Some closure in the Michael Morton case.
Former Williamson County State District Judge Ken Anderson, who oversaw the wrongful murder conviction of Michael Morton as a prosecutor, was sentenced to nine days in jail on Friday and will surrender his law license as part of a deal to resolve criminal charges and a civil lawsuit.
Anderson entered into a comprehensive settlement involving all matters before the court. Those include a charge of criminal contempt tied to an accusation of failing to disclose evidence during Morton’s 1987 trial, and the State Bar of Texas’ disciplinary case against Anderson over prosecutorial misconduct allegations. Charges of tampering with evidence were also dropped as part of the settlement.
Presiding District Judge Kelly G. Moore ordered that Anderson’s jail sentence — a 10-day sentence with a 1-day credit for time served — should begin on or before Dec. 2. Anderson was also ordered to pay a $500 fine along with serving 500 hours of community service in the next five years. His resignation to the State Bar will be acted on by the Supreme Court of Texas and will be treated as disbarment. Anderson did not address the presiding judge during Friday’s session and exited the courtroom promptly after the hearing was adjourned.
“There’s no way that anything we can do today will resolve the tragedy that occurred related to these matters,” Moore said, before addressing Morton, who was present in the courtroon during the hearing. “The world is a better place because of you.”
See here, here, and here for some background. Grits said that “compared to what Morton faced”, the punishment Anderson received was “relatively weak tea”. I agree with the sentiment, but honestly anything short of a life sentence could be called that. For what it’s worth, Michael Morton himself seems satisfied with the outcome.
Morton sat in the front row of the courtroom on Friday with his wife, Cynthia, and his attorneys and celebrated with his legal team following the hearing.
“When it began, I was asked what I wanted. I said ‘The only thing that I want, as a baseline, is for Ken Anderson to be off the bench and no longer practice law,'” Morton said. “Both of those things have happened and more.”
“I don’t know if satisfying is the right word,” he added, but he said the Anderson case “had to be done.”
My hope is that this will serve as a cautionary tale for other prosecutors. Now they know there will be at least the possibility of real consequences for the bad behavior Ken Anderson displayed. The reforms that Sen. Rodney Ellis passed that will require more disclosure from prosecutors will be beneficial, too. These are steps in the right direction, and there will be more to follow. Nothing can give Michael Morton back what was taken from him, but he will help others avoid a similar fate, and that’s something.
Ken Anderson never has owned up to his role in this disgraceful episode. His punishment seems rather light. What seems to have gotten obscured is John Bradley’s role in the tragedy. He was obstinate and unreasonable in his refusal to allow DNA testing in the evidence that eventually freed Michael Morton. John Bradley was a favorite of Rick Perry who appointed him to head up the Texas Forensic Science Commission. His specific purpose was the suppression of anything that would besmirch the very questionable “science” behind the conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. State Senator Rodney Ellis and the Innocence Project has stood up to these dark forces time and again. Thank God for them.