STORY: "Michael Morton's conviction comes to define Anderson," by reporter Brandi Grissom, published on February 3, 2013.
PHOTO-CAPTION: "Morton was officially exonerated Dec. 19, 2011, after spending nearly 25 years in prison for his wife's murder."
GIST: "In 1985, at age 33, Anderson followed in the tough-on-crime footsteps of his predecessor and boss Ed Walsh to become the Williamson County district attorney. He held that job for more than 16 years before Gov. Rick Perry appointed him as a district judge in 2001. In those years, Anderson prosecuted hundreds of criminals, earning a reputation for persuading juries to assess harsh penalties. One of those cases has come to define Anderson over the last year and a half as the antithesis of the truth-seekers he admired in the movies. He will sit at the defense table Monday, facing a rare court of inquiry. It will determine whether Anderson, now 60, should face criminal charges for his role in the wrongful murder conviction of Michael Morton, the grocery store manager who served nearly a quarter-century in prison for murdering his wife before DNA testing led to his exoneration in 2011.
Morton’s lawyers allege that Anderson withheld key evidence that not only pointed to the young father’s innocence but that allowed a murderer to remain free.........As the court of inquiry action unfolds just 30 miles north of the state Capitol, lawmakers are also looking on. Morton is lobbying them to pass laws that ensure prosecutors are held accountable for mistakes that cost innocent people years of liberty. “Not only is this a prosecutor being practically put on trial, but it’s a sitting judge,” said Jennifer Laurin, a professor at the UT-Austin School of Law. “This is a person of enormous stature in the criminal justice system who is being called to account.”"
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/02/03/tough-crime-prosecutor-set-rare-court-inquiry/
Wikipedia account: (Good background):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Morton_%28criminal_justice%29
See Grits for breakfast: Links to some very helpful background materials:
http://gritsforbreakfast.blogspot.ca/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
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/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.
Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
