Posted on 04/19/2013 4:21:28 PM PDT by Orange1998
GEORGETOWN, Texas (AP) — A former district attorney acted improperly when he prosecuted an innocent man who spent nearly 25 years in prison, a Texas judge ruled Friday as he ordered the former prosecutor's arrest on criminal contempt and tampering charges.
Ken Anderson was in the courtroom as Judge Louis Sturns issued his ruling and turned himself in afterward. Sturns said there was sufficient evidence that Anderson was guilty on all three charges brought against him for his handling of the case against Michael Morton: criminal contempt of court, tampering with evidence and tampering with government records.
"Mr. Anderson consciously chose to conceal the availability of the exculpatory evidence so he could convict Mr. Morton for murder," Sturns said. "This court cannot think of a more intrinsically harmful act than a prosecutor's intentional choice to hide evidence so as to convict a defendant facing a murder charge and a life sentence."
Morton, 58, was released from prison in October 2011 after new DNA tests showed he did not fatally beat his wife, Christine, in their north Austin home in 1986. Another man has been arrested for the killing. Anderson, who has been a judge in Williamson County since 2002, has apologized to Morton for what he called failures in the system but said he believes there was no misconduct in the case.
(Excerpt) Read more at chron.com ...
Anderson can apologize again after he serves 25 years in the big house general population.
Damn, I thought it was going to be for they guy that hounded Delay into oblivion.
If this catches on then that will reign in these out of control DAs trying to climb the political ladder on the backs of any and all defendants,guilty or otherwise.
Actions like this need to be taken against every cop and lawyer in the country. It sickens me to see documentaries that prove someone’s innocence then he’s let go but the DA and cops still say “We got the right man”. I want to see them all prosecuted.
John Bradley should be in jail as well. This case was shamefully prosecuted, IMHO. Thank goodness for The Innocence Project and their tireless efforts on behalf of Michael Morton (on behalf of justice, actually)
Wonder if this will call into question every case Anderson presided over as judge..?
This needs to happen to Angela Cory and the perpetually aggrieved group in Florida.
What political party does Anderson belong to?
The prosecutors, especially Federal prosecutors, are as corrupt as the criminals, but they rarely pay a price.
>> Actions like this need to be taken against every cop and lawyer in the country...I want to see them all prosecuted.
Really, nOOb? ALL of them prosecuted? Even the ones that haven’t committed any offenses? (Which is *most* of them, you know.)
That’s just stupidity.
First of all, I’ve been coming here for a lot longer than you, noob. Ever heard of changing your screen name, noob?
Or is that “just stupidity”?
Second, what does time on FR have to do with anything?
Third, you know very well what I was talking about. Every lawyer or cop who does something like this guy did should be prosecuted. Or, did you actually think I meant EVERY lawyer and cop period? Thinking that is, as you said: “That’s just stupidity”.
>> Ever heard of changing your screen name, noob?
What was your old screen name, then... bitch?
>> Third, you know very well what I was talking about.
No, bitch, I’m afraid I’m not a mind reader. I only know what you *SAID*, bitch.
Now GFY. Noob.
Ken Anderson is a Republican as is Judge Sturns.
Mr.Nervous,
I didn’t know you were allowed to call people profane names and tell people to GFY on here.
It was a great day! This and the Travis County DA got led away in cuffs to prison for 45 days as a result of her DWI arrest at almost 3x the limit.
She did it up right: spit mask, tied to a chair, screaming.
Well, apparently one *is*, when one is up against a lying dumbass of a nOOb that makes outrageous, unsupportable statements against ALL leo and prosecutors, and then — surprise, surprise! — fails to support those statements.
I noticed you didn’t answer my question either. What was your old screen name and when did you first sign up? Huh, nOOb?
While we’re at it... are you a monthly? Or just sucking for free off of the tit everyone else fills?
But what was he in eighty three? I ask because I tried to find out. In 83 Texas was demcrat. And the many accounts did not mention what he was. They just said his judgeship was a GOP appt. I think there’s spin.
I would not be surprised if Anderson was GOP back in 1985. Williamson County was a Republican stronghold long before Texas as a whole went Republican - predominantly people fleeing the liberal lunacy of neighboring Travis County (Austin).
When I was in Texas in the eighties, I was a registered Democrat. My bet is that he was a Democrat, and the reason I can’t find out is that the media does not want me to know. They do mention that he was appointed by a Repub.
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