They served a combined 427 years in prison, and now, many of the state's wrongfully convicted are speaking out.

Some former inmates -- convicted of crimes they didn't commit -- took part in a summit at the State Capitol Thursday, pushing for changes in the Texas criminal justice system.

One of the former inmates was Carlos Lavernia, once dubbed the "Barton Creek Rapist," after being convicted of two rapes in Austin in the early eighties, and being suspected in five others.

"The case was made up by the police department back in 1983," Lavernia told lawmakers, prosecutors, police chiefs and attorneys assembled for the summit.

Lavernia served 15 years behind bars before DNA evidence exonerated him. He is one of 33 wrongfully convicted in Texas who have been proven innocent by DNA or other new evidence.

"The system failed us. All of us. The system failed," said James Giles, former inmate.

Independent "innocence projects" all over the nation help re-examine the cases of those who believe they are innocent, and have led to the exonerations of many in Texas.

State Senator Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, called the summit to look at other ways to change the system to prevent more injustices. He supports a statewide "Innocence Commission" which would look at each wrongful conviction in Texas and propose ways to prevent them in the future.

"We're obviously participating in this to make sure that we stay up to date on anything we can do to make sure that people aren't wrongfully convicted," said Travis County District Attorney-elect Rosemary Lehmberg.

Defense attorneys and other policy leaders have called for fuller disclosure of their client's police files, taped interrogations and careful retention of DNA evidence.

"I think it's a chance to see if we can work out some solutions for the problems that led to their convictions, to the problems that forced them to stay in prison and never get a hearing," said Jeff Blackburn, who heads the Texas Innocence Project.