Wednesday, November 30, 2011

BULLETIN: TOMMY ZEIGLER; ORLANDO; HEARING TOMORROW (THURSDAY DECEMBER 1, 2011) TO DECIDE IF DNA TESTING WILL BE ALLOWED IN 1976 MURDER CASE: 13 NEWS;

A hearing Thursday could decide whether DNA testing will be done on evidence in a murder case from 1976.

The case involves William Thomas Zeigler Jr, currently on death row for the murders of his wife, in-laws and a customer in his Winter Garden furniture store. Zeigler himself was hurt in the shooting.

Supporters have long maintained that Zeigler was the victim of a set-up. They say Zeigler was well-known for his work to expose a loan-sharking scheme that preyed upon poor black migrant workers.

Zeigler said he arrived at the store on Christmas Eve 1976 to find power shut off. He says he was hit over the head by at least two men. He says he tried to defend himself, but was knocked unconscious.

Zeigler was accused and convicted of committing the murders to collect a $500,00 life insurance policy on his wife. They also claim that Zeigler's wife was having an affair with a man who was a prominent local figure, and that she planned to expose him before she was murdered.

In 2007, the Florida Supreme Court denied an appeal by Zeigler based on new DNA evidence.

The new hearing will take place in Orlando Thursday morning.

http://www.cfnews13.com/article/news/2011/november/351686/Hearing-Thursday-looks-into-1976-murder-case

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

MICHAEL MORTON; PART (5); THE ANDERSON APOLOGY; STATESMAN STORY REPORTS FROM DRAFT TRANSCRIPTS OF KEN ANDERSON'S (MORTON PROSECUTOR) DEPOSITION;

"Scheck alleged that Morton would not have needed modern DNA tests to prove his innocence if Anderson had followed the law about disclosing the police interview and other information, including a police report about a man acting suspiciously in the Morton neighborhood, before the 1987 trial.

Anderson, now a district judge in Georgetown, took strong exception to the allegation.

"You know, Mr. Scheck, you make these statements and these accusations, and you are acting like I have done something wrong," Anderson said. "I am upset about an innocent man being convicted. I don't have the language to express my feelings about this.""

REPORTER CHUCK LINDELL; THE STATESMAN;

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BACKGROUND: (Michael) Morton was the victim of serious prosecutorial misconduct that caused him to lose 25 years of his life and completely ripped apart his family. Perhaps even more tragically, we now know that another murder might have been prevented if law enforcement had continued its investigation rather than building a false case against Mr. Morton,” said Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law. “This tragic miscarriage of justice must be fully investigated and steps must be taken to hold police and prosecutors accountable.” In August, the Innocence Project announced that DNA testing on a bandana found near the Morton’s home where the murder occurred contained the blood of the victim, Christine Morton, and a male other than Morton. According to the papers filed by the Innocence Project yesterday, new DNA testing has connected the male DNA on the bandana to a hair that was found at the crime scene of a Travis County murder that was conducted with a similar modus operandi after Morton was incarcerated. Morton always maintained that the murder was committed by a third-party intruder. In the filing, the Innocence Project charges that Morton would never have been convicted of the crime if the prosecution had turned over as required evidence pointing to his innocence. Newly discovered evidence that was uncovered through a Public Records Act request that was not given to the defense includes: • A transcript of a taped interview by the chief investigator, Sgt. Don Wood, with the victim’s mother where the mother says that the couple’s three-year-old child witnessed the murder and provided a chilling account of watching a man who was not his father beat Christine to death. • A handwritten telephone message to Williamson County Sherriff’s Office (WCSO) Sgt. Wood dated two days after the murder reporting that what appeared to be Christine Morton’s missing Visa card was recovered at the Jewel Box store in San Antonio, with a note indicating that a police officer in San Antonio would be able to identify the woman who attempted to use the card. • A report by WCSO officer Traylor that a neighbor had “on several occasions observed a male park a green van on the street behind [the Morton’s] address, then the subject would get out and walk into the wooded area off the road.” • An internal, typewritten WCSO message to Sgt. Wood and follow up correspondence reporting that a check made out to Christine Morton by a man named John B. Cross was cashed with Christine’s forged signature nine days after her murder. The Innocence Project. (Morton's lawyers contend the Williamson County District Attorney at the time, Ken Anderson, withheld evidence that would have exonerated Morton. Lawyers have questioned Anderson, now a district judge, and others involved in the case to determine if there was misconduct involved. That process continues.)

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"Under eight hours of occasionally tense questioning, former prosecutor Ken Anderson testified that while his memory was foggy on details, he believed Michael Morton's trial lawyers were provided all necessary information about evidence pointing to his innocence," the Statesman story by reporter Chuck Lindell published on November 29, 2011 under the heading, "Anderson and Morton lawyers spar over DA's role in wrongful prosecution," begins.

"According to draft transcripts of his deposition provided to the American-Statesman, Anderson repeatedly sparred with defense lawyer Barry Scheck over his handling of the Morton case and a prosecutor's duty to disclose evidence favorable to a defendant," the story continues.

"Many of Scheck's questions focused on a taped police interview — which surfaced only recently — indicating that Morton's 3-year-old son witnessed his mother's 1986 murder and said his father was not home at the time.

Morton was recently freed after serving almost 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife, Christine, after new DNA evidence pointed to another man for the crime.

Scheck alleged that Morton would not have needed modern DNA tests to prove his innocence if Anderson had followed the law about disclosing the police interview and other information, including a police report about a man acting suspiciously in the Morton neighborhood, before the 1987 trial.

Anderson, now a district judge in Georgetown, took strong exception to the allegation.

"You know, Mr. Scheck, you make these statements and these accusations, and you are acting like I have done something wrong," Anderson said. "I am upset about an innocent man being convicted. I don't have the language to express my feelings about this."

"Now," Scheck interjected, "could part of your bad feelings about what happened in this case arise from the fact that you now realize that you did not turn over to Judge (William) Lott or the defense a whole series of reports that were exculpatory and might have led to Michael Morton's acquittal?"

"I can't imagine I did that," Anderson said.

Morton's lawyers with the Innocence Project in New York expect to file a final version of the two-day deposition, conducted under oath and on videotape, with a District Court in Georgetown today or Thursday. A lawyer for Anderson provided a draft version of the testimony to the American-Statesman on Tuesday.

In his deposition, Anderson said he did not recall any pretrial conversations with Morton's lawyers about potentially favorable evidence.

He also said he did not remember the police interview between sheriff's Sgt. Don Wood and Christine Morton's mother, Rita Kirkpatrick, conducted 11 days after the murder. According to Kirkpatrick, 3-year-old Eric Morton said a "monster" he did not recognize hit his mother until she stopped crying.

But Anderson insisted that he would have followed his usual practice of informing defense lawyers about the Kirkpatrick interview. "This whole thing is something that you would typically tell a defense attorney about," he said.

