Let begin with editorials from the Austin American-Statesman and the Dallas Morning News. The Statesman editorial is, "Morton free; now State Bar must act."
While Michael Morton begins rebuilding a life after almost 25 years in prison, his lawyers are moving forward on phase two of their quest for justice: looking into the investigators and prosecutors whose efforts sent him to prison for a murder he did not commit.
Angered by revelations of hidden evidence and apparently ignored leads that could have saved Morton from a wrongful conviction, defense lawyers have promised to conduct a vigorous investigation in the coming weeks.
Details of how that investigation will proceed remain hidden behind sealed court records, but presumably Morton's lawyers will seek to force onetime District Attorney Ken Anderson, now a district judge, and other former Williamson County officials to testify under oath in depositions.
Any new information unearthed would be added to allegations of official misconduct that are pending at the state's highest criminal court.
And:
The new DNA evidence prompted Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley to join Scheck in asking the courts to throw out Morton's conviction. That request is pending at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which must approve all sentences that are vacated based on actual innocence.
But defense lawyers also informed the appeals court that in the unlikely event that Morton's request is denied, they will pursue allegations of official misconduct as a second path to attack his conviction.
To further develop those allegations, Morton's lawyers and Bradley agreed to allow "limited discovery," a legal process by which information is collected or exchanged. Details about the discovery plan are hidden in sealed files, except for one: If the appeals court agrees to throw out Morton's conviction, the time for discovery ends, and the allegations of misconduct "shall remain unresolved," court records show.
The appeals court has no deadline to issue its ruling but has acted on actual innocence requests as quickly as about one month, adding a sense of urgency to Morton's legal team.
"Those are serious matters," said Gerry Goldstein, one of the state's leading criminal defense lawyers whose San Antonio firm joined Morton's cause earlier this year. "We are pursuing those. I can't discuss exactly how, but you can trust us that these will be pursued vigorously."
Bradley, district attorney for the past 10 years, said he will have a role in the investigation, though he also declined to provide details, noting that the agreement is under seal.
Bradley said his association with Anderson — the two are friends who have co-written several legal books, including one still offered for sale — will not influence his actions.
Today's Dallas Morning News carries the editorial, "In murder exoneration, a revived debate."
The grotesque injustice suffered by Michael Morton of Williamson County was a travesty — nearly 25 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.
But, he pointed out after gaining his freedom based on DNA evidence, the travesty could have ended in tragedy.
“I thank God this wasn’t a capital case,” Morton said last week. “I only had life.”
That’s the essential argument for not adding to the list of 475 executions that have been carried out in Texas since 1982. Even well-meaning officials and juries too often have gotten it terribly wrong. The inevitable damage needs to be minimized, and substituting life in prison for the irrevocable death penalty is one fundamental way.
And:
Morton is the 45th Texas man whose conviction unraveled in the face of modern DNA tests, according to the New York-based Innocence Project. Morton’s case is one of a handful that involved murder, and it wasn’t prosecuted as a capital crime.
But Texas’ death row has not been immune from error. For the most recent, witness the fabricated case against Anthony Graves in the sensational murders of six in Burleson County, a conviction that unraveled last year because justice officials smelled the stench of injustice and bothered to find the source. It was in the office of a scheming former DA.
Morton left the courthouse last week with a judge’s apology ringing in his ears: “You do have my sympathies,” he said.
What a tragedy it would be if, some day, a judge were able to deliver those words only in memoriam.
Houston Chronicle columnist Patricia Kilday Hart writes, "Truth finally sets Texas inmate free."
For a man who'd spent more than 20 years locked up in a Texas prison, the offer must have been tantalizing: Admit your guilt, express remorse, and we'll set you free.
He'd grown gray since Williamson County prosecutors convinced a jury that he'd committed the monstrous murder of his wife, his college sweetheart. For two decades, he'd existed behind bars while his son, only 3 when both parents were stolen from him, became a man without him.
Michael Morton had been stripped of every single thing he held dear in this life - except the truth. Though it would cost him several more years in prison, no one, he decided, would make him tell a lie. He'd rot in prison rather than surrender that last fragile connection to his dignity.
Wednesday, finally cleared by DNA testing after 25 years in prison, Morton became a free man on his own terms: Exonerated.
And:
The district attorney at the time, Ken Anderson, is a now a Williamson County judge. Prosecutor Mike Davis is in private practice in Round Rock. Bradley, who was not involved with the original prosecution but fought Morton's right to obtain DNA testing, serves as district attorney.
This week, Bradley said he believed testing the bandana was unnecessary because law enforcement officials had not deemed it significant in their investigation. He admitted to me last week that judgment was wrong.
It was wrong, and not just because the evidence proved to be so illuminating. It was wrong because Bradley's duty as a prosecutor isn't to team up with law enforcement; it's to see that justice is done.
Last week, we saw the triumph of a man who believed the truth would set him free - as an unbroken man.
I hope, in the months ahead, we'll see the truly guilty held accountable, and find out how to prevent such a travesty of justice from occurring again.
Earlier coverage of Michael Morton's case begins at the link; the latest news coverage in the next post.
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