Her column in today's Austin American-Statesman is, "Sadly, justice for Michael Morton 25 years too late." Phillips is also a member of the Statesman editorial board. It's a must-read
I had been in Austin about a year when Christine Morton was murdered in 1986. It was a crime that made women feel vulnerable.
And:
Evidence now shows us our nightmares were real: There was a monster.
The intruder did not know Christine Morton. He beat her to death, and he is suspected of fatally bludgeoning another woman in Travis County two years later. His DNA connects him to both crimes. He is not in custody.
Law enforcement officials and prosecutors now are on the spot to answer questions about why they ignored key clues. Why was evidence that might have cleared Michael Morton hidden from his lawyers and a jury? Was it incompetence or misconduct?
Among the evidence withheld is a transcript of a taped phone conversation between Sgt. Don Wood, the lead investigator, and Christine Morton's mother, Rita Kirkpatrick. In it, Kirkpatrick recounts her talk with 3-year-old Eric Morton, who said, "Mommy's crying because the monster's here. He hit Mommy. He broke the bed." In that same conversation, Eric told Kirkpatrick that his father was not home, just "Mommy and Eric was there."
Other evidence withheld included a document that detailed a telephone tip regarding a $20 check made out to Christine Morton but not cashed until nine days after her death. The document stated that the signature on the back of the check appeared to be a forgery.
There was another document that reported a tip that Morton's Visa card apparently had been recovered at a San Antonio store.
Last week, I asked Anderson, now a state district judge, if he had apologized to Michael Morton and when we could expect to hear from him on this case.
"I'm not going to be talking about the case," Anderson said. I could hear the emotion in his words: "There is an awful lot to say, but this is not the time to say it. If I had my way, I would have said something a month ago.
Earlier coverage of Michael Morton's exoneration begins at the link; today's news coverage, in the next post.
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