Morton's trial lawyers said Anderson never discussed Kirkpatrick's conversation or Eric's version of the attack on his mother, according to court briefs previously filed by Morton's appellate lawyers. Such information, particularly coming from the victim's mother, would have provided a key and memorable break in a case in which no physical evidence tied Morton to the crime, the briefs said.

William Allison, Morton's lead trial lawyer and now a University of Texas law professor, declined to discuss the case Tuesday.

In his deposition, Anderson said he was not required to provide defense lawyers with a copy of the transcript because the law required him to provide only admissible evidence. No court would have declared such a young boy competent to testify, he said, and rules against hearsay-based testimony would have precluded his grandmother from discussing the conversation on the stand.

"Do you not feel," Scheck asked, "that you had a responsibility to at least communicate that there was actually a transcript of that recording about what Eric said?"

Anderson replied, "I can't recall from 25, 26 years ago."

"So even today, if you were retrying this case," Scheck said, "you still would not turn over a copy of the Kirkpatrick interview?"

"I've been a judge for 10 years," Anderson replied. "I don't think like a prosecutor. I have no idea what I'd do today."

Anderson's testimony was the result of an agreement, apparently unprecedented in exoneration cases nationwide, between Morton's lawyers and John Bradley, Williamson County's current district attorney.

After two court challenges failed to quash a subpoena requiring his testimony, Anderson was deposed for six hours on Oct. 31 and two hours on Nov. 11. Wood and Mike Davis, a former assistant district attorney who assisted Anderson in Morton's trial, also have been deposed.

Wood testified that he estimated that the reports, notes and information he collected during the six-week investigation of Christine Morton's murder would have been 4 inches thick.

That testimony led to the area of harshest disagreement between Scheck and Anderson — an order by Lott, Morton's trial judge, to review details of Wood's investigation.

Defense lawyers had asked Lott, who died in 2009, to review Wood's file to determine whether it included any evidence favorable to Morton. Lott agreed and ordered Anderson to provide the "Wood report" and any accompanying field notes made during the investigation.

On the first day of trial, Lott ruled that he reviewed the file and found no evidence favorable to Morton. The file, sealed as part of the appellate record, wasn't opened until this summer, revealing only a five-page report detailing Wood's first day of investigation, and no notes.

Anderson insisted that he complied with Lott's order, which he said never included Wood's entire investigative file, and said he was shocked to discover that the file contained no notes.

"You have no independent recollection about what you turned over, when you turned it over, at all, do you?" Scheck asked.

"Absolutely not," Anderson replied."

The story can be found at:

http://www.statesman.com/news/williamson/anderson-and-morton-lawyers-spar-over-das-role-2002497.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

HANK SKINNER; INTER PRESS SERVICE ASKS IF TEXAS WILL EXECUTE HIM "DESPITE UNTESTED EVIDENCE."


"According to Owen, the case could have been decided over a decade ago. Post-conviction forensic testing of the evidence, which includes a rape kit, fingernail clippings from one of the victims, two knives and a windbreaker covered with hair and blood, was first requested in 2000.

Other doubts regarding Skinner's guilt emerged when a key witness for the prosecution recanted parts of her testimony.

"(The prosecution) is so committed to the idea that he's guilty that they haven't kept an open mind, and are unwilling to take another look at the evidence," said Owen."


REPORTER MICHAEL J. CARTER; IPS; Wikipedia informs us that, "
Inter Press Service (abbreviated: IPS) is a global news agency. Its main focus is the production of independent news and analysis about events and processes affecting economic, social and political development. The agency has established a niche in the international mediascape, not only by providing professional reporting on the Global South, civil society, and globalization, but also by covering topics in a more in-depth way than is common in the mainstream news...

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PUBLISHER'S VIEW: (EDITORIAL); In a rational world that values both justice and science it would be inconceivable to think that Texas would execute Hank Skinner before conducting important DNA tests that bear directly on his guilt or innocence. However, to this Blog, past history suggests that the irrational may be the order of the day - even on matters involving life and death. For a start, this is the state where Governor Rick Perry allowed the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham to proceed - even though he had been presented with a report casting serious doubt on the arson science that had been used to convict him. Secondly, this is the state where the governor did not even try to disguise raw political manoeuvres aimed at castrating the Texas Forensic Science Commission so that it would be unable to expose the rot at the heart of Willingham's conviction. Thirdly, this is the state that has been so eager to embrace DNA technology that can convict someone - yet so reluctant to use the same technology to exonerate those who have been wrongfully convicted of the most serious crimes. Lastly, Texas has shown that it values procedural correctness (the filing of court applications on time) - over certainty and human life. I fully agree with former federal prosecutor Mark Osler that "the commitment of prosecutors is too rooted in emotion to be a deciding factor in a case such as this, and the objectivity of courts must bring to bear what is right."

HAROLD LEVY; PUBLISHER; THE CHARLES SMITH BLOG;

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"SEATTLE, Nov 29, 2011 (IPS) - To date, 138 people have been exonerated from death row in the United States. That figure represents 11 percent of the 1,277 executions carried out since the reinstatement of the death penalty in the country in 1976." the IPS story by reporter Michael J. Carter published on November 29, 2011 under the heading,
"Will Texas Execute Man, Despite Untested Evidence?" begins.

"Could it be that innocent people have been mistakenly killed?" the story continues.

