Mark Norwood arrested in 1986 Murder of Christine Morton(Murder Conviction)

[MuffyBee]

Michael Morton was found to be wrongly convicted  a month ago of the 1986 murder of his wife Christine.  He served 25 years in prison of a life sentence until he was finally released, based on a bloody bandana found with DNA evidence belonging to  Norwood and the blood belonging to Christine.  The bloody bandana had not previously been tested for DNA.  His attorney tried for the last six years to get DNA testing and it was denied until a judge okayed it.  

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/courts/entries/2011/11/09/arrest_made_in_christine_morto.html?cxntfid=blogs_austin_legal
Suspect identified in Christine Morton murder
November 9, 2011

Updated, 3:09 p.m.:

The suspect arrested in the Christine Morton’s 1986 murder has been identified as Mark Alan Norwood, 57, who public records show lived near the scene of a related Austin murder in 1988.

Norwood lived in the 1400 block of Justin Lane starting in 1985, records show - one block from the Brentwood Neighborhood house where Debra Masters Baker was found bludgeoned to death in her bed.

Baker’s murder remains unsolved. Norwood has not been arrested in the Baker murder, and Austin police say they will have nothing to say about Norwood’s arrest as their investigation continues.

This summer, Norwood’s DNA was found on a bandanna that also contained Christine Morton’s blood. DNA tests also confirmed that his pubic hair was found in the bedroom where Baker was killed. Police have said that owner of the hair and Baker did not know each other, providing no legitimate reason for his hair to be found at the murder scene.

Public records show Norwood was arrested in Texas in 1975 for marijuana possession, receiving one year of probation, and in 1987 for burglary of an auto and three counts of theft, receiving a four-year prison sentence that began in January 1989.

California records show arrests for narcotics possession, resisting arrest and possession of a dangerous weapon in February 2008.

More as it becomes available.

Previous, 2:39 p.m.:

Officers have made an arrest in the 1986 beating death of Christine Morton, a Williamson County mother whose husband was wrongly convicted for her murder.

Michael Morton was freed from prison last month after serving 25 years of a life sentence.

“I called Michael immediately,” defense lawyer John Raley said. “He is very relieved that the man whose DNA was found on the bandanna has been arrested.”

The suspect is being taken to Williamson County Jail, Raley said.

The man also is a suspect in the similar 1988 murder of Debra Masters Baker of Austin. Austin police said they are aware of the arrest but will not be commenting as their investigation continues.

Christine Morton was killed Aug. 13, 1986, and Baker was found dead Jan. 13, 1988. Both women had been beaten in the head with a blunt object as they lay in their beds.

Caitlin Baker, who was 3 when her mother was killed, said law enforcement officials called her family this morning to inform them of the arrest.
 ::snipping2::

The state’s highest criminal court declared Michael Morton innocent of his wife’s murder last month based on DNA evidence obtained from a bloody bandanna found near the Morton house. Forensic tests this summer discovered the suspect’s DNA on the cloth and identified the blood as belonging to Christine Morton.

Morton’s lawyers, noting similarities in the Baker murder, informed Travis County officials of the suspect’s name and DNA profile. Tests on a hair found at the Baker house also matched the suspect’s DNA profile.
Editing subject lines to correct error in name.  MB

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/arrest-made-in-morton-murder-case
Breaking: Arrest made in Morton case
Charged with capital murder in 1986 case
November 9, 2011

AUSTIN (KXAN/AP) - Officials have arrested a man in the 1986 murder of Christine Morton, a little more than one month after her husband, Michael Morton, was released from nearly 24 years behind bars, wrongfully convicted of beating her to death.

Mark Alan Norwood, 57, was in Williamson County Jail on Wednesday charged with committing capital murder on Aug. 13, 1986, the day Christine Morton was found dead. Norwood, who was listed as living in Bastrop, is also believed to be connected to another case still under investigation.

Michael Morton always maintained his innocence, and after DNA testing was recently done on a bloody bandana found near the murder scene, it showed evidence of Christine Morton's DNA, along with DNA of a third person, but not Michael Morton's.
 ::snipping2::


The daughter of a second victim linked to the new suspect said authorities also told her of the arrest. The attorney general's office declined to comment.

Information remained sketchy at midafternoon, however John Foster with Williamson County Sheriff office said “More details will be forthcoming later today.”
 ::snipping2::
“We were told of the arrest in the Morton case earlier this morning," said Caitlin Baker, whose mother, Debra Jan Baker, was found dead in her bed on Jan. 13. 1988. "We're very, very happy and unbelievably thankful. We can't comment on the any specifics but we've heard that Williamson County and APD will be releasing statements later today.”

Christine Morton was beaten to death in her bed on Aug. 13, 1986. Her husband was convicted on circumstantial evidence.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kxan.com/generic/news/local/williamson/michael-morton-murder-case-timeline
Michael Morton case timeline
Freed 25 years after wrongful conviction of wife's murder

(Interactive timeline-see at link)

[MuffyBee]

Some background:

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/281320/officials-who-aided-in-morton-wrongful-conviction-face-judge/
Officials who aided in Morton wrongful conviction face judge
November 7, 2011

Former prosecutors in Williamson County are on the hot seat over the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton.

Morton was released from prison last month, when DNA evidence that had never been tested before proved his innocence after 24 years in prison. He had been accused of murdering his wife, Christine.

Morton's defense attorneys say their client's wrongful conviction could have been avoided had prosecutors not withheld evidence.

Now two of those prosecutors and a sheriff's deputy have been forced to explain their actions to a judge.

According to the deposition of Sgt. Donald Wood released Friday, Wood was removed from the investigation in 1986, when then-Williamson County Sheriff Boutwell requested to take over the case.

Wood also said he had asked prosecutors whether all of his evidence had been turned over to the defense, and was told all, or almost all had been.

The depositions from the two prosecutors have yet to be released. Among them is former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson, who is now a District Judge.

Among the evidence Anderson and others are accused of withholding are a forged check in Christine Morton's name used days after her death, reports of a suspicious green van parked by the Morton's home, and evidence the couple's three-year-old son said his father did not attack his mother.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

More background:

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/281196/judge-anderson-endures-9-hour-williamson-co--deposition/
Judge Anderson endures 9-hour Williamson Co. deposition
November 1, 2011
(Video at link)

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/281181/sitting-district-judge-to-testify-in-overturned-murder-conviction/
Sitting district judge to testify in overturned murder conviction
October 30, 2011
(Video at link)

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/281146/attorneys-question-williamson-county-da-practices/
Attorneys question Williamson County DA practices
October 28, 2011
(Video at link)

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/281094/judge--former-prosecutors-must-testify-in-morton-case/
Judge: Former prosecutors must testify in Morton case
October 26, 2011
(Video at link)

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/281018/state-bar-of-texas-investigating-prosecutors-in-morton-case/
State Bar of Texas investigating prosecutors in Morton case
October 20, 2011
(Video at link)

[MuffyBee]

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/280892/appeals-court-declares-morton-s-innocence/
Appeals court declares Morton's innocence
October 12, 2011
(Video at link)

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/280804/prosecutors-in-morton-case-could-face-judicial-fallout/
Prosecutors in Morton case could face judicial fallout
October 6, 2011
(Video at link)

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/280778/power-of-advanced-dna-testing-spotlighted-in-morton-case/
Power of advanced DNA testing spotlighted in Morton case
October 4, 2011
(Video at link)

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/280773/morton-free-after-almost-25-years-in-prison/
Morton free after almost 25 years in prison
October 4, 2011
(Video at link)

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/280756/michael-morton-to-be-freed-after-25-years-behind-bars/
Michael Morton to be freed after 25 years behind bars
October 3, 2011
(Video at link)

[MuffyBee]

And this all important article:

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/280005/dna-evidence-could-clear-texas-prisoner-after-25-years/
DNA evidence could clear Texas prisoner after 25 years
August 17, 2011

 ::snipping2::

Michael Morton, convicted of murdering his wife Christine, is seeking to have his life sentence overturned. New tests have identified a convicted offender in the national DNA databank as the man whose DNA is mixed with Christine Morton's blood and hair on a bandana found near the couple's Georgetown home.

Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley had resisted releasing the evidence for DNA testing, but he was overruled by an appeals court last year. Lawyers for the Innocence Project say Bradley has a bias against Morton and have asked a trial judge to appoint a new prosecutor.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/texas-court-of-criminal-appeals/suspect-arrested-michael-morton-murder/
Updated: Suspect in Michael Morton Case Identified
November 9, 2011

Update: 4:00 p.m.

A suspect whose DNA has been linked to the 1986 murder of Christine Morton and the 1988 murder of Debra Baker is on his way to the Williamson County Jail, according to John Raley, attorney for Michael Morton. Morton was exonerated of his wife's murder last month, based on the DNA evidence that showed someone else committed the crime.

Sources have confirmed that Mark Alan Norwood was arrested today. Norwood, 57, has a long criminal history, including charges in California for drug possession and resisting arrest. He was arrested last year in Bastrop County for assault causing bodily injury. And in 1987 he was charged with an Austin burglary near his home, which was only blocks away from Debra Baker's home and about 12 miles from where the Morton family lived.

DNA from Norwood was identified on a bandana found less than 100 yards away from the scene where Christine Morton was murdered in 1986. Lawyers for Michael Morton sought testing of DNA on the bandana for years. The DNA was matched to a suspect with a known felony record in California.

The DNA also matched a pubic hair found at the crime scene where Debra Baker was murdered in Austin in 1988. That murder has remained a cold case.
Based on the DNA evidence, Morton was released from prison last month after serving nearly 25 years.

 ::snipping2::

Christine Morton was found brutally beaten to death in her Williamson County home north of Austin on August 13, 1986. Police focused on Morton as the primary suspect, and he was convicted in 1987 after prosecutors told jurors that he beat his wife to death because she refused to have sex with him the night before, which was his birthday.

Morton insisted he was innocent, and his lawyers fought for six years to have DNA tested on a bandana that was found near their home. When the DNA was tested this summer, it revealed that another man's DNA was mixed with blood from Christine Morton, and that it matched the pubic hair found at the Baker murder.

Williamson County District Attorney agreed to release Morton from prison, and officials began investigating the man whose DNA was identified. Travis County officials also renewed their long-cold investigation of the Baker murder. Both Baker and Morton were found beaten to death in their beds in the early morning hours. Baker was murdered on Jan. 13, 1988.

Related:
http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/court-of-criminal-appeals/former-assistant-da-deflects-blame-morton-case/
Former Assistant DA Deflects Blame in Morton Case
November 8, 2011
at above link:     Reference Material
Morton - Davis Transcript
    PDF (4.6 MB)download
Sgt Wood - Morton
    PDF (8.3 MB)download
Bayardo - Morton
    PDF (1.4 MB)download

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/court-of-criminal-appeals/morton-investigator-medical-examiner-testimony-pub/
Morton Investigator, Medical Examiner Testimony Public
November 4, 2011

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-newspaper/texas-news/former-morton-prosecutor-gives-testimony/
Former Prosecutor Faces Questions on Morton Conviction
October 31, 2011


 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/man-arrested-in-1986-morton-slaying-has-long-1959994.html
Man arrested in 1986 Morton slaying has long criminal history
November 9, 2011


GEORGETOWN — A former carpet layer now working as a dishwasher in Bastrop was arrested Wednesday in the brutal 1986 beating death of Christine Morton, a Williamson County mother whose husband was wrongly convicted of her murder.

Mark Alan Norwood, 57, was arrested without incident at his Bastrop duplex, Williamson County Sheriff James Wilson said. Charged with capital murder, Norwood was being held at the Williamson County Jail on $750,000 bail.

Norwood also is a suspect in an unsolved Austin murder, the 1988 bludgeoning death of Debra Masters Baker in her home. Like Morton, Baker was repeatedly hit in the head with a blunt object as she lay in her bed.

Records show Norwood lived at 1405 Justin Lane starting in 1985 - about two blocks from Baker's house on Dwyce Drive - and Wilson said Norwood worked as a carpet layer in the Austin area in 1986. He lived in several Bastrop County locations in the 1990s and also spent time in Tennessee and California, according to arrest records in those states.

Michael Morton, freed Oct. 4 after spending almost 25 years in prison, has been living with his parents in Northeast Texas as he tries to rebuild his life. That's where lawyer John Raley reached him Wednesday to convey the news.
 ::snipping2::
Morton, his lawyers and Baker's family have been waiting for word of Norwood's arrest since July, when his DNA was linked to the slayings of both women.

Investigators interviewed Norwood in August and took a fresh DNA sample as inquiries proceeded - largely outside of public view - by law agencies in Travis and Williamson counties. The state attorney general's office also took the lead in the reinvestigation of the Morton killing.
 ::snipping2::
Austin police declined to comment on Norwood's arrest, saying only that the Baker investigation is continuing.

Morton's freedom came after his lawyers waged a six-year fight with Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley for the opportunity to conduct DNA tests on a blood-stained bandanna. The cloth had been collected a day after the murder from a construction site about 100 yards behind the Morton house in southwestern Williamson County.

Tests in 1986 could only confirm the presence of human blood on the bandanna. But forensic testing in June identified the blood and an attached hair as Christine Morton's.

The lab also found cells that were soon matched to Norwood because his DNA profile was listed in a national felony database after his 2008 arrest in California for possessing narcotics, resisting arrest and possessing a dangerous weapon.

Michael Morton's lawyers, noting similarities between the Morton and Baker murders, informed Travis County officials about Norwood and provided his DNA profile. Subsequent tests on a hair found in Baker's bedroom also confirmed that it belonged to Norwood, court records show.

Austin investigators have found no evidence that Baker knew Norwood, negating "an innocent explanation for the presence of (his) pubic hair at the scene of the crime," according to October court filings in the Morton case. The filings identified Norwood as "John Doe" because he had not yet been arrested.

Wilson said Williamson sheriff's investigators also found "no innocent explanation for why his DNA would be on a bandanna outside Christine Morton's residence with her hair and blood on it."

Norwood worked for the past two years as a dishwasher at Maxine's on Main, a downtown Bastrop restaurant. He lived with his elderly mother in a rundown neighborhood in the northern part of the city, where neighbors described him as a friendly man who would stop to talk but kept largely to himself.

[Sister]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/man-arrested-in-1986-morton-slaying-has-long-1959994.html
Man arrested in 1986 Morton slaying has long criminal history
November 9, 2011


GEORGETOWN — A former carpet layer now working as a dishwasher in Bastrop was arrested Wednesday in the brutal 1986 beating death of Christine Morton, a Williamson County mother whose husband was wrongly convicted of her murder.

Mark Alan Norwood, 57, was arrested without incident at his Bastrop duplex, Williamson County Sheriff James Wilson said. Charged with capital murder, Norwood was being held at the Williamson County Jail on $750,000 bail.

Norwood also is a suspect in an unsolved Austin murder, the 1988 bludgeoning death of Debra Masters Baker in her home. Like Morton, Baker was repeatedly hit in the head with a blunt object as she lay in her bed.

Records show Norwood lived at 1405 Justin Lane starting in 1985 - about two blocks from Baker's house on Dwyce Drive - and Wilson said Norwood worked as a carpet layer in the Austin area in 1986. He lived in several Bastrop County locations in the 1990s and also spent time in Tennessee and California, according to arrest records in those states.

Michael Morton, freed Oct. 4 after spending almost 25 years in prison, has been living with his parents in Northeast Texas as he tries to rebuild his life. That's where lawyer John Raley reached him Wednesday to convey the news.
 ::snipping2::
Morton, his lawyers and Baker's family have been waiting for word of Norwood's arrest since July, when his DNA was linked to the slayings of both women.

Investigators interviewed Norwood in August and took a fresh DNA sample as inquiries proceeded - largely outside of public view - by law agencies in Travis and Williamson counties. The state attorney general's office also took the lead in the reinvestigation of the Morton killing.
 ::snipping2::
Austin police declined to comment on Norwood's arrest, saying only that the Baker investigation is continuing.

Morton's freedom came after his lawyers waged a six-year fight with Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley for the opportunity to conduct DNA tests on a blood-stained bandanna. The cloth had been collected a day after the murder from a construction site about 100 yards behind the Morton house in southwestern Williamson County.

Tests in 1986 could only confirm the presence of human blood on the bandanna. But forensic testing in June identified the blood and an attached hair as Christine Morton's.

