Friday, November 8, 2013

Bulletin: Major development; Ken Anderson: Texas; Michael Morton's ex-prosecutor accepts ten days in prison, disbarrment and 500 hours community service - in front of the innocent man he helped put in prison for 25 years. The Associated Press.


STORY: "Ex-Texas prosecutor who convicted innocent man of wife's 1986 murder agrees to 10 days in jail,"  by reporter Paul J. Weber, published by the Associated Press, on November 8, 2103.

GIST: "A former Texas prosecutor charged over a wrongful murder conviction agreed to a 10-day jail sentence Friday, accepting the punishment in front of the innocent man he helped put in prison for nearly 25 years. "Ken Anderson also will be disbarred and must serve 500 hours of community service as part of a sweeping deal that was expected to end all criminal and civil cases against the embattled ex-district attorney, who was the face of the law in a tough-on-crime Texas county for 30 years. Anderson, 61, never spoke in his return to the same Williamson County courthouse where he served as a state judge for 11 years before resigning in September. Sitting behind Anderson in the gallery was Michael Morton, who was released from prison in 2011 after DNA evidence showed he didn’t beat his wife to death in 1986. “It’s a good day,” said Morton, surrounded by family members......... Anderson must report to Williamson County jail by Dec. 2. Morton’s attorneys acknowledged that Anderson could serve as few as four days with good behavior and time already served. A Texas judge had ordered Anderson’s arrest in in April on the contempt and tampering charges. He faced up to 10 years in prison if found guilty on the tampering charges, but prosecutors said statues of limitations made it a difficult conviction to pursue. Anderson has previously apologized to Morton for what he called failures in the system but has said he believes there was no misconduct. Eric Nichols, Anderson’s attorney, made it a point to say in court Friday his client “has not been convicted, and will not be convicted, of any criminal offense.” Morton’s attorneys announced afterward there will be an audit of all cases previously handled by Anderson to look for other instances of alleged misconduct.........Morton said his only goal since being freed was to get Anderson off the bench and make sure he’ll never practice law again. Now that both have been accomplished, Morton said he didn’t know what’s next. “It’s kind of like winning the Super Bowl. The next day is like, ‘Now what?’ Morton said. “We’ll see.”

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/ex-texas-prosecutor-who-convicted-innocent-man-of-wifes-1986-murder-agrees-to-10-days-in-jail/2013/11/08/b43540e8-48b5-11e3-95a9-3f15b5618ba8_story.html

PUBLISHER'S NOTE:

Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.

I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located  near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.

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

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