Michael Morton’s tragic wrongful conviction for his wife’s murder 25 years ago illustrates the best and worst of science in the courtroom, a judge said on Monday.
Texas Department Of Criminal Justice
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Criminal Justice
Executions, Death Sentences Drop in Texas, Nation
Leading a national downward trend in the use of the death penalty, Texas has executed just 13 prisoners so far in 2011, the lowest number in more than a decade. And juries meted out only eight new death sentences.
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Criminal Justice
On the Records: Texas Exonerations
Texas ranks third in the number of exonerations in the United States since 1989, according to data compiled by Mother Jones. Take a look at how Texas compares to other states across the nation with this map.
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Criminal Justice
El Paso is Tops Again on Low-Crime Cities List
El Paso has the lowest crime rate of American cities with populations over 500,000, according to rankings assembled by the CQ Press and released earlier today. This is the second year in a row the border city has topped the list.
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Criminal Justice
New Youth Agency Taking Shape as Two Close
With the closure of two previous youth agencies, lawmakers and advocates hope to see cost savings and better results out of the new Texas Juvenile Justice Department.
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Criminal Justice
Dogs’ Evidence Stands as Woman Waits in Prison
If the dog-sniffing evidence that led to the conviction of her father for conspiring to commit murder was unreliable enough for him to be released from prison, why is Megan Winfrey still serving a life sentence for the same crime based largely on the same evidence?
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Criminal Justice
TribWeek: In Case You Missed It
Aaronson maps the growth of poverty in Texas, Aguilar on the suicide of an illegal immigrant, Galbraith on the prospect of more rolling blackouts, Grissom on a prosecutor’s memory lapse, Hamilton on the prospect of public universities undergoing a sunset review, Murphy’s latest awesome redistricting interactive, Ramsey on a stumbling start to the 2012 election season, Root on Rick Perry’s latest populist tirade, M. Smith on the boom in for-profit teacher certification programs and Tan on the fight against cervical cancer in … Africa: The best of our best content from November 28 to December 2, 2011.
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Criminal Justice
Hoping to Reform Justice System, Groups Look to Sunset Review
The Legislature will soon begin the so-called sunset review process for the Department of Criminal Justice and the Board of Pardons and Paroles. The review, as Ben Philpott of KUT News and the Tribune reports, has already attracted the attention of advocacy groups looking to change the state’s criminal justice system.
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Criminal Justice
In Deposition, Morton DA Can’t Recall Details
Judge Ken Anderson, the former prosecutor who saw to the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton, said during a marathon deposition that he remembered few of the details from the 25-year-old case and that he did nothing wrong.
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Criminal Justice
Lawyer Group Files Grievances Against Morton Prosecutors
A coalition of lawyers today filed grievances with the State Bar of Texas against former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson, his former assistant Mike Davis and current District Attorney John Bradley.
