"Another innocent man freed from a Texas jail," is the title of Jim Dunnam's OpEd in the Houston Chronicle. Dunnam is a former state representative from Waco. He's now a senior fellow at the Texas First Foundation.
In 1986 the Space Shuttle Challenger blew up shortly after launch. Lady Gaga was born and the forensic use of DNA technology in criminal courtrooms began. 1986 is also the year Christine Morton was murdered. Christine's husband, Michael Morton, was convicted of that murder and sent to prison for life. Twenty-five years have passed.
This year brought us the final Space Shuttle mission and Lady Gaga at the top of the charts. Since 1986, the science and accuracy of DNA testing has progressed to incredible levels, and this month DNA testing exonerated Michael Morton.
The prosecutors claimed Michael Morton was a sex-crazed lunatic who beat his wife to death one morning before work. Michael maintained his innocence, insisting his wife was alive when he left that morning.
The jury that convicted Michael was never shown a blood-stained bandana found behind the Morton home. The jury never learned that Morton's 3-year-old son witnessed the assault on his mom, had described the murderer and said that his father was not home at the time. The jury also was not told that Christine Morton's purse had been stolen from the house, or that her credit card and a check were later used by someone other than Michael. Instead, prosecutors misled the jury, arguing that since nothing was stolen there was no evidence to support Michael's claim of a burglar. The prosecutors also withheld this evidence from Michael's lawyers, even though required by law to turn it over.
The new evidence was ultimately discovered in the prosecutor's files years later by pro bono lawyers representing Morton. In 2006, these new lawyers asked that the bandana be tested using the latest DNA test methods. John Bradley, the Williamson County district attorney, refused the request and successfully won a hearing to prevent it. Five years passed.
And:
In the 11 years surrounding 1986, 51 people were executed in Texas. The 234 executions presided over by Perry in his 11 years as governor now serve as an applause line during Republican presidential debates. Currently, Texas houses 8,500 inmates serving life sentences, and Texas will spend more than $3 billion this year on criminal justice. Forgetting for a moment the real loss of 25 years for Michael Morton, it cost Texans more than $400,000 to incarcerate him all this time. Meanwhile, the real murderer walked through America committing more crimes and another murder. Shouldn't we use all the tools science has to offer and a little of that money to assure we've got the right man?
Earlier coverage of Michael Morton's exoneration begins at the link.
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