Kerry Max Cook's Exoneration Fight Gets Personal
Kerry Max Cook, who spent two decades on death row for a 1977 murder, says Smith County prosecutors are fighting dirty in their mission to stymie his efforts to prove his innocence.
In a motion filed Wednesday in Smith County state district court, Cook argues that prosecutors have resorted to lies and fabrications to prevent DNA testing on evidence he hopes will prove, more than 35 years after the crime, that he did not kill Linda Jo Edwards.
"Our motion to strike contains an absolutely irrefutable record of deliberate egregious misrepresentations by" prosecutors, Cook said in a prepared statement.
Cook ...
Comments (14)
Kerry Cook
Regarding today's story in the Texas Tribune reporting on the Motion to Strike the Smith County District Attorney's pleadings to the Court in Tyler supplying Smith County Judge Christi Kennedy with false information in an attempt to prevent my freedom from a wrongful conviction, I would like to clear up a few errors. (1), the overturning of my wrongful conviction by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals wasn't centered on the first 1978 trial & conviction. I was on appeal at the time for the second conviction obtained under Smith County District Attorney Jack Skeen and David Dobbs at the time. The Court wrote, "Police and prosecutorial misconduct has tainted this entire matter from the outset." (2), regarding the murder weapon taken as a souvenir by former Smith County case Detective Eddie Clark, according to his own 2012 Affidavit, he DID NOT KEEP the murder weapon "stored in his attic." Rather, he used it to conduct some sort of field and laboratory test on it, along with my hair, which we have questioned repeatedly to the District Attorney's Office to find out what sort of testing former detective Clark was doing, since he is not a forensic expert. The DA's Office has not explained this or why Detective Clark took a sample of my hair from the Property Room in violation of the law. In addition to this and so much more, what the DA's Office in Tyler has yet to address while supplying the Court with egregious misrepresentations of "evidence," abdicating their legal their legal responsibilities to account for it is what role former Smith County District Attorney Jack Skeen - - now a Smith County District Judge - - played in ordering the evidence in my case destroyed to prevent further DNA testing of innocence. back to our Motion to Strike, as officers of the Court prosecutors are not allowed to deliberately lie to the Court in Motions or pleadings. What is happening to me under cover of darkness has been brought to light in the Michael Morton case and is now the subject of a Court of Inquiry. In my case, the only one ever punished is me....
BiffTannen
Really doesn't surprise me anymore. These good ole boys are more concerned with finding somebody to pay for these crimes, no matter if its the actual perpetrator or not. When science proves them wrong, they get bent out of shape as their hunches weigh more than physical evidence. Not only that, but they can't seem to admit they're wrong.
Gritsforbreakfast
This case makes me ashamed of my hometown. Good thing Johnny Manziel got out of there before he was accused of something.
Renee E. Babcock via Texas Tribune on Facebook
Wow, because that just never happens in Texas...
Phillip Baker
Is there no end to the shameless behavior of Texas DA's? We must all remember these cases the next time the DA's association claims such things are rare. There should be criminal investigations into the actions of the court officials from the time of the first trial to present. The contempt of court continues to this day. The corruption of the "justice" system in Smith County must be fully exposed and then corrected.
This is not the Texas I was born in. Huge numbers of us have become so extreme in our views that prosecutors believe they can just get away with rank injustice with no consequences. I am also ashamed of what my state has become.
Kerry Cook
From the moment I went back into Court last February until the Hearing in Tyler of April 9th, since filing a request for additional DNA testing to echo even louder my innocence for a rape and murder I did not commit, I’ve met with nothing but egregious Smith County misconduct.
This misconduct is so blatant and fearless, District Attorney Matt Bingham and Michael West have actually sworn to its truth and veracity, burying me under an avalanche of lies.
The recent Motion to Strike the District Attorney’s pleading by my attorneys - - including Nina Morrison and Barry Scheck of the New York Innocence Project - - delineates a pattern of deliberate misrepresentation of evidence and record that, at a bare minimum, evinces a reckless, careless disregard for the rule of law. The lying is so bad, any day now I expect Matt Bingham to file an addendum to his latest motion with a P.S., that says, “By the way, I saw Kerry Cook commit the murder.”
Under the rules codified under the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct governing the conduct Texas lawyers (what Williamson County Judge Ken Anderson and former Michael Morton prosecutor John Bradley fall under in the upcoming Court of Inquiry) - - and “lawyers” includes prosecutors - -reads, prosecutors shall not “knowingly make false statements of material fact or law to a tribunal,” and, “offer or use evidence that the lawyer (prosecutor) knows to be false (Rule 3.03, Candor Toward the Tribunal)….”
District Attorney Matt Bingham and Michael West have honored their predecessors in turning the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct into biodegradable toilet paper.
