"Travis County May Hold Key to Solving Morton Murder," is the title of Brandi Grissom's Texas Tribune report.
Travis County prosecutors on Monday provided “powerful evidence” to a Williamson County district court that could be crucial in exonerating Michael Morton of the 1986 murder of his wife.
“I would assume that this information would take away any concerns whatsoever” about Morton’s innocence, said his attorney, John Raley, of Houston, who has been working on the case since 2003. In 1987, Morton was convicted of killing his wife, Christine Morton, in their Williamson County home and sentenced to life in prison.
At a hearing on Monday, Bexar County District Judge Sid Harle presented Morton’s lawyers and lawyers from District Attorney John Bradley’s office with new information from a case pending in Travis County. Because the case is pending, the judge and attorneys would not reveal the nature of the information or the names of individuals involved. But the information seemed to reinforce evidence Morton’s lawyers say shows that he is innocent.
Travis County assistant district attorney Buddy Meyer said his office would not comment on the information.
And:
“This is very powerful evidence your honor. Wow,” said Raley, adding that his client should be immediately released from prison based on the discovery. He said he expected the Williamson County district attorney's office to assist in preparing court filings indicating that Morton is innocent of murder.
But lawyers for Bradley's office said they wanted a hearing to further develop the information. “I think there are still issues that need to be resolved,” said Lindsay Roberts, first assistant district attorney.
At Morton's original trial, prosecutors told jurors that he bludgeoned his wife to death because he was upset that she had fallen asleep instead of having sex with him the previous night after celebrating hisbirthday.
Last month, Morton’s lawyers with the New York-based Innocence Project announced that they had discovered DNA on a bandana found near the crime scene that excluded him as his wife’s killer. The DNA, they said, belongs to a felon who is not in custody.
"Mystery filing could bolster prisoner's innocence," is the Austin American-Statesman coverage by Chuck Lindell.
Travis County prosecutors dropped a bombshell on the Michael Morton murder case on Monday: a sealed, two-page file detailing a pending investigation that apparently bolsters Morton's claim that he was wrongly convicted almost 25 years ago.
District Judge Sid Harle gave the sealed file — apparently detailing an investigation of a cold case murder from the 1980s — to prosecutors and defense lawyers during a Monday afternoon hearing on the Morton case, then he adjourned to give both sides time to read it.
When the hearing resumed, defense lawyer John Raley said the new information suggests that Morton should be immediately released from prison, where he is serving a life term for the 1986 murder of his wife, Christine Morton.
And:
Information about the Travis County cold case overshadowed the original intent of Monday's hearing: Harle's order to allow defense lawyers to review the Morton case files from the sheriff's office and district attorney.
Raley said the files revealed information that suggests prosecutors hid a key piece of evidence that could have raised questions about Morton's guilt — a transcript of a police interview with Christine Morton's mother. That conversation, taped by police 11 days after the murder, revealed that the Mortons' 3-year-old son said that he saw a "monster" hurting his mother and that his father was not home at the time of the attack.
Defense lawyers didn't learn of the transcript until 2008, when it was provided by the sheriff's office under Texas open records laws.
On Monday, Raley said he found a summary of the transcript in the district attorney's files. The information gives Morton a second avenue on appeal — a violation of his constitutional right to view evidence that could cast doubt on his guilt — if his innocence claim bogs down, Raley said.
Harle scheduled a follow-up hearing for Oct. 3.
Earlier coverage of Matthew Morton's case begins at the link.
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