STORY: "Ex-Texas prosecutor first in history to be jailed for withholding evidence," by reporter M. Alex Johnson, published by NBC News on November 9, 2013
SUB-HEADING: "Michael Morton, accused of murdering his wife, was released from prison after being locked up for nearly 25 years because DNA evidence proved him innocent. The prosecutor in the case was charged with failing to disclose evidence that undercut the cast against Morton – but he wasn't given a harsh penalty because of the statute of limitations."
GIST: "Charges of tampering with evidence — which could have meant 10 years in prison — were dropped as part of the deal, under which Anderson will be disbarred. Prosecutors are required by law to share any evidence they collect that could help the defense. But Anderson withheld two critical facts in his prosecution of Morton: that witnesses reported seeing a man park a green van nearby and walk into the woods near the Mortons' house and that Morton's 3-year-old son specifically said Morton wasn't at the scene. Morton was released from prison two years ago, when new DNA evidence proved his innocence. In March, a drifter named Mark Alan Norwood was convicted of beating Christine Morton to death her in bed based on the same evidence. Gerald Goldstein, an attorney for the Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal clinic affiliated with the Yeshiva University Law School, said Anderson's sentence, however brief, was precedent-shattering. "This is the first time in the country's history that a prosecutor has been found guilty of criminal contempt, will go to jail and be stripped of their law license," Goldstein told NBC station KXAN of Austin."
The entire story can be found at:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/08/21373060-ex-texas-prosecutor-first-in-history-to-be-jailed-for-withholding-evidence
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.
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com
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