Ex-Texas DA Acted Improperly In Case That Sent Innocent Man To Prison (arrest warrant to be issued)
Source: Associated Press
GEORGETOWN, Texas A Texas judge has ruled that a former district attorney acted improperly when he prosecuted an innocent man who spent nearly 25 years in prison for his wife's murder.
District Judge Louis Sturns, of Fort Worth, said Friday he will issue an arrest warrant for Ken Anderson on criminal contempt and tampering charges for his handling of the case of Michael Morton.
Morton was released in 2011 after new DNA testing showed he had not killed his wife in 1985. His attorneys say Anderson hid evidence from Morton's defense that could have pointed to his innocence.
Anderson, who is now a judge, has denied any wrongdoing.
Read more: http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/358dabcb2df34687ae7b1943b3981c88/US-Wrongful-Conviction-Prosecutor
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)Hope his victims see justice. We need more of this.
lupulin
(58 posts)If this (now) judge willfully hid evidence I hope he gets at least 25 years.
jmowreader
(50,447 posts)The state of Texas executed him for something he didn't do.
Orrex
(63,084 posts)I thought that capital punishment was a great punishment and a terrific deterrent, and it works so perfectly well because it's never ever ever wrong!
Say it ain't so!
lupulin
(58 posts)it sounds like a horrible travesty. I'm glad that technologies for acquiring and vetting evidence are improving but there will always be horrible mistakes, human error, and human malfeasance.
Sheldon Cooper
(3,724 posts)lupulin
(58 posts)Bernardo de La Paz
(48,785 posts)LarryNM
(493 posts)azurnoir
(45,850 posts)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Morton_%28criminal_justice%29
how horrible for all involved, and the little boy who was robbed of both his parents
Shrike47
(6,913 posts)Examining little kids in court is damned difficult and really hard on the kids. (yes, I've done it.)
I do not mean to say his statements should have been withheld, just that they might not be as useful as you would imagine.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)this was a capital case and while a 3 year old might not be the best witness it is better than none
cstanleytech
(26,080 posts)sentence the person was convicted had to serve if its found to be done by malice by the prosecution.
LostOne4Ever
(9,267 posts)So this attorney steals over 2 decades of this mans life, and his punishment is less than half of that?
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,573 posts)Open up his cases to see if there was some quid pro quo going on with people who caught on.
jmowreader
(50,447 posts)Judges are elected. If you want to be seen by the voters as tough on crime you convict as much as you can and look for ultra harsh sentences. Texans and Idahoans love their hanging judges.(We have a judge up here who will put you in jail for a week with no work release for writing one bad check...there was one case last week, seven days in jail and restitution of $34.50. And they wonder why our jail is 200 percent of capacity, but stating the obvious as a solution (quit using jail as the default punishment for anything harder than left turn violations) means you want rapists and child molesters walking free.
Baitball Blogger
(46,573 posts)my concerns.
jmowreader
(50,447 posts)Judges and prosecutors are elected. Ninety-eight percent of us have no idea who is a good or a bad one of these officials - unless you are in the criminal justice system on a regular basis (whether that be as a lawyer, judge, prosecutor, paraprofessional or career criminal) you really don't know the people running for those offices. What we do know is their conviction rate, because that's public record. Because we are in a more-is-better society, a prosecutor who throws 95 percent of the people brought before him in jail simply must be a better prosecutor than one who throws only 75 percent of his cases in jail. That the 75 percent guy actually looks at the cases he was presented and throws out the DWB tickets when they hit his desk, and the 95 percent guy prosecutes everything as if it's a murder case, is beside the point. The 95 percent guy is a good prosecutor and the 75 percent guy is soft on crime.
In the great documentary "Idiocracy" Joe was arrested for being "unscannable" (everyone had an identifying barcode tattooed on his or her wrist, and Joe didn't have one) and for not paying his hospital bill. The prosecutor's main evidence was "just look at him." Unfortunately, and especially in the case of minorities, that seems to be the main evidence in way too many cases in the present-day US. "Yeah, he's black/brown/yellow/looks like a punk/has too many tattoos...he had to have done it."
The solution is to appoint prosecutors and judges rather than electing them, and not allow them to serve in their hometowns. A panel of sitting judges could pick new judges, and a panel of sitting prosecutors could pick prosecutors.
Response to jmowreader (Reply #30)
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Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)The above is a good start.
summerschild
(725 posts)Oh, never mind.
Shrub himself told us Texas had NEVER executed an innocent person.
I'm thankful Mr. Morton is finally free. I hope this judge goes down.
cpamomfromtexas
(1,243 posts)Friscopaul.blogspot.com
bluedigger
(17,077 posts)I found it to be a very good and compelling read about Morton's story.
marble falls
(56,358 posts)perp walk. Williamson County law enforcement all want to run for Congress or Governor or federal bench and are disciplined regularly for shenanigans. It seems he may well have to go to jail for at least a little while.
AnotherMcIntosh
(11,064 posts)This just isn't done.
killbotfactory
(13,566 posts)In Texas of all places.
Congrats to the Texas judge for not putting up with such heinous bullshit.
A prosecutor used state resources to ruin an innocent man's life after he lost his wife. He deserves to rot in jail.
lark
(23,003 posts)I'm shocked, I tell you, shocked!!
cosmicone
(11,014 posts)the current system of evaluating and promoting them based on conviction rates.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)The 3 year old probably never forgot what he saw. He's an adult now. Wonder what he has to say.
UnrepentantLiberal
(11,700 posts)I hope they go all the way with this and don't let him off with a slap on the wrist.
azurnoir
(45,850 posts)It goes beyond the transcript of the conversation about what 3-year-old Eric saw the morning his mother died that Mr. Mortons trial lawyers did not see. When his new lawyers dug through the old files, they discovered that neighbors had told the police that they had seen a man in a green van casing the Mortons home. And there was a report that Christine Mortons credit card had been used fraudulently after her death.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/us/exonerated-in-wifes-killing-father-renews-bonds-with-son.html?pagewanted=all
mountain grammy
(26,568 posts)jmowreader
(50,447 posts)If you dig a huge hole in your yard and someone falls in it, they charge you with maintaining an attractive nuisance. Throwing a judge in jail is another attractive nuisance situation; it's inviting someone to kill him.
OTOH, I see nothing wrong with sentencing him to sweep the truck lot at the Huntsville Pilot with a whisk broom while wearing a court jester costume with "I stole a man's life" embroidered on it, and ordering him to live in a pup tent near the fuel island, for the rest of his life.
The Wizard
(12,482 posts)of the adversarial system compared to inquisitorial is that in the adversary system winning is primary and justice secondary.