(Houston) The Houston Texas City Council voted on June 24 to appoint (pdf) Anthony Graves to the board of the Houston Forensic Science Center, NBC News reports.

Graves, 49, is capturing headlines because he spent 18 years in prison—most of it on death row—before his murder conviction was overturned in 2010. He has the full support of Houston Mayor Anise Parker, who submitted his nomination to serve on the nine-member board that replaced the scandalous Houston Crime Lab.

“Because I was wrongfully convicted and I know how the system failed, this appointment allows me to bring a fresh perspective to the board, because I can tell you about the pitfalls,” Graves told NBC News.

A now-disgraced district attorney prosecuted Graves for participating in the killing of six family members, including four children. Graves always insisted that he was innocent. During his time on death row, Texas issued two execution dates during his legal battle.

A breakthrough came when his co-defendant admitted—right before his own execution—that he lied about Graves’ involvement. Nevertheless, the state wanted to retry its cases against Graves, which ultimately fell apart and ended in his release.