Smith County Judge Christi Kennedy’s very first ruling on our Motion to Strike will tell whether she is out to whitewash the truth and protect those within the Smith County power structure responsible for committing the criminal acts of fraud that has kept this charade alive for 35 years.
At the very least this reckless, careless disregard for the truth calls for recusal of the Smith County district Attorney’s office and for the appointment of a special prosecutor from outside Tyler.
According to the Code of Judicial Conduct, under Cannon 3, Judge Kennedy is ethically obligated to report misrepresentations of fact by an officer of the court (prosecutor) to General Counsel of the State Bar of Texas. The cannon that govern her as a Judge that obligate her read, in part: (2) A judge who receives information clearly establishing that a lawyer has committed a violation of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct should take appropriate action. A judge having knowledge that a lawyer has committed a violation of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to the lawyer's honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects shall inform the Office of the General Counsel of the State Bar of Texas or take other appropriate action.
Will Judge Kennedy finally stand up to this misconduct, even though her own husband once worked for Jack Skeen as an assistant district attorney and hold Bingham and West accountable and sanction them by striking their Response and then following through with her obligation under the Judicial Cannons and report them to the General Counsel of the State Bar of Texas?
The legal nightmare I am going through with the Smith County DA’s office evinces a reckless, careless, utter complete disregard for 3.03 of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct.
I keep thinking I will wake up but I never do. I have been helplessly drowning in this for 35 years now.
All I can say, if it weren’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all. Michael Morton Morton is a lucky man because not only was his misconduct recognized, but they are actually doing something about it. Smith County has gotten off scot-free.
Mickey Stevens
There has been a lot of talk about prosecutorial misconduct recently and how judges, the state bar, and others have failed to do anything about it. Often, it has been decades since the misconduct occured and thus, nothing can be done. Here we have current, ongoing misconduct. It's time for the judiciary and the state bar to step up and take action. Or, will they continue to turn a blind eye in spite of the signficant damage that is being done to the integrity of the judicial system.
Bingham's assignment in this case is to protect those who committed misconduct years ago in this case at all costs. Prosecutorial misconduct is the standard operating procedure in Smith County and has been for decades. Will it be allowed to continue? In another 10 years will we look back and wonder why something wasn't done?
Now is the time for the state bar and the judiciary to step up. It is also time to get rid of absolute prosecutorial immunity. Giving someone this much power with no accountabilty simply encourages this sort of behavior.
Annette Bryant
It is time to prosecute the prosecutors and fix our broken justice system.
Brian Gottesman
It is maddening and unconscionable that Mr. Cook continues to be subjugated to mistreatment, fabrications, contempt and corruption at the hands of the Smith County "Justice" System. We're living in the 21st Century now. Enough already. It's time for the US District Attorney's Office to investigate.
jp lee
I can not imagine trying to fight this battle against a group of individuals who would rather see someone totally destroyed rather than allowing justice to prevail. Is Kerry Cook not afforded the same constitutional rights as the rest of us or does he deserve less because he was wrongly accused and placed on death row? Why can't this case be held by a higher court and moved out of Smith County? What am I missing? Wake up people, this could have just as easily happened to any one of us. Let Kerry live his life with some peace after years of torment! Deal with the embarrassment of your decisions Smith County and stop hiding behind the lies.
hamplaw2
As a member of the Texas Bar I have never understood why the state finds it impossible to just say they were wrong in convicting someone. It happens, as the Morton case demonstrates. Here, as all the evidence now seems to point to someone other than Kerry Max Cook as the killer, he should not be made to suffer any more from the consequences of a wrongful conviction. I also find it difficult to understand the "ends justify the means" mentality. The prosecution's job is to see that justice is done, not to win at any and all costs. If any criminal defense attorney did what the motion alleges the state is doing in Kerry's case, she or he would likely lose her/his law license and be prosecuted for perjury.
Clay Conrad
It appears that the DA violated Texas Penal Code Sec. 37.10, Tampering with a Governmental Record, by knowingly filing false statements in a court pleading. Not only is this unethical, it is potentially criminal, and if memory serves me correctly, the Travis County DA, Rosemary Lehmberg, is responsible for investigating and prosecuting offenses made by other County officials in Texas.
Keri Mallon
This abhorrent behavior by prosecutors can not be tolerated anymore. We must speak out, vote & protest until it finally matters.
Daniel Alvarez
I find it appalling that despite the mountain of evidence pointing towards Kerry Cook's innocence that the District Attorney does not have the common decency to do the right thing. District attorneys swear to uphold justice and to right every wrong. It's way past the time to right the wrong committed against Kerry Cook. Do these DA's have no decency? It's time to do what Lance Armstrong finally did today, admit you did wrong, apologize and ask for forgiveness.