"There are a lot of cases with a lot of doubts," Rob Owen, an attorney specialising in capital punishment, told IPS. "It would be foolhardy to say we've never executed an innocent person given the amount of exonerations." In Texas, where 12 people have been exonerated, Owen is trying to prevent the execution of his client Hank Skinner, 49, on death row since 1995 for a triple homicide in Pampa, Texas. Critical DNA evidence that could potentially either exonerate him or confirm his guilt remains untested, and previous motions to access it for forensic testing have all been denied. The prosecution previously maintained that since Skinner's original court-appointed attorney chose to forgo DNA testing out of fear it would incriminate his client, Skinner is not entitled to further access. The Gray County District Attorney's office declined to comment to IPS. Although a new state law took effect Sep. 1 that cleared hurdles for post-conviction DNA testing, in early November, the trial court judge denied Skinner's most recent appeal without explanation. On Nov. 7, two days before he was scheduled to die, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ordered a stay on the execution, pending a review of the recent ruling. The stay was Skinner's second near miss. In March 2010, he came within an hour of execution until the Supreme Court intervened to consider judicial review, which was ultimately declined. According to Owen, the case could have been decided over a decade ago. Post-conviction forensic testing of the evidence, which includes a rape kit, fingernail clippings from one of the victims, two knives and a windbreaker covered with hair and blood, was first requested in 2000. Other doubts regarding Skinner's guilt emerged when a key witness for the prosecution recanted parts of her testimony. "(The prosecution) is so committed to the idea that he's guilty that they haven't kept an open mind, and are unwilling to take another look at the evidence," said Owen. Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Centre, feels the prosecution has grown frustrated by the challenges and delays in Skinner's case. "Only about 15 percent of people sentenced to death are executed," he told IPS, calling the recent ruling that denied Skinner access to forensic testing "sloppy work by the judge". Dieter expected the judge to be required to elaborate on his decision by the court of criminal appeals. Owens expects the appellate decision by late spring or early summer. "All the district attorney (has) got to do is turn over the evidence, test it and let the chips fall where they may," Skinner said in an interview with CNN last year. "If I'm innocent I go home. If I'm guilty I die." To date, 17 people have been exonerated from death row as a result of post-conviction DNA testing. Innocent until proven guilty? The issue remains whether the state should proceed with executions in cases with ambiguity and risk wrongful executions of the innocent. In January 2000, George Ryan, then-governor of Illinois, issued a moratorium on all executions after the state's 13th death row exoneration, which surpassed its total number of executions since 1976. Before leaving office in 2003, Ryan commuted all death sentences to life in prison. This year, Illinois became the 16th state to abolish the death penalty. "If the system can't be guaranteed 100 percent error-free, then we shouldn't have the system," Pat Quinn, the current governor, said. "It cannot stand." Illinois, with 20 exonerations, is surpassed only by Florida, with 26. Numerous factors hamper state justice systems, leading to wrongful conviction. They range from witness misidentification and improper forensic science to false confessions and unreliable informants, according to the Innocence Project, an organisation dedicated to exonerating innocent individuals through DNA testing. Other, less quantifiable issues such as ineffectual court-appointed defence lawyers and prosecutorial and police misconduct and racism, also play a part in wrongful conviction. Owen believes Skinner's case was a compounded by poor representation and what he described as "tunnel vision" with law enforcement and prosecutors. "There's a tendency to narrow the focus to that one suspect," he said. "It's a premature selection that screens out other suspects. They become so persuaded that they can't see the possibilities that he (Skinner) isn't guilty." "There's a lot of pressure to get a suspect," Dieter said. "You can't present a gray case to a jury. Prosecutors become adversaries for their side instead of their proper role of upholding justice and the law." In Texas, the issue of innocence has been highlighted again with new findings in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, executed in 2004 for the arson deaths of his three daughters. The Texas Forensic Science Commission recently closed its inquiry into the case that was fraught with unreliable forensic science. The state district attorney informed the commission that it had no jurisdiction in making a ruling on the case. The Innocence Project, which worked together with fire experts, concluded that Willingham was wrongfully charged and innocent of setting the fire for which he was executed. In 2002, capital punishment was ruled unconstitutional on the basis it violated the right to due process by posing a substantial risk of executing innocent defendants. That ruling was later overruled in circuit court and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case. As for the pending ruling in Skinner's case, Owen remains hopeful that access will be granted to untested DNA evidence. If it is not, he is prepared to pursue a lawsuit against the district attorney for access, and if necessary he can appeal to Governor Rick Perry. The death penalty has been in the spotlight with the highly controversial case of Troy Davis, who was executed in September despite the fact that seven of nine witnesses against him recanted their testimony, and other factors caused doubts about his guilt."

The story can be found at:

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=106022

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

BULLETIN: COLIN DUFFY AND BRIAN SHIVERS: JUDGE TO DECIDE THURSDAY ON WHETHER TO ADMIT CONTROVERSIAL DNA EVIDENCE; (UKPA);

BACKGROUND: Sappers Quinsey, 23, and Azimkar, 21, were shot dead by the Real IRA as they collected pizzas with comrades outside Massereene Army base in Antrim town in March 2009. Duffy, 44, from Forest Glade in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and Shivers, 46, from Sperrin Mews, in Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, deny two charges of murder and the attempted murder of six others - three soldiers, two pizza delivery drivers and a security guard. (U.S. expert) Dr (Mark) Perlin's forensic computer-based system strongly linked the two men to the getaway car used in the attack. But the academic's "true allele" method of analysing mixed genetic samples and deriving a likelihood ratio is relatively new and has never once been admitted as evidence in a UK or Irish court, and only on a few occasions in the United States...Patrick O'Connor QC, who represents Shivers, told Antrim Crown Court: "He (Perlin) is partisan and lacks all impartiality in relation to the merits and the limits of his system and that is a violation of his duty. He has demonstrated disdain and contempt for even the most eminent of those who do not follow his methods and that is why we suggest he is a man on a mission who has lost his objectivity." (UKPA);

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Massereene DNA ruling on Thursday

A judge in the trial of two men accused of murdering two soldiers, including one from London, will decide whether to allow controversial forensic evidence on Thursday.

Mr Justice Anthony Hart has been hearing legal arguments on the admissibility of the DNA test.

The prosecution claims the samples connect Colin Duffy and Brian Shivers to the gun attack on Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar, from London, outside their Army base in Antrim.

The defence believes the computer-based assessment of US expert Dr Mark Perlin has not been properly recognised by other scientists.

Prosecution barrister Terence Mooney QC told Antrim Crown Court: "It is admissible on the basis that it is derived from scientific evidence which is reliable, proven and advanced by an expert in the field.

"It is therefore evidence upon which the court can place confidence and give weight."

Sappers Quinsey, 23, and Azimkar, 21, were shot dead by the Real IRA as they collected pizzas with comrades outside Massereene Army base in Antrim in March 2009.

Duffy, 44, from Forest Glade in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and Shivers, 46, from Sperrin Mews, in Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, deny two charges of murder and the attempted murder of six others - three soldiers, two pizza delivery drivers and a security guard.

Dr Perlin's system strongly linked the two men to the getaway car used in the attack.

But the academic's "True Allele" method of analysing mixed genetic samples and deriving a likelihood ratio is relatively new and has never been admitted as evidence in a UK or Irish court, and only on a few occasions in the United States. The court will sit again on Thursday.

The story can be found at:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gTsWdAtQ6Yq7c6hwpIVT12v3K-mg?docId=B2432611322575436A0000

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

MICHAEL MORTON: PART (4); THE ANDERSON APOLOGY; AMERICAN THINKER; WHY THE JURY WAS TOO WILLING TO BELIEVE HIM;

"How did things go so wrong in the Morton case? Aside from questions of prosecutorial misconduct, a columnist for the Austin-American Statesman described a perfect storm of tragic events: prosecutor Ken Anderson had a fine reputation, wrote Alberta Phillips, and so the jury was too willing to believe him.

Moreover, they wanted to believe him. It made everybody in the community feel safer that, with Morton in prison, "[n]o monsters lurked under our beds," Phillips wrote.

Bryan, the distraught juror, is surely not unique in her anguish over convicting an innocent man."

DAVID PAULIN: AMERICAN THINKER;
American Thinker is a daily conservative online magazine] dealing with American politics, foreign policy, national security, Israel, economics, diplomacy, culture, and military strategy.

