PUBLISHER'S VIEW: Kudo's to State Senator Rodney Ellis for his recommendation that officials in Williamson County ought to implement a review process to examine cases that Anderson worked on while he was a prosecutor to discover whether there were other "miscarriages of justice." Anderson's contempt of disclosure - as demonstrated in the Michael Morton case - provides ample reason for such a probe, which to be most effective, would include the involvement of Innocence organizations and the defence bar.
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
STORY: "Judge Ken Anderson resigns amid ethics lawsuit," by reporter Brandi Grissom, published by the Texas Tribune on September 24, 2013.
GIST: "The State Bar filed a disciplinary case against Anderson last year, and the trial is scheduled to begin on Monday in Williamson County. Anderson could be disbarred if he is found to have violated professional rules of conduct in securing Morton's wrongful conviction. Anderson is also facing criminal charges after Tarrant County state district Judge Louis Sturns, following a court of inquiry in February, charged the former prosecutor with tampering with government records (a misdemeanor), tampering with physical evidence (a felony) and failing to comply with a judge's order to turn over such evidence, for which he could be held in “contempt of court.” Anderson has said that he regrets the errors of the justice system in Morton’s case. But he has maintained that he committed no wrongdoing in the prosecution. During their investigation of Morton's case, Raley, of the Houston law firm Raley & Bowick, along with Barry Scheck and Nina Morrison of the New York-based Innocence Project, discovered evidence that they allege Anderson deliberately withheld from defense lawyers and from the judge in the case. Among the items was a transcript of a phone call in which Morton’s mother-in-law recounted to police a conversation with her 3-year-old grandson, who said he saw a “monster” beat his mother to death. He said Morton, his father, was not at home when the beating happened. They also found reports from neighbors who told police that they saw a man in a green van park near the Mortons' home and walk into the nearby woods several times before the crime. The State Bar conducted a 10-month investigation after a grievance was filed against Anderson in the case. The State Bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline wrote in its court filing that Anderson knew of the evidence and withheld it. The filing also alleged that Anderson made a false statement to the court when he told the judge he had no evidence that could be favorable to Morton’s claims of innocence. His conduct, the State Bar commission wrote, violated five of the state’s Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct......... State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston and chairman of the Innocence Project, said that Anderson's resignation was appropriate and that he had concerns about the judge continuing to oversee cases while the legal proceedings against him were pending. Ellis said officials in Williamson County ought to implement a review process to examine cases that Anderson worked on while he was a prosecutor to discover whether there were other "miscarriages of justice.""
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.texastribune.org/2013/09/24/judge-ken-anderson-resigns-amid-ethics-lawsuit/
Wikipedia report on tme Michael Morton prosecution;
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/
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
