Posted on 11/09/2013 6:36:09 AM PST by Uncle Chip
Former Texas prosecutor and district court judge Ken Anderson agreed Friday to serve 10 days in jail, complete 500 hours of community service and give up his law license for hiding evidence in a 1987 murder trial that sent an innocent man to jail for nearly 25 years.
Anderson hid two crucial pieces of evidence from the defense team of Michael Morton, who was accused of beating his wife to death, which would have supported their theory that Morton’s wife Christine was killed by a stranger who came into the house via an unlocked back door, not her husband.
According to The Austin American-Statesman, Anderson hid a typewritten transcript of an interview with Christine Morton’s mother, Rita Kirkpatrick, that revealed Morton’s 3-year-old son saw the murder take place, described the attacker as a “monster” and said Michael was not home during the attack.
Anderson also hid a police report about the suspicious behavior of an unknown driver of a green van who had on several occasions parked and walked into the wooded area behind the Morton’s home before the murder.
Anderson offered up a different theory, that Michael Morton killed his wife Christine in a late-night fit of rage, staged the home to appear as if a break-in had occurred, and left to go to work the next day.
According to the medical examiner on the case, the time of death could have been no later than 1:15 a.m., which made Morton the only viable suspect. No witnesses or forensic evidence ever tied Morton to the crime, and a murder weapon was never found.
Morton was released in 2011 after an appeals-court-ordered DNA test of blood from a blue bandanna found on the street behind the house revealed that a man named Mark Alan Norwood was the actual killer.....
(Excerpt) Read more at america.aljazeera.com ...
**I would hope that this conviction will enable the falsely imprisoned man to sue and take everything he has.**
The idiot should be hanged for sedition. When you overthrow someone’s rights you are effectively overthrowing what is their country to them. That oath in court of “so help me God” should be a warning of your impending death should you lie in court.
Looked at the comments but
did NOT click on the link
AlJazeera, really? WTF?
Come on gang, let’s not support America’s enemies here.
Whoa -- too bad it doesn't come out of Anderson's retirement account.
I did a double take when I saw that too. But then after looking for the story on another site, this one was the best written, most complete, and most straight-forward on this story.
If you don’t want to support the enemy then do a better job with the journalism.
Should have been longer.
I was hopping the prosecutor was named Earl.
**************
Wrong county....
The punishment for a crime should be prison, etc., not Thunder Dome.
Yeah, that is the second travesty with this case, he is in Austin.
How can you pay a man for 25 years of his life? You can not put a money figure on this.
Ban aljazeer post on FR.
Innocence Project involvement...
http://www.statesman.com/news/news/ken-anderson-to-serve-10-days-in-jail/nbmsH/
After the hearing, Innocence Project co-founder Barry Scheck announced that an
independent review will be conducted of all cases prosecuted by Anderson
during his 16 years as district attorney to determine if there were any other
cases with hidden evidence.
The review, in conjunction with current Williamson County District Attorney
Jana Duty, will be conducted by the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association,
the Innocence Project of Texas and Innocence Project of New York, he said.
end snip
What I never understand about these wrongful conviction cases is why the wrong party often confesses to the crime. If I knew I had not done what I was being accused of, there is no way I would sign anything that says I did it.
In a just world he would have to serve out the sentences he deliberately and falsely imposed on others, but 10 days and a $500 fine is a good start.
Love Texas.
Nope.
Know your enemy. Know what he says. Know how he says it.
“If I were the judge, I’d never quit looking over my shoulder wondering when Morton will extract his rightful revenge. That ever-present wondering will a bit of his own prison.”
He should never have a peaceful moment in his stolen life ever again. And, if something should happen, If on a jury, I personally would not convict the person who did it for any charge more serious than littering.
Interesting that this story comes via Aljazeera in America.
There is no criminal immunity for prosecutors and judges. What there is is a normally unwillingness to actually prosecute them.
No, you meant “you” wanted errors to be on the side of innocence. It has been my observation that prosecutors want a conviction. Truth be damned.
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