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BACKGROUND: (Michael) Morton was the victim of serious prosecutorial misconduct that caused him to lose 25 years of his life and completely ripped apart his family. Perhaps even more tragically, we now know that another murder might have been prevented if law enforcement had continued its investigation rather than building a false case against Mr. Morton,” said Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law. “This tragic miscarriage of justice must be fully investigated and steps must be taken to hold police and prosecutors accountable.” In August, the Innocence Project announced that DNA testing on a bandana found near the Morton’s home where the murder occurred contained the blood of the victim, Christine Morton, and a male other than Morton. According to the papers filed by the Innocence Project yesterday, new DNA testing has connected the male DNA on the bandana to a hair that was found at the crime scene of a Travis County murder that was conducted with a similar modus operandi after Morton was incarcerated. Morton always maintained that the murder was committed by a third-party intruder. In the filing, the Innocence Project charges that Morton would never have been convicted of the crime if the prosecution had turned over as required evidence pointing to his innocence. Newly discovered evidence that was uncovered through a Public Records Act request that was not given to the defense includes: • A transcript of a taped interview by the chief investigator, Sgt. Don Wood, with the victim’s mother where the mother says that the couple’s three-year-old child witnessed the murder and provided a chilling account of watching a man who was not his father beat Christine to death. • A handwritten telephone message to Williamson County Sherriff’s Office (WCSO) Sgt. Wood dated two days after the murder reporting that what appeared to be Christine Morton’s missing Visa card was recovered at the Jewel Box store in San Antonio, with a note indicating that a police officer in San Antonio would be able to identify the woman who attempted to use the card. • A report by WCSO officer Traylor that a neighbor had “on several occasions observed a male park a green van on the street behind [the Morton’s] address, then the subject would get out and walk into the wooded area off the road.” • An internal, typewritten WCSO message to Sgt. Wood and follow up correspondence reporting that a check made out to Christine Morton by a man named John B. Cross was cashed with Christine’s forged signature nine days after her murder. The Innocence Project. (Morton's lawyers contend the Williamson County District Attorney at the time, Ken Anderson, withheld evidence that would have exonerated Morton. Lawyers have questioned Anderson, now a district judge, and others involved in the case to determine if there was misconduct involved. That process continues.)

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"A tragic and Kafkaesque miscarriage of justice in central Texas grows more intriguing by the day, with one stunning development after another generating new headlines," the American Thinker story by David Paulin, published on November 17, 2011 under the heading, "In Texas, a tragic miscarriage of justice fails to excite the Liberal media," begins.

"Yet, strangely, the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton in 1987 for murdering his wife has failed to excite liberal media outlets and advocacy groups that typically go wild over such cases. Why?," the story continues.

"On Wednesday, the newest twist in the case made headlines: District Judge Ken Anderson -- the lead prosecutor who convicted Morton 25 years ago -- publicly apologized to Morton and those adversely affected by the wrongful conviction. The legal system had suffered a "system's failure," Anderson admitted. But he denied charges that prosecutors hid evidence that would have bolstered Morton's defense.

The former district attorney of Williamson County spoke outside the same historic courthouse where Morton, after being convicted 25 years ago, collapsed at the defense table, sobbing and proclaiming his innocence.

"I didn't do this. That's all I can say. I did not do this," said Morton, then 32 years old -- a man with no history of violence. He was sentenced to life in prison.

The case against Morton was built upon circumstantial evidence -- including what prosecutors in Williamson County, just outside the capital of Austin, had portrayed as Morton's supposedly inappropriate reactions to news of his wife's murder and a claim that there were some tensions in his marriage.

Prosecutors put forth a murder theory tailor-made for lurid supermarket tabloids: Morton was upset that his wife didn't have sex with him on his birthday, the previous day, and so he bludgeoned her to death in her bed. He then went calmly to his job at a grocery store at 5:30 a.m.

Morton, now 57, was exonerated last month by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after lawyers for Barry Scheck's New York-based Innocence Project overcame six years of objections from the William County district attorney and got a court order for new DNA testing of crime-scene evidence. The testing indicated that an intruder killed Christine Morton in 1986, as well as an Austin woman named Debra Baker after Morton was sent to prison. In 1988, Baker was beaten to death in her bed.

Last week, another stunning development made headlines: police arrested a suspect in Christine Morton's murder -- Mark Alan Norwood, 57, a dishwasher in Bastrop, Texas. He has a long criminal history. A bandana found near the crime scene contained DNA linked to Norwood and his victim. He has yet to be charged in Baker's death.

Morton's wrongful conviction has roiled the state's legal community as questions have emerged about prosecutorial misconduct in the case. Morton's lawyers are now pursuing Anderson and former assistant district attorney Mike Davis, now in private practice, claiming that they withheld evidence. Among other things, they want to know why a transcript from Christine Morton's mother was not made available to defense lawyers. She told the case's lead investigator that the couple's three-year-old son told her that a "monster" -- not his father -- had beaten his mother to death.

Prosecutors also allegedly withheld two other pieces of information: two weeks after Christine Morton's murder, her credit card was used in San Antonio. And a check made out to her was cashed with a signature deemed a forgery.

Judge Anderson, whom Gov. Rick Perry appointed in 2002, initially stonewalled efforts by Morton's lawyers to provide depositions aimed at learning whether he had intentionally withheld information that could have prevented Morton's wrongful conviction. However, a ruling by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals forced him to provide depositions. That same ruling applied to Davis.

The Texas attorney general plans to reinvestigate the murder case, and the State Bar of Texas, in charge of lawyer discipline, is undertaking its own investigation focusing on Anderson and Davis.

One of the jurors who convicted Morton was distraught and teary-eyed when discussing her role in convicting him -- and she was particularly upset that exculpatory evidence was allegedly kept from the jury. "We should have known something more," Lou Bryan, a retired high school English teacher in Round Rock, told a local television news channel. "And if that's the way it works in our system, then there is something wrong."

She noted that a few jurors had found holes in the case during their twelve hours of deliberations; however, their doubts were cast aside by, among other things, testimony from a forensic specialist that Christine Morton was killed when her husband was still at home, based on food in her system she'd eaten the previous night.

During Judge Anderson's public apology, one young woman at his news conference said that she wasn't about to forgive him. Caitlin Baker, daughter of the second woman whom Norwood is thought to have killed, said that "[m]y mother could be alive right now" if Anderson hadn't convicted an innocent man. "If he feels bad, prove it -- resign."

Morton now lives with his parents as he tries to rebuild his life. He's eligible to receive $2 million from the state for his wrongful conviction -- $80,000 for each year he spent in prison. "Thank God this wasn't a capital case," he said after a judge released him from prison early last month.

All in all, it has been a breathtaking series of events in recent weeks. So where are all the nation's liberal media outlets -- CNN, the New York Times, and others who love to showcase abuses of power and miscarriages of justice? Perhaps the case lacks an essential element for them: race.

Michael Morton is white, as was his wife. So were the prosecutors who convicted him. What's more, he was convicted in overwhelmingly white Williamson County by a jury that presumably was overwhelmingly white. All of this is at odds with the favorite liberal media narrative about horrific miscarriages of justice -- that they're typically committed by white prosecutors and white juries who allegedly harbor a racial animus against hapless black defendants and other minorities.

How did things go so wrong in the Morton case? Aside from questions of prosecutorial misconduct, a columnist for the Austin-American Statesman described a perfect storm of tragic events: prosecutor Ken Anderson had a fine reputation, wrote Alberta Phillips, and so the jury was too willing to believe him.

Moreover, they wanted to believe him. It made everybody in the community feel safer that, with Morton in prison, "[n]o monsters lurked under our beds," Phillips wrote.

Bryan, the distraught juror, is surely not unique in her anguish over convicting an innocent man. Her reaction reflects a bedrock value in America's criminal justice system and, indeed, Western culture. "Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer," observed famed English jurist William Blackstone.

Blackstone's 10-1 formulation has biblical underpinnings -- Abraham's argument with God over the fate of Sodom. "Will you consume the righteous with the wicked?" Abraham asks, and then presses that point, saying: "What if ten [righteous] are found there?" God replies: "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake." It's a concept that's hardwired into our culture and the expectations of ordinary Americans.

Liberal media outlets may find the Morton case dull -- not worthy of any showcase stories because in their minds, it fails to illuminate deeper problems in American society. But the perfect storm of events leading to Morton's conviction will continue to play out for months in Texas, out of sight and mind of liberal media outlets that cannot further their political agendas by covering the story in a big way. It would be another matter entirely if Michael Morton was black.

It's another sad aspect of this case."

For a YouTube clip of Morton being released by a judge on October 4, 2011 in Georgetown, Texas, click here. For a TV news clip of distraught juror Lou Bryan discussing her role in convicting Morton, click here.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/11/in_texas_a_tragic_miscarriage_of_justice_fails_to_excite_the_liberal_media.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

Monday, November 28, 2011

BULLETIN: ENGLEWOOD FOUR; PROSECUTORS GIVEN UNTIL JAN. 17 TO DECIDE IF WILL APPEAL JUDGE'S DECISION TO FREE THEM; DNA LINKED ANOTHER TO CRIME;

CHICAGO — Prosecutors now have more time to decide whether to appeal a judge's ruling that vacated the convictions of four men in a 17-year-old Chicago murder.

Cook County Circuit Judge Paul Biebel on Monday scheduled a new hearing for Jan. 17. The date gives the Cook County State's Attorney's office more time to decide whether to appeal his ruling, pursue a new trial or dismiss the charges.

Earlier this month, Biebel set aside the convictions after new DNA evidence linked another person to the crime.

The four — Michael Saunders, Harold Richardson, Terrill Swift and Vincent Thames — were teenagers when they were convicted in the murder of a woman in Chicago.

The judge also lifted travel restrictions on the men, which their attorneys had requested in exchange for the delay.

The story can be found at:

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/e3b16d53493b46f2b17116641bca5cdc/IL--Wrongful-Convictions/

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

COLIN DUFFY AND BRIAN SHIVERS. UK; ACCUSED OF SHOOTING DEAD TWO SOLDIERS. DEFENCE: DNA TESTING METHOD UNRELIABLE; U.S. EXPERT UNDER ATTACK; UKPA;

"The prosecution claims the samples allegedly connect Colin Duffy and Brian Shivers to the gun attack on Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar outside their army base in Antrim. The court is hearing legal submissions before judge Mr Justice Anthony Hart rules on the admissibility of the forensic evidence of US expert Dr Mark Perlin.

Patrick O'Connor QC, who represents Shivers, told Antrim Crown Court: "He is partisan and lacks all impartiality in relation to the merits and the limits of his system and that is a violation of his duty. He has demonstrated disdain and contempt for even the most eminent of those who do not follow his methods and that is why we suggest he is a man on a mission who has lost his objectivity.""

UKPA;

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"Controversial forensic evidence against two men accused of shooting dead two soldiers should be rejected because the testing method is unproven, a barrister for one of the accused has said," the UKPA story published earlier today under the heading, "DNA testing method 'unreliable," begins.

"The method of testing DNA has not been assessed in the UK or United States and is unreliable and selective, defence lawyers said," the story continues.

'The prosecution claims the samples allegedly connect Colin Duffy and Brian Shivers to the gun attack on Sappers Mark Quinsey and Patrick Azimkar outside their army base in Antrim. The court is hearing legal submissions before judge Mr Justice Anthony Hart rules on the admissibility of the forensic evidence of US expert Dr Mark Perlin.

Patrick O'Connor QC, who represents Shivers, told Antrim Crown Court: "He is partisan and lacks all impartiality in relation to the merits and the limits of his system and that is a violation of his duty. He has demonstrated disdain and contempt for even the most eminent of those who do not follow his methods and that is why we suggest he is a man on a mission who has lost his objectivity."

Sappers Quinsey, 23, and Azimkar, 21, were shot dead by the Real IRA as they collected pizzas with comrades outside Massereene Army base in Antrim town in March 2009.

Duffy, 44, from Forest Glade in Lurgan, Co Armagh, and Shivers, 46, from Sperrin Mews, in Magherafelt, Co Londonderry, deny two charges of murder and the attempted murder of six others - three soldiers, two pizza delivery drivers and a security guard.

Dr Perlin's forensic computer-based system strongly linked the two men to the getaway car used in the attack. But the academic's "true allele" method of analysing mixed genetic samples and deriving a likelihood ratio is relatively new and has never once been admitted as evidence in a UK or Irish court, and only on a few occasions in the United States.

Barry MacDonald QC, who represents Duffy, told the court: "The validation of new scientific methods and processes should only be regarded as having been achieved if they are accepted by the wider scientific community. That has not happened in the present case."

Mr O'Connor QC added: "This is a man who will (turn down) no opportunity to support what he sees as a major contribution to the world of science and he is on a mission to promote it."

The National Institute for Science and Technology in the US is assessing his methods."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5h_W1byhpxWiThtKwTUi6h8oq2pTg?docId=N0131031322496660712A

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

MICHAEL MORTON: PART (3): THE ANDERSON APOLOGY: THE STATESMAN SEES IT AS "A RHETORICAL SLEIGHT OF HAND."

"Blaming the system is a convenient rhetorical device for a public official in a tough spot, but it renders Anderson's apology hollow. If he is truly sorry, then Anderson should turn remorse into action by actively working to reform the system in a way that prevents future miscarriages of justice. Start with eliminating barriers that prevent post-conviction DNA testing and creating tougher sanctions against prosecutors who hide key evidence."

