, and some prosecutors say he is giving the justice system a bad name. Watkins says his quest to correct the wrongs of the past—in a county notorious for slipshod, convict-at-all-costs prosecutions—isn't about publicity, but simply about doing the right thing. "We have the constitutional obligation to seek justice," he said. Read These Next Trumps ends trade talks with Canada. Gavin Newsom has filed a massive lawsuit against Fox News. New York Times ranks the best movies of the 21st century. Supreme Court gives Trump big win on national injunctions. Report an error