STORY: "Virtues of 'To kill a Mockingbird' character embodied by 'real-life' Attticus Finch," by reporter Maggie Kiely, published by The Eagle on May 3, 2014.
GIST: "About seven years ago, local attorneys Shane Phelps and Phil Banks organized an event they hoped would smooth relationships at the courthouse that had been become somewhat volatile. Phelps, who was a prosecutor at the time, was trying a case against Banks, a veteran defense attorney, and the two got into a heated argument in front of a jury that left them both regretting their behavior. It was soon after that that they came up with Atticus Finch Day, a time for local legal professionals to gather and honor and be re-inspired by the fictional lawyer from To Kill a Mockingbird who’s admired for his morality, reasonability and integrity in and out of the courtroom. The qualities were also used in describing John Raley, a man whom Banks called a “real-life Atticus Finch.” Raley drove in from Houston to speak about his work as an attorney for Michael Morton, who was wrongfully convicted of killing his wife, Christine Morton, in 1986 and spent the next 25 years in prison.........One of Raley’s first legal moves was filing a motion to have DNA testing done on the bandanna in the Mortons’ backyard, which had been preserved since the investigation but never analyzed. To his surprise, Raley said, the Williamson County district attorney at the time, John Bradley, who’d taken over for Ken Anderson, the man responsible for Morton’s conviction, fought against the testing for five years until an appeals court ordered the bandanna be tested in 2010. The results revealed DNA belonging to Christine and Mark Norwood, who was eventually arrested and convicted for Christine’s death. After another appellate court order, the district attorney’s office turned over a file that contained exculpatory evidence that Anderson had been holding on to, including a transcript in which Morton’s son says his father was not home at the time of the murder. “I was unprepared — I was not ready for the depth and the breadth of the power and the arrogance I was against in Williamson County,” Raley said. He later added, “This case tells us we should never be afraid of the truth.”"
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.theeagle.com/news/local/virtues-of-to-kill-a-mockingbird-character-embodied-by-real/article_f8ec8466-d281-11e3-99d9-0019bb2963f4.html
Wikipedia entry: "On February 20, 2012; Harle asked the Texas Supreme Court to convene a court of inquiry, finding that there was evidence to support Morton's contention that Anderson had tampered with evidence and should have been held in contempt of court for not complying with the trial judge's order to let him review all possible exculpatory evidence. The court of inquiry began on February 4, 2013. [14] On April 19, 2013, the court of inquiry ordered Anderson to be arrested, saying “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.” [15] Anderson responded by claiming immunity from any prosecution under the expiry of applicable statutes of limitation.[16] On September 23, 2013, Anderson resigned from his position as district court judge. On November 8, 2013, Anderson was found to be in contempt of court by 9th Judicial District Judge Kelly Moore. Anderson plead no contest to the charges as part of a plea bargain. He was sentenced to 10 days in county jail, and was ordered to report to jail no later than December 2, 2013. He received credit for one day he spent in jail in April 2013, when he was arrested following the court of inquiry. He was also fined $500, and ordered to perform 500 hours of community service. He agreed to give up his license to practice law in exchange for having the charges of evidence tampering dropped. He will be eligible to apply to have his law license reinstated after five years.[17][18][19] On 15 November 2013, Anderson was released from jail after having served five days of his 10-day sentence; he was released early after receiving credit for good behavior."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Morton_%28criminal_justice%29
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.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