EDITORIAL: THE STATESMAN;

----------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND: (Michael) Morton was the victim of serious prosecutorial misconduct that caused him to lose 25 years of his life and completely ripped apart his family. Perhaps even more tragically, we now know that another murder might have been prevented if law enforcement had continued its investigation rather than building a false case against Mr. Morton,” said Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law. “This tragic miscarriage of justice must be fully investigated and steps must be taken to hold police and prosecutors accountable.” In August, the Innocence Project announced that DNA testing on a bandana found near the Morton’s home where the murder occurred contained the blood of the victim, Christine Morton, and a male other than Morton. According to the papers filed by the Innocence Project yesterday, new DNA testing has connected the male DNA on the bandana to a hair that was found at the crime scene of a Travis County murder that was conducted with a similar modus operandi after Morton was incarcerated. Morton always maintained that the murder was committed by a third-party intruder. In the filing, the Innocence Project charges that Morton would never have been convicted of the crime if the prosecution had turned over as required evidence pointing to his innocence. Newly discovered evidence that was uncovered through a Public Records Act request that was not given to the defense includes: • A transcript of a taped interview by the chief investigator, Sgt. Don Wood, with the victim’s mother where the mother says that the couple’s three-year-old child witnessed the murder and provided a chilling account of watching a man who was not his father beat Christine to death. • A handwritten telephone message to Williamson County Sherriff’s Office (WCSO) Sgt. Wood dated two days after the murder reporting that what appeared to be Christine Morton’s missing Visa card was recovered at the Jewel Box store in San Antonio, with a note indicating that a police officer in San Antonio would be able to identify the woman who attempted to use the card. • A report by WCSO officer Traylor that a neighbor had “on several occasions observed a male park a green van on the street behind [the Morton’s] address, then the subject would get out and walk into the wooded area off the road.” • An internal, typewritten WCSO message to Sgt. Wood and follow up correspondence reporting that a check made out to Christine Morton by a man named John B. Cross was cashed with Christine’s forged signature nine days after her murder. The Innocence Project. (Morton's lawyers contend the Williamson County District Attorney at the time, Ken Anderson, withheld evidence that would have exonerated Morton. Lawyers have questioned Anderson, now a district judge, and others involved in the case to determine if there was misconduct involved. That process continues)

---------------------------------------------------------

"Even as he offered an apology for a wrongful conviction that robbed an innocent man of 25 years of his life, State District Judge Ken Anderson sidestepped accepting responsibility for his role in it, " the Statesman editorial published on November 21, 2011 under the heading, "Systems don't fail; people do," begins."

"Despite evidence that pointed to someone other than Michael Morton in the murder of his wife, Christine, in 1986, Williamson County investigators and prosecutors focused on the husband. Michael Morton was convicted in 1987 and released from prison last month after DNA evidence implicated another suspect in the case," the story continues.

"Anderson, now a state district judge in Georgetown, was district attorney in Williamson County in 1986 and directed the Morton case. Though an apology from an officer of the court for a wrongful conviction is highly unusual, Anderson's apology won't give Morton 25 years of his life back. Nor will the apology repair the damage the conviction did to Morton's family. Nor can the apology assuage the grief of the daughter who believes her mother was murdered because Christine Morton's killer remained at large and free to kill again. Williamson County prosecutors ignored leads that might have led to the actual killer in their zeal to convict Michael Morton.

"As woefully inadequate as I realize it is, I want to formally apologize for the system's failure to Mr. Morton and every other person who was affected by the verdict," Anderson said at a news conference last week. It was rhetorical sleight of hand that ignores an obvious and compelling truth: The system doesn't run itself. People run the system, and in this case, the people who run the system failed miserably.

As district attorney, Anderson swore to uphold justice. A record of winning convictions may make for good politics, but not all courtroom victories represent justice. Williamson County residents relish their reputation for being tough on crime. A narrowly focused pursuit of convictions, however, erodes faith in a system that functions well only if the public trusts it to be fair.

In Texas, at least 40 people have been exonerated by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project, which also handled Morton's case.

Making the system fair is a responsibility entrusted to prosecutors, defense, investigators and judges who are that system.

Blaming the system is a convenient rhetorical device for a public official in a tough spot, but it renders Anderson's apology hollow. If he is truly sorry, then Anderson should turn remorse into action by actively working to reform the system in a way that prevents future miscarriages of justice. Start with eliminating barriers that prevent post-conviction DNA testing and creating tougher sanctions against prosecutors who hide key evidence.

The Morton case is a high-profile embarrassment to Texas justice. Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley resisted instead of assisted efforts to test a bandana found near the Morton home for DNA. Morton's lawyers ultimately prevailed and the DNA evidence cleared Morton.

Authorities now suspect Mark Norwood in the killing of both Christine Morton and Debra Baker, who was murdered in Travis County in 1988. DNA links him to both crimes. Norwood, who is in custody in Williamson County, has been charged in Christine Morton's case.

Anderson said at his news conference that DNA evidence wasn't available in 1987. While true, it ignores the fact that the Morton's 3-year-old son told investigators his father wasn't home when Christine Morton was killed. Chalk that up to the impressions of a traumatized 3-year-old if you will, but there was also evidence that Christine Morton's credit card was used in San Antonio days after her death.

The State Bar of Texas has mounted an inquiry into Anderson's conduct and the judge has given a deposition to Morton's appellate lawyers. A transcript is expected to be released soon, maybe even this week. All that inquiry and investigation is warranted because the consequences of the Morton case were far-reaching, as Anderson himself acknowledged in his statement.

Christine Morton lost her life. Michael Morton lost 25 years. Their son lost both of his parents.

Caitlin Baker lost her mother, Debra. And the system Anderson talks about lost credibility.

Credibility is the foundation of the criminal justice system. The people who are the system have the responsibility to maintain that system's integrity like it was their own because it is. A lifeless system doesn't make choices and exercise judgment. Anderson remains a crucial element of our justice system. He continues to make choices and exercise discretion that has far-reaching consequences.

The system didn't fail in the Morton case. The people who are the system failed."

http://www.statesman.com/opinion/systems-dont-fail-people-do-1986671.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

Sunday, November 27, 2011

MICHAEL MORTON; PART (2): THE ANDERSON APOLOGY; STATESMAN COLUMNIST KEN HERMAN EXPLAINS WHY WHAT HAPPENED WAS ANYTHING BUT "INCONCEIVABLE;"

"A few minutes later, somebody asked Anderson about talk that he might resign from the bench. Somehow, that question led him back to what he had not been thinking about — the death penalty.

"I hadn't heard that speculation," he said about resigning. "And frankly I don't want to talk about me right now. What happened shouldn't have happened. I mean it's inconceivable that this happened."

Let me interrupt to note that it is not inconceivable. Our criminal justice system, for all its successes, errs. It does so because it depends on humans, a species renowned for fallibility, even under best intentions. And, in cases like this one, errors can be corrected when new scientific techniques become available."

KEN HERMAN; THE STATESMAN;

-----------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND: (Michael) Morton was the victim of serious prosecutorial misconduct that caused him to lose 25 years of his life and completely ripped apart his family. Perhaps even more tragically, we now know that another murder might have been prevented if law enforcement had continued its investigation rather than building a false case against Mr. Morton,” said Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law. “This tragic miscarriage of justice must be fully investigated and steps must be taken to hold police and prosecutors accountable.” In August, the Innocence Project announced that DNA testing on a bandana found near the Morton’s home where the murder occurred contained the blood of the victim, Christine Morton, and a male other than Morton. According to the papers filed by the Innocence Project yesterday, new DNA testing has connected the male DNA on the bandana to a hair that was found at the crime scene of a Travis County murder that was conducted with a similar modus operandi after Morton was incarcerated. Morton always maintained that the murder was committed by a third-party intruder. In the filing, the Innocence Project charges that Morton would never have been convicted of the crime if the prosecution had turned over as required evidence pointing to his innocence. Newly discovered evidence that was uncovered through a Public Records Act request that was not given to the defense includes: • A transcript of a taped interview by the chief investigator, Sgt. Don Wood, with the victim’s mother where the mother says that the couple’s three-year-old child witnessed the murder and provided a chilling account of watching a man who was not his father beat Christine to death. • A handwritten telephone message to Williamson County Sherriff’s Office (WCSO) Sgt. Wood dated two days after the murder reporting that what appeared to be Christine Morton’s missing Visa card was recovered at the Jewel Box store in San Antonio, with a note indicating that a police officer in San Antonio would be able to identify the woman who attempted to use the card. • A report by WCSO officer Traylor that a neighbor had “on several occasions observed a male park a green van on the street behind [the Morton’s] address, then the subject would get out and walk into the wooded area off the road.” • An internal, typewritten WCSO message to Sgt. Wood and follow up correspondence reporting that a check made out to Christine Morton by a man named John B. Cross was cashed with Christine’s forged signature nine days after her murder. The Innocence Project. (Morton's lawyers contend the Williamson County District Attorney at the time, Ken Anderson, withheld evidence that would have exonerated Morton. Lawyers have questioned Anderson, now a district judge, and others involved in the case to determine if there was misconduct involved. That process continues)

---------------------------------------------------------

— The century-old Williamson County Courthouse never has hosted anything quite like the Wednesday scene featuring District Judge Ken Anderson," the Statesman commentary by Ken Herman published on November 17, 2011 under the heading, "Morton case an important reminder of the fallibility of our legal system," begins.

"Through him, the county where tough justice is meted out admitted it messed up in sending Michael Morton to prison," the commentary continues.

""In hindsight, the verdict was wrong," Anderson said outside the courthouse where Morton, recently freed after 25 years in prison, was convicted in 1987. "Mr. Morton was, and is, innocent of murdering his wife."

Anderson looked down at his text three times as he said this: "As district attorney at the time, and as woefully inadequate as I realize it is, I want to formally apologize for the system's failure to Mr. Morton and to every other person adversely affected by this verdict."

But, he added, "in my heart I know there was no misconduct whatsoever." Ongoing investigations will judge the accuracy of that statement.

Though the Morton case was not a capital case, it offers an important reminder about the death penalty in that it screams about the fallibility of our criminal justice system.

Fallibility, combined with the finality of execution, is something to ponder.

"Judge," I asked Anderson, "how does a case like this impact how you feel about the death penalty?"

"I've been thinking about a lot of things," he replied, "but I haven't had a chance to think about that yet."

I hope he has a chance to do that.

After Anderson avoided my follow-up question about fallibility and finality, the news conference returned to questions about the Morton case.

A few minutes later, somebody asked Anderson about talk that he might resign from the bench. Somehow, that question led him back to what he had not been thinking about — the death penalty.

"I hadn't heard that speculation," he said about resigning. "And frankly I don't want to talk about me right now. What happened shouldn't have happened. I mean it's inconceivable that this happened."

Let me interrupt to note that it is not inconceivable. Our criminal justice system, for all its successes, errs. It does so because it depends on humans, a species renowned for fallibility, even under best intentions. And, in cases like this one, errors can be corrected when new scientific techniques become available.

Back to Anderson: "And I really want to apologize to (Morton) and everybody else who this affected. The system failed, and it shouldn't fail."

It shouldn't. But it does. We correct as best we can when it does. Prison gates swing open. Payments are made. The options are greatly limited if we execute an innocent person.

Something about Anderson's acknowledgment of failure in the Morton case returned him to the topic he hasn't had a chance to think about yet.

"And back to your question," he said, looking my way, "I suppose the system is fallible. But it's the system we have. And it's the system we've had for a long time."

It does not have to be the system we always will have.

I support the concept of the death penalty. I believe there are people who forfeit their right to live as a result of heinous acts they commit. And I'll support the use of the death penalty when we can excise failure from our criminal justice system. Until then, fallibility and finality add up to a convincing argument against the death penalty in action, if not in concept.

Anderson touched on failure and recourse as he wrapped up by saying he is "beating myself up" and is "absolutely sick" about the Morton case.

"And I'm apologizing for the system's failure. But, you know, there is nothing adequate to do (for Morton). In their wisdom, the Legislature has provided a compensation system. Before they had that, he probably wouldn't have been compensated at all. He's free to reject that, of course, and file a civil rights suit. But the Legislature actually had a pretty good plan there when they came up with the compensation program."

And what program do we have for when system failure leaves nobody for whom we can swing open a prison gate and write a check?"

The commentary can be found at:

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/morton-case-an-important-reminder-of-the-fallibility-1976900.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;

Saturday, November 26, 2011

MICHAEL MORTON: (PART 1): JUDGE KEN ANDERSON'S APOLOGY; GRITS FOR BREAKFAST WANTS STATE JUDICIAL CONDUCT COMMISSION TO HOLD HIM ACCOUNTABLE;

"Ken Anderson hid evidence and misled the judge in perhaps the biggest trial of his prosecutorial career. His alleged misconduct was primarily responsible for a false conviction which ranks among the worst injustices in the state's history, threatening to elevate him to Mike-Nifong status in the pantheon of convict-at-any-cost prosecutors willing to cheat to win. He's an embarrassment to his county and his profession - yet he still sits on the bench in a Williamson County District Court, dispensing what passes for "justice" in that jurisdiction. Why? Anderson's past misdeeds weren't violent but they discredit any claim he might make to integrity or impartiality on the bench in much the way that Judge Adams' tumultuous family life discredits his family-law credentials.

Grits suspects Anderson himself has insufficient capacity for self-reflection or shame to himself contemplate stepping down; his failure to accept responsibility, apologizing for "the system" but insisting he himself was blameless surely demonstrates that. But if the Commission can find a hook to go after Judge Adams regarding years-old charges, they should find a way to do the same thing in Williamson County..."

GRITS FOR BREAKFAST; "Grits for Breakfast "looks at the Texas criminal justice system, with a little politics and whatever else suits the author's (Scott Henson) fancy thrown in. All opinions are my own. The facts belong to everybody." Its motto: "Welcome to Texas justice: You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BACKGROUND: (Michael) Morton was the victim of serious prosecutorial misconduct that caused him to lose 25 years of his life and completely ripped apart his family. Perhaps even more tragically, we now know that another murder might have been prevented if law enforcement had continued its investigation rather than building a false case against Mr. Morton,” said Barry Scheck, Co-Director of the Innocence Project, which is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law. “This tragic miscarriage of justice must be fully investigated and steps must be taken to hold police and prosecutors accountable.” In August, the Innocence Project announced that DNA testing on a bandana found near the Morton’s home where the murder occurred contained the blood of the victim, Christine Morton, and a male other than Morton. According to the papers filed by the Innocence Project yesterday, new DNA testing has connected the male DNA on the bandana to a hair that was found at the crime scene of a Travis County murder that was conducted with a similar modus operandi after Morton was incarcerated. Morton always maintained that the murder was committed by a third-party intruder. In the filing, the Innocence Project charges that Morton would never have been convicted of the crime if the prosecution had turned over as required evidence pointing to his innocence. Newly discovered evidence that was uncovered through a Public Records Act request that was not given to the defense includes: • A transcript of a taped interview by the chief investigator, Sgt. Don Wood, with the victim’s mother where the mother says that the couple’s three-year-old child witnessed the murder and provided a chilling account of watching a man who was not his father beat Christine to death. • A handwritten telephone message to Williamson County Sherriff’s Office (WCSO) Sgt. Wood dated two days after the murder reporting that what appeared to be Christine Morton’s missing Visa card was recovered at the Jewel Box store in San Antonio, with a note indicating that a police officer in San Antonio would be able to identify the woman who attempted to use the card. • A report by WCSO officer Traylor that a neighbor had “on several occasions observed a male park a green van on the street behind [the Morton’s] address, then the subject would get out and walk into the wooded area off the road.” • An internal, typewritten WCSO message to Sgt. Wood and follow up correspondence reporting that a check made out to Christine Morton by a man named John B. Cross was cashed with Christine’s forged signature nine days after her murder. The Innocence Project. (Morton's lawyers contend the Williamson County District Attorney at the time, Ken Anderson, withheld evidence that would have exonerated Morton. Lawyers have questioned Anderson, now a district judge, and others involved in the case to determine if there was misconduct involved. That process continues)

----------------------------------------------------------

"Quite a few readers contacted Grits a couple of weeks ago asking if I planned to comment on the Aransas County family law judge who was videotaped beating the living crap out of his then-16 year old daughter for illegally downloading music," the Grits for Breakfast Post published earlier today under the heading, "Holding Texas judges accountable for past misconduct: William Adams and Ken Anderson," begins.

"She made the video in 2004 before releasing it in retaliation earlier this month when he threatened to cut her off financially (revenge, unlike grits, is best served cold)," the post continues.

"Grits refrained, mainly because the topic was being widely discussed by others more effectively than anything I could have said, and I had nothing in particular to add to what was mostly a family-law discussion. (Besides, 3+ million people had seen the YouTube clip before I did; it hardly needed my promotion.) The video was horrendous, nearly unwatchable, far exceeding any acceptable fatherly punishment to surpass the threshhold to "abuse." But the statute of limitations had run out, the daughter is now 23 and no longer lives with her father, and most attorneys who've looked at the question, including the local DA, agreed there's no way to turn it into a criminal matter.

Even so, I was fascinated to learn via CNN that the State Commission on Judicial Conduct is not only investigating the old abuse allegations but has convinced the judge to accept a paid suspension while it does so:
Judge William Adams, who made national headlines after the release of a 2004 video of him beating his then-teenage daughter, has been suspended by the Texas Supreme Court.
Adams, while not admitting guilt or wrongdoing, agreed to the suspension. He will be paid during the suspension.

The judge's lawyer, William Dudley, said his client proposed the suspension motion with input from the state Commission on Judicial Conduct, which is investigating the incident. Adams already was on voluntary leave, Dudley said in a statement to CNN.
See the order (pdf) and the commission's public statement (pdf) in Judge Adams' case, and the commission's rules (pdf) for disciplining or removing judges. What interests Grits are possible parallels to Williamson County District Judge Ken Anderson, the prosecutor in the Michael Morton case who 25 years ago apparently hid exculpatory evidence from both the defense and the court to convict an innocent man, allowing the guilty one to remain living free in Bastrop County for the intervening decades Just as the statute of limitations has run out on any possible offenses in the video from Adams' years-ago incident, the statute or limitations on any prosecutorial misconduct in the 25-year old Morton case have also likely expired. But if the Commission on Judicial Conduct can investigate Judge Adams over old abuse allegations, and even facilitate his suspension while they do so, why can't or won't they do the same for Judge Anderson in Williamson County?

I've been told privately that, even though the statute of limitations on Adams' conduct may have expired, there's an argument to be made that the commission could pursue him under its constitutional authority to discipline judges who engage in "willful or persistent conduct that is clearly inconsistent with the proper performance of his duties or casts public discredit upon the judiciary or administration of justice." A family law judge who engaged in that kind of behavior in his own family life, the argument goes, willfully engaged in behavior that cast discredit on the judiciary.

Similarly, assuming withholding exculpatory evidence from the judge was a willful act (instead of an act of extreme, near-unfathomable incompetence), it's hard to argue that Judge Anderson's recently-revealed shortcomings aren't "inconsistent with the proper performance of his duties or casts public discredit upon the judiciary." If the Commission on Judicial Conduct found a hook to justify intervention on older charges in Adams' case, Judge Anderson's should be similarly fair game.

Ken Anderson hid evidence and misled the judge in perhaps the biggest trial of his prosecutorial career. His alleged misconduct was primarily responsible for a false conviction which ranks among the worst injustices in the state's history, threatening to elevate him to Mike-Nifong status in the pantheon of convict-at-any-cost prosecutors willing to cheat to win. He's an embarrassment to his county and his profession - yet he still sits on the bench in a Williamson County District Court, dispensing what passes for "justice" in that jurisdiction. Why? Anderson's past misdeeds weren't violent but they discredit any claim he might make to integrity or impartiality on the bench in much the way that Judge Adams' tumultuous family life discredits his family-law credentials.

Grits suspects Anderson himself has insufficient capacity for self-reflection or shame to himself contemplate stepping down; his failure to accept responsibility, apologizing for "the system" but insisting he himself was blameless surely demonstrates that. But if the Commission can find a hook to go after Judge Adams regarding years-old charges, they should find a way to do the same thing in Williamson County. Much as with Judge Adams, every day Anderson remains on the bench taints and demeans not just the integrity of Texas' judiciary but the entire legal profession.

Opportunity for activism
Speaking of the Commission on Judicial Conduct, they're up for Sunset review along with TDCJ and the Board of Pardons and Paroles, and you can see their self-evaluation report here (pdf). (More soon analyzing that document.) Anyone frustrated with the impotence of judicial oversight in Texas should view the Sunset process as an excellent chance to suggest improvements to the process."

The post can be found at:

http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.com/2011/11/holding-texas-judges-accountable-for.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:

http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith

Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:

http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html

Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;