"The skimpy file raised the "specter of official misconduct," the Innocence Project alleged in court papers, because it did not include recently revealed evidence that could have raised questions about Morton's guilt, including the transcript of a taped conversation between Wood and Christine Morton's mother 11 days after the murder. According to the typed transcript, the Mortons' 3-year-old son indicated that he had witnessed the killing and said his father, Michael Morton, was not home at the time.
"If trial prosecutors had the transcript in their 1987 file and willfully concealed it from this court and/or the Court of Appeals, then they have committed fraud on the court of the highest order — and in the process, condemned an innocent man to prison for a quarter-century," the Innocence Project motion reads.
Under a landmark 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision, prosecutors and law enforcement must provide defense lawyers with evidence that is favorable to the defendant and could change the trial's outcome........
Because of a gag order barring all parties from commenting on the Morton case until the next hearing on Sept. 27, the Williamson County district attorney and sheriff's offices could not discuss the Innocence Project allegations Tuesday, though a response via a future court filing is possible.
In the past, District Attorney John Bradley has said that the Innocence Project has unfairly attacked him and his office, knowing he could not reply.
The Innocence Project included its allegations about the Wood file in a motion asking state District Judge Billy Ray Stubblefield, who is overseeing the Morton case, to order Bradley and Sheriff James Wilson to produce all materials in their Morton files from 1987 to mid-August 2011.
"The unsealing of the Wood file and the revelations of its sparse contents makes it even more critical that the state be compelled to provide full, truthful and specific answers," the motion said."
REPORTER CHUCK LINDLEY; AMERICAN-STATESMAN;
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BACKGROUND: "The court filing also claims that Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley suppressed evidence that strengthened Morton's case during the DNA proceedings. That evidence — a transcript of a police interview indicating that Morton's 3-year-old son said the attacker was not his father — was ultimately obtained by the Innocence Project through a request under the Texas Public Information Act. Bradley, the filing says, should be removed from the case because of his failure to disclose the evidence as well as what the Innocence Project says was his animosity toward the group during his tenure as chairman of the state Forensic Science Commission. "We are concerned that John Bradley is not the right person to follow up in a fair and impartial manner on this new evidence," Innocence Project co-director Barry Scheck said in an interview Wednesday. Bradley, who has been the county's DA since 2001, will be required to investigate further to determine whether he can support a finding of actual innocence for Morton. In an e-mail to the AP, Bradley said his office will "diligently pursue" any new evidence but declined to comment on specific elements of the case. He cited rules of professional conduct that restrict public comment on pending court matters. "I'm disappointed that the (Innocence Project) does not believe those Texas rules also apply to New York lawyers," he wrote. The Innocence Project, a New York-based organization that specializes in using DNA testing to overturn wrongful convictions, had requested that the Forensic Science Commission investigate the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for the arson death of his three children. The commission found that the science used to convict Willingham was outdated. Bradley, appointed the panel's chairman by Gov. Rick Perry in 2009, referred to Willingham as a "a guilty monster" and was cited by critics for slowing the panel's work and pushing members to find no misconduct by investigators. He wasn't reappointed by the Texas Senate when his term expired in May. The Associated Press; (Reporter Danny Robbins; August 17, 2011);
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"A mystery file, unsealed after 24 years in storage at an Austin courthouse, indicates that prosecutors or investigators perpetrated a fraud to secure the murder conviction and life sentence for Michael Morton in 1987, the Innocence Project of New York alleged in a court filing Tuesday," the American-statesman story by reporter Chuck Lindell published on August 30, 2011 under the heading, "Unsealed trial file suggests misconduct by Williamson County officials, lawyers claim," begins.
"The file, sealed under a 1987 court order amid Morton's appeals, was ordered open last week as part of the Innocence Project's claim that recent DNA tests prove Morton did not kill is wife, Christine," the story continues.
"The file was supposed to contain all materials produced by Williamson County sheriff's Sgt. Don Wood, now retired, as the lead investigator into Christine Morton's murder, the Innocence Project said.
Instead, the file contained only Wood's five-page report detailing the investigation's first day and a one-page consent form, signed by Michael Morton, allowing his house and pickup to be searched.
The skimpy file raised the "specter of official misconduct," the Innocence Project alleged in court papers, because it did not include recently revealed evidence that could have raised questions about Morton's guilt, including the transcript of a taped conversation between Wood and Christine Morton's mother 11 days after the murder. According to the typed transcript, the Mortons' 3-year-old son indicated that he had witnessed the killing and said his father, Michael Morton, was not home at the time.
"If trial prosecutors had the transcript in their 1987 file and willfully concealed it from this court and/or the Court of Appeals, then they have committed fraud on the court of the highest order — and in the process, condemned an innocent man to prison for a quarter-century," the Innocence Project motion reads.
Under a landmark 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision, prosecutors and law enforcement must provide defense lawyers with evidence that is favorable to the defendant and could change the trial's outcome.
The Innocence Project learned about the transcript in 2008, when the document was provided by the Williamson County sheriff's office under the state's public information laws. The sheriff's office fought to keep the document from view, but the state attorney general's office, which enforces open records laws, ordered the sheriff's office to produce it and other materials.
Because of a gag order barring all parties from commenting on the Morton case until the next hearing on Sept. 27, the Williamson County district attorney and sheriff's offices could not discuss the Innocence Project allegations Tuesday, though a response via a future court filing is possible.
In the past, District Attorney John Bradley has said that the Innocence Project has unfairly attacked him and his office, knowing he could not reply.
The Innocence Project included its allegations about the Wood file in a motion asking state District Judge Billy Ray Stubblefield, who is overseeing the Morton case, to order Bradley and Sheriff James Wilson to produce all materials in their Morton files from 1987 to mid-August 2011.
"The unsealing of the Wood file and the revelations of its sparse contents makes it even more critical that the state be compelled to provide full, truthful and specific answers," the motion said.
To support the motion, lawyers John Raley of Houston and Barry Scheck with the Innocence Project included a copy of the now-open Wood file. That file had been created and sealed by Morton's trial judge, William Lott, in response to a subpoena by Morton's lawyers, who suspected Wood may have uncovered evidence favorable to their client, the Innocence Project said.
Lott, now deceased, had ordered all of Wood's investigative materials to be provided to his court. After viewing Wood's file in private, Lott said he found nothing that would help Morton.
Morton appealed, and Lott sent the sealed file to the 3rd Court of Appeals in Austin, where it remained until opened Friday.
The Innocence Project said providing Lott with an incomplete file, in violation of his order, would be "among the most serious (violations) imaginable by state officials in a criminal trial."
If prosecutors knowingly withheld evidence from Lott and Morton's lawyers, they violated their duty under the U.S. Constitution, the Innocence Project said.
And if investigators withheld evidence from prosecutors, "it is a per se violation warranting immediate post-conviction relief," the motion said.""
The story can be found at:
http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/unsealed-trial-file-suggests-misconduct-by-williamson-county-1806777.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;