The lab also found cells that were soon matched to Norwood because his DNA profile was listed in a national felony database after his 2008 arrest in California for possessing narcotics, resisting arrest and possessing a dangerous weapon.

Michael Morton's lawyers, noting similarities between the Morton and Baker murders, informed Travis County officials about Norwood and provided his DNA profile. Subsequent tests on a hair found in Baker's bedroom also confirmed that it belonged to Norwood, court records show.

Austin investigators have found no evidence that Baker knew Norwood, negating "an innocent explanation for the presence of (his) pubic hair at the scene of the crime," according to October court filings in the Morton case. The filings identified Norwood as "John Doe" because he had not yet been arrested.

Wilson said Williamson sheriff's investigators also found "no innocent explanation for why his DNA would be on a bandanna outside Christine Morton's residence with her hair and blood on it."

Norwood worked for the past two years as a dishwasher at Maxine's on Main, a downtown Bastrop restaurant. He lived with his elderly mother in a rundown neighborhood in the northern part of the city, where neighbors described him as a friendly man who would stop to talk but kept largely to himself.

Bradley need to explain why he fought for 6 years not to have the dna test done.  It makes no sense . . . or does it?

[MuffyBee]

Sister, Bradley and others are in the hot seat right now about why the fight for six years to deny DNA testing of the bloody bandana. When the bandana was tested years ago, technology wasn't what it is today, and that's why Morton's attorney wanted it tested.  Also information regarding a stolen check that was cashed the next day was suppressed (withheld from the defense).   It has to do with suppression of evidence.  The former prosecutor in the case was Ken Anderson who is now a judge fought to have to answer questions and is finally being forced to do so.  I know it's a lot of info, but the links are in this thread.  

[MuffyBee]

http://www.texastribune.org/texas-dept-criminal-justice/texas-court-of-criminal-appeals/suspect-arrested-michael-morton-murder/
Updated: Suspect in Michael Morton Case Arrested
November 9, 2011

 ::snipping2::
Morton was convicted of his wife's murder in 1987, and he was exonerated last month when DNA testing revealed Norwood's DNA mixed with Christine Morton's blood on the bandana.

Christine Morton was found brutally beaten to death in her Williamson County home north of Austin on August 13, 1986. Police focused on Morton as the primary suspect, and the jury gave him a life sentence after prosecutors said that he beat his wife to death because she refused to have sex with him the night before, which was his birthday.

Morton insisted he was innocent, and that an intruder must have murdered his wife after he left for work early in the morning.  

Houston lawyer John Raley and lawyers for the New York-based Innocence Project sought DNA testing on the bandana for six years. After a court ordered the testing last year, it excluded Morton. The DNA was entered into a national database and it matched DNA for Norwood that was gathered during his California arrest.

Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley agreed to release Morton from prison based on the DNA testing, and officials began investigating Norwood. Travis County officials also renewed their long-cold investigation of the Baker murder.

Raley said he immediately called Morton to inform him of the arrest on Wednesday. "He is very relieved that the man whose DNA was found on the bandana has been arrested,” Raley said.

Caitlin Baker, Debra Masters Baker's daughter, said she learned of the arrest Wednesday morning. Caitlin Baker and Jesse Baker have been pressing for years to find their mother's killer. Austin police initially focused on their father, Phillip Baker, but he was ruled out as a suspect, and police never had any other solid leads.

Her mother was killed just days before Caitlin Baker’s fourth birthday. Jesse Baker was 7. Caitlin Baker said she was speechless when police told her about the arrest. "It was exciting," she said in a phone interview. "My reaction was, 'Really? No shit. That’s pretty cool.'"

Sgt. Foster said Williamson County detectives interviewed Norwood in August and he provided "no innocent explanation" for why his DNA would have been found on the bandana with Christine Morton's blood. Asked why it took nearly three months to arrest Norwood after he was identified, Foster explained, "DNA testing takes a certain amount of time to do that. Quite honestly, with the time that has gone by, we didn't feel very comfortable with someone that is a suspected murderer being out in the public."

Foster emphasized that none of the current detectives in that office were involved in the original investigation of the Morton murder, which led to Michael Morton’s wrongful conviction.

Morton’s lawyers and the State Bar of Texas are now investigating how he was wrongfully convicted and whether prosecutors intentionally withheