Son Seeks Answers in Father's Wrongful Conviction
The Texas Tribune analyzed 86 overturned convictions, finding that in nearly one quarter of those cases courts ruled that prosecutors made mistakes that often contributed to the wrong outcome. This multi-part series explores the causes and consequences of prosecutorial errors and whether reforms might prevent future wrongful convictions.
It had been 14 years since their last meeting. Father and son sat uncomfortably last fall in the well-appointed home of the Houston lawyer who helped free Eric Olson’s father from prison.
The only clothes Eric remembered seeing his dad wear before were prison whites. Now, he noticed, his dad was ...
Comments (8)
Hollis Morton via Texas Tribune on Facebook
San Jacinto county District Judge Coker, who has control over people’s lives, should have to read her verdicts off of Hanson’s second-story so everyone could see what a crook she is. The Texas Commission on Judicial Conduct said the Judge did no wrong. The courtroom documents show 258th District Judge Elizabeth Coker, Harris County assistant Dist. Atty. Kaylynn Williford, and Mr. Hanson, Glenn conspired to commit property tax fraud that funds the schools in Texas. Every time I look out my window I see the monument to honor judicial corruption. Please see courtroom documents and photos. http://hm21.wordpress.com
Sheila Berry
Don't call what Anderson did "mistakes." They were not "errors caused by poor reasoning, carelessness or insufficient information." They were deliberate acts intended to destroy the lives of Michael Morton, his son and all of the family on BOTH sides, in order to enhance the career of an amoral man.
Chris Eddleman
I'm happy that after all this time that Michael Morton will get his day in court , mister Ken Anderson has been doing tricky things with the law for a long time that benefits him and his cronies , and it's long over due that these old Texas lawmen get exactly what they dish out.
Jim Vance
"...beaten to death in her bed in their North Austin home"
Wrong - that statement as presented with capitalization needs to be corrected and the author and editor ought to know better after so much media attention has been devoted to the travesty of justice reflected in Michael Morton's conviction and incarceration for a crime he did not commit. The Morton's home was outside of Georgetown (Williamson County), and not "North Austin" (a city which lies almost entirely within Travis County) though it might be somewhat less inaccurate to say it was "north of Austin" instead of how it was actually phrased in the story.
Brandi Grissom
Actually, Jim V, the Morton's previous home at 9114 Hazelhurst Drive IS in North Austin. It used to be in Williamson County, and that's why the trial was in Georgetown. But Travis County has since annexed that area, and the home is in Austin.
Kerry Cook
As a father, the first time I heard of the tragedy of Michael Morton I cried. I pictured little Kerry Justice - - my own son - - being ripped from my arms by Smith County officials. I am glad KJ was not born yet: i don't think I could have survived Texas death row reliving that memory everyday.
The time has come to conduct a Court of Accountability for former prosecutors like Ken Anderson, John Bradley (Michael Morton's prosecutors), Charles Sebesta (Anthony Graves), A.D. Clark, III, Jack Skeen (Kerry Max Cook's prosecutors), and many others that comprised the Texas Tribune's 86 "mistakes."
We may have been released, but nothing or no one can ever release us from the memory of our wrongful convictions and long prison stays. It is so ironic that our prosecutors who committed the criminal acts to wrongly convict us and send us to prison got out too - - they released themselves without a scratch or a single act of accountability.
Jim Vance
Excuse me, Brandi but it is you who are incorrect about one aspect -- the City of Austin may have annexed that land after the murder occurred, but the boundaries between Williamson and Travis Counties have not changed since the creation of Williamson County when it was established in 1848. That boundary between the two counties also happens to follow the watershed boundary between the Colorado and Brazos Rivers, which is how it was defined by the original Legislative intent which carved Williamson County out of Milam County and that remains unchanged. Since at the time the house was in an unincorporated area, it fell to the county sheriff (versus any city police department) to perform the investigation -- the judicial system (courts and district attorneys) also conform with county, not city boundaries. Cities may annex lands outside of their "home" county, and have other powers (e.g., zoning and other forms of land-use regulation) which are not granted to county governments.
That watershed boundary is the reason why western Williamson County had to gain Legislative approval for an interbasin water transfer from Lake Travis (the Colorado River watershed) into the areas of Leander, Cedar Park and Round Rock (and all of the MUDS in their midst lying within the Brazos River watershed) in order to sustain any significant degree of suburban growth beyond what existed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as the groundwater supplies in that part of the County are extremely limited. Lake Georgetown was only one of two reservoirs initially planned for the upper San Gabriel River watershed to support future growth (and provide flood control), but when it was effectively cancelled due to its poor economic B/C ratio and environmental impacts, the cities and development interests eventually focused on gaining access to water from Lake Travis -- the Legislature begrudgingly allowed it but with a fairly low cap on the amount, so that's why the pipeline from Stillhouse Hollow was constructed to bring its "excess" water to Lake Georgetown for a longer-term supply for the booming development.
Phillip Baker
First- Good god, Vance. Get over it. Even if the statement was wrong, it did not materially change the story.
Second, I agree with Berry and others- these were not "mistakes", but deliberate actions. Sheriff Boutwell focused entirely on Mike Morton from the first, to the exclusion of ANY other investigation. Anderson was ordered to turn over that evidence but deliberately did not. He claims that when that file was unsealed, it contained only a few pages. Yet the Asst DA at that trial proudly waved a thick folder and said that if the jurors had seen that, if would have all been different. Does that sound like a "mistake". Bradley fought testing that bandana for 6-7 years, at the behest of his mentor, Anderson, in a knowing coverup. Both should be disbarred.
Kerry Cook, my heart grieves over the rank injustice done you. I hope you win the true exoneration you so much deserve. And I hope you find peace at last.
Finally, as Mike Morton says repeatedly, in all this he does not want Christine forgotten. She should have a voice in all this. I could not agree more. Debra Masters Baker was killed by Norwood in 1988. I'm not bothering to call it "alleged" or use any other legalese wiggle words. Had Anderson, Boutwell, Bradley and others done their jobs, the mother of my children would be likely alive today. Two whole families were devastated by this one sick man. Everyone of those people should be held accountable, including the deceased Boutwell. Without accountability, there is no justice system.
Out of the searing pain of this horrible series of events, I will take my anger and pain and channel them into my efforts to make reforms in our broken criminal "justice" system, starting with accountability for justice officials who commit deliberate criminal acts to get those all-important convictions and removing any statute of limitations that shield these miscreants. If cops, DA's, judges, and the oversight agencies can keep getting away with this evil, then there is no justice in Texas and no rule of law.
Mike, Christine, Eric, Debra Masters Baker,Jesse and Caitlin Baker and I deserve to get that accountability. I for one will not rest until that happens.