Friday, April 19, 2013

Ken Anderson; Judge is ordered to be arrested for acts during the 1987 Michael Morton murder trial; Morton experiences "a real sense of vindication." Excellent video; Reporter Chick Lindell; (The Statesman).


STORY:"Ken Anderson ordered to be arrested for acts during the 1987 Michael Mortin murder trial," by reporter Chuck Lindell, published by  the Dtatesman on July 19, 2013.  (Story corrects earlier information that Anderson has already been booked into jail; he has not);

GIST:  "Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson was ordered arrested and booked into jail for the “intentionally harmful act” of hiding favorable evidence to secure Michael Morton’s 1987 conviction for murder, the court of inquiry found. “This court cannot think of a more intentionally harmful act than a prosecutor’s conscious choice to hide mitigating evidence so as to create an uneven playing field for a defendant facing a murder charge and a life sentence,” District Judge Louis Sturns ruled. Sturns found probable cause to believe that Anderson broke two state laws and committed criminal contempt of court, then ordered Anderson to be arrested. Eric Nichols, Anderson’s lead lawyer, told Sturns that he will challenge the ruling with a writ of habeas corpus. Morton, sitting in the front row, teared up as Sturns read his findings from the bench.
“It was surprisingly emotional,” Morton said afterward. “It was a real sense of vindication. Here was agreement (of misconduct) from the state. I used to be a ward of the state. They owned me. So this is a special way of saying you were right and we were wrong.” Before issuing his findings, Sturns apologized to Morton on behalf of himself and the state’s judiciary."

The entire story can be found at:

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/ken-anderson-court-of-inquiry-resumes/nXRLm/

Up-dated story: "Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson was arrested and booked into jail and then released on bail Friday after a specially convened court found that he intentionally hid evidence to secure Michael Morton’s 1987 conviction for murder. In a blunt and scathing ruling, District Judge Louis Sturns said Anderson acted to defraud the trial court and Morton’s defense lawyers, resulting in an innocent man serving almost 25 years in prison......... Bail was set at $2,500 each for the three findings, said Rusty Hardin, who acted in the role of prosecutor in the court of inquiry. After being booked and photographed, Anderson walked out of the Williamson County Jail shortly before 5:30 p.m. Sturns’ ruling is the first step in a potential criminal case against Anderson, who was Williamson County’s celebrated law-and-order district attorney for 16 years before he became a district judge in 2002. His current term as judge will end in 2014. State law does not require him to step down as the case against him progresses. Anderson’s lawyer, Eric Nichols, told Sturns that he will file an appeal challenging the ruling, saying he believes the court of inquiry exceeded its authority, that the accusations against Anderson lacked merit and that Sturns mistakenly ruled that the statute of limitations did not apply to events that took place more than two decades ago. The next step in the case is likely to be a hearing on Anderson’s challenge.

 http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/ken-anderson-court-of-inquiry-resumes/nXRLm/

 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/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

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.