Anita Byington case: Convicted murderer’s declaration of innocence goes to the criminal appeals court

AUSTIN, Texas – Allen Andre Causey, a man convicted of murder more than thirty years ago, is fighting for his innocence as his claim now moves through the courts.

He was convicted of the death of 21-year-old Anita Byington. She was found beaten to death on August 11, 1991.

On August 26, 2024, she would have celebrated her 55th birthday.

Her cousin Kristina Byington went to the spot behind an East Austin apartment complex where she was killed to pay her respects.

“She had a future ahead of her. She was in college. She was funny. She was vibrant. She was beautiful. She lost everything, everything she could have become,” Kristina said.

After a trial in 1992, Causey was sentenced to 50 years in prison and was released on parole two years ago.

He worked to clear his name.

“I think he is so happy to be back in court and finally be able to prove what his lawyer tried desperately to prove at trial, which was that his confession was false and that he was not the perpetrator of this horrific crime,” said Jessi Freud, senior staff attorney at the Innocence Project of Texas.

Causey’s lawyers at the Innocence Project say that in addition to the coerced confession, evidence was withheld and false testimony was given at his trial.

A district judge agreed with three of four counts but ruled there was insufficient evidence to establish actual innocence. The case now goes to the criminal appeals court.

“We were, of course, very pleased with the district court’s decision. They found that his trial was basically completely unfair, that police officers got on the stand and perjured themselves, that other state witnesses got on the stand and perjured themselves. We proved that. There was exculpatory evidence that should have been disclosed to his trial lawyers that was not disclosed by the prosecution at the time. It was the same group of detectives from the Austin Police Department that convicted Chris Ochoa and Richard Danziger, the same group in 1988, and they convicted Mr. Causey,” said Mike Ware, executive director of the Innocence Project. “We’re a little disappointed that they apparently found there wasn’t enough evidence to reach that fourth point. Hopefully the appeals court will revisit that.”

Kristina disagrees with Causey’s claim but still believes he is guilty.

“We hope they will review all the evidence, rule against Causey and uphold the verdict so justice is done,” she said.

Court records point to another possible suspect, Kevin Harris, who was last seen with Anita the night of her death. The judge’s ruling states, “Although the newly discovered evidence incriminates Kevin Harris, it does not constitute positive proof of the applicant’s innocence.”

Kristina is frustrated with the reopening of the case and claims that the prosecution has not communicated with her.

“This whole process feels like the murder happened again. All these hearings and everything, it’s traumatic. And the prosecution hasn’t made it any easier. They’ve made it even harder,” she said.

Terry Keel, Kristina’s lawyer, says: “The judge saw through this and refused to accept actual innocence. That’s really an amazing thing. It gives me a lot of confidence that at the end of the day, the system still works in some ways. We just don’t have a good district attorney for the victims here.”

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Alan Byington, another cousin of Anita, disagrees.

“There was a tremendous amount of evidence against the man Anita was last seen with. All of this information was kind of shocking. My parents and I didn’t know about this evidence back then, 30 years ago,” he said. “I believe Andre Causey is innocent and has nothing to do with my cousin’s murder. The police didn’t do their job at all 30 years ago to find the actual rapist and murderer.”

The Travis County District Attorney’s Office released the following statement:

“The murder of Anita Byington was a tragedy, and our hearts continue to break for her family and loved ones. The prosecution’s goal in this case is to identify the person responsible for Anita’s murder and hold them accountable. We agree with the judge’s recommendation in this case to grant Mr. Causey a new trial because the prosecutor withheld evidence during the original murder trial. In addition, new evidence has recently emerged that suggests another perpetrator was at the crime scene and shows that the other suspect conducted a cover-up. Based on this evidence, we believe Mr. Causey is innocent and that the other perpetrator should be brought to justice. The prosecution will continue to work through appropriate legal channels to achieve this goal.”

Read the full statement from the Innocence Project of Texas here:

“Andre, his wife Dellanda, and all of us on Andre’s legal team are grateful to the judge for her patience in working through and hearing this case over the past nearly two years. We are very positive about the judge’s recommendations for relief in three of our four actions, which are based on a review of the entire case file, including the original evidence. In our Brady action, the judge found that prosecutors failed to disclose material exculpatory evidence supporting Andre’s account of his interrogation, despite a court order issued by the trial judge ordering its production. The judge also found that two key witnesses gave false testimony at trial, one of whom was an Austin police officer who supervised the homicide unit, thereby depriving Andre of a fair trial. While we disagree with the judge’s reasoning for not making a factual finding of innocence, we hope the Court of Appeals will do so because the evidence of innocence is compelling and overwhelming and includes new DNA evidence that forensically links the true perpetrator to the crime, as well as testimony from credible, newly discovered witnesses that completely refutes the only piece of evidence against Andre, the police typed confession. Andre wants a judicial recognition of his innocence, and we firmly believe he deserves it because the evidence proves he did not commit this crime. We sympathize with Anita Byington’s relatives; when police and prosecutors make mistakes at trial, it is not just the innocent people and their loved ones who suffer.”