Yogurt Shop Exonerees Seek Restitution After 1991 Case Dismissal

Michael Scott and his daughter Jazmine Scott listen to a news conference after he was exonerated at a hearing for four men wrongfully accused in the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen and Maurice Pierce, who is deceased, were declared actually innocent during the hearing. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

After an emotional exoneration hearing last week, lawyers for the four men wrongfully accused of the 1991 yogurt shop murders said they were focused squarely on securing public declarations of innocence for their clients: Robert Springsteen, Michael Scott, Forrest Welborn and Maurice Pierce.

Now, with those exonerations in hand, the attorneys are turning toward what they describe as the next phase of justice: Some type of restitution for the men and their families who at Thursday's hearing detailed decades of unfounded agony, upheaval and harassment.

Forrest Welborn, right, leaves the courthouse with his attorney Steve Goodson, left, after being exonerated at a hearing for four men wrongfully accused in the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen and Maurice Pierce, who is deceased, were declared actually innocent during the hearing. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

"Justice is a very important word, and justice demands follow up," Springsteen's attorney, Tony Diaz, told the American-Statesman Monday. "Justice also requires accountability. I think it would be very reasonable and rational to believe there will be follow-up in the quest for accountability."

But the path to that justice is likely to look different for each man and their family.

Different legal paths

Although the four men were swept into the same investigation, their legal histories diverged — a distinction that will likely shape any effort to obtain restitution.

Springsteen and Scott were convicted in the late 1990s and early 2000s, largely based on confessions that courts later ruled were improperly obtained. Both men spent years in prison — about a decade each — before appellate courts overturned their convictions. Prosecutors ultimately dismissed the charges, but the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court for criminal cases, never formally declared them innocent at that time.

Welborn and Pierce were charged but never tried. Charges against them were dismissed before trial.

That procedural history matters.

Robert Scott, brother of Michael Scott, smiles after Michael was exonerated at a hearing for four men wrongfully accused in the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen and Maurice Pierce, who is deceased, were declared actually innocent during the hearing. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

The Tim Cole Act

Under the state’s Tim Cole Act, people who are wrongfully imprisoned can receive $80,000 for each year they spent behind bars, along with a lifetime annuity, tuition assistance at public colleges and universities and access to certain counseling and reentry services. The law is named for Tim Cole, who died in prison in 1999 while serving a 25-year sentence for a rape he did not commit.

Since 2009, Texas has paid about $118 million to at least 147 people deemed wrongfully convicted, according to the state comptroller’s office.

But Welborn would not be eligible for compensation under the Tim Cole Act because he was never convicted or imprisoned, said Charlie Press, director of the wrongful conviction clinic at the University of Texas School of Law. Pierce’s family would likewise not qualify under the statute. (Pierce died in 2010 during an unrelated confrontation with police.)

Kim Pierce, left, the widow of yogurt shop suspect Maurice Pierce, and their daughter Marisa, listen to a news conference after Maurice was exonerated at a hearing for four men wrongfully accused in the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen and Maurice Pierce, who is deceased, were declared actually innocent during the hearing. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

If eligible, Springsteen and Scott could each receive roughly $800,000 for the time they were incarcerated, in addition to annuity payments and benefits.

However, eligibility is not automatic. Historically, most people compensated under the Tim Cole Act were either declared actually innocent by the Court of Criminal Appeals or pardoned on the basis of innocence.

In this case, the Court of Criminal Appeals never made such a finding. Instead, a Travis County district judge declared the men "actually innocent" last week after police publicly renounced the case against them and identified the deceased serial killer Robert Eugene Brashers as the sole suspect in the case.

Because the exonerations took an atypical route, attorneys and legal experts say it is unclear whether the comptroller will determine that Springsteen and Scott qualify under the statute.

Potential civil litigation

Another possible avenue is civil litigation.

Experts say the three surviving men and Pierce’s family could pursue lawsuits against the city of Austin over the police investigation and against Travis County over prosecutorial decisions. Unlike the Tim Cole Act, civil lawsuits do not have statutory caps on damages.

"There is no ceiling in civil litigation," Press said. "It’s what a jury or judge determines is appropriate. But prevailing in a civil rights case is not straightforward."

Forrest Welborn, left, and his attorney Steve Goodson listen to the news conference after Welborn was exonerated at a hearing for four men wrongfully accused in the 1991 Austin yogurt shop murders at the Blackwell-Thurman Criminal Justice Center in Austin on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Forrest Welborn, Michael Scott, Robert Springsteen and Maurice Pierce, who is deceased, were declared actually innocent during the hearing. Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

Austin civil rights attorney Jeff Edwards previously represented a man named Richard Danziger in a wrongful conviction case stemming from a 1988 Austin murder. Danziger, who was beaten by another inmate while incarcerated and suffered a severe brain injury, was later exonerated through DNA testing. He received a $9 million settlement from the city of Austin and Travis County.

Edwards said he could "conceive of a credible claim" arising from the yogurt shop arrests and incarcerations, particularly for Scott and Springsteen, who were convicted and imprisoned.

"This is the kind of injustice that could result in a civil action," Edwards said.