Sunday, April 14, 2013

Michael Morton; Wrongful conviction. (Served almost 25 years behind bars). Court of Inquiry into alleged misconduct by Judge Ken Anderson (Morton's prosecutor) resumes; Did he tamper with physical evidence? Was key evidence withheld during Morton's 1987 murder trial; Court of inquiry resumes April 19. The Statesman.


 STORY: "Court of Inquiry resumes April 19," 2013: Judge's ruling anticipated," by reporter "Brad Stutzman on April 14, 2013.

GIST: "A moment of truth for district court judge Ken Anderson is expected to arrive April 19, when the court of inquiry investigating his alleged wrongdoing reconvenes. At 1 p.m. at the county’s Justice Center in Georgetown, Judge Louis Sturns is to hear closing arguments from attorneys, as he considers whether Anderson – in his prior role as district attorney – withheld evidence during Michael Morton’s 1987 murder trial. The judge has three issues to consider: whether Anderson tampered with physical evidence, if he tampered with a government record and/or he committed contempt of court. If Sturns rules Anderson did any of these, it’s possible Anderson could face misdemeanor or felony criminal charges, but Sturns would also have to rule statutes of limitations have not passed.........Attorneys from the New York City-based Innocence Project – which worked to free Michael Morton – contend Anderson knew of information that would have been favorable to Morton, but did not disclose it as they say he was legally required to do. During February’s court proceedings Hardin introduced a court transcript – displayed on an overhead video screen – from a Feb. 6, 1987 pretrial hearing. According to the transcript, trial Judge William S. Lott (who is now deceased) said: “Mr. Anderson, do you have anything [meaning evidence] that is favorable to the accused?” Anderson replied: “No, sir.” Anderson and his attorneys contend Anderson violated neither the law nor an order from Lott. They state that under the law, as it was written in 1987, he only had to turn over evidence that would have been admissible in court. Therefore, they say, Anderson was not required to turn over the transcript of a recorded telephone conversation between Michael Morton’s mother-in-law, Rita Kirkpatrick, and Sgt. Don Wood of the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office. Wood recorded the conversation and, in addition to generating the transcript, wrote a report about it. In that conversation Kirkpatrick tells Wood – who was lead investigator into Christine Morton’s death – that the couple’s 3-year-old son, Eric, told her he saw a “monster” hurt his mother."

The entire story can be found ta:

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/court-of-inquiry-resumes-april-19/nXKNc/

See "Senate passes Michael Morton Act," (intended to reduce wrongful convictions)  by reporter  Chuck Lindell, published in the Statesman on April 11, 2013.

 http://www.statesman.com/news/news/senate-passes-michael-morton-act/nXKR4/

Wikipedia report:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Morton_%28criminal_justice%29

 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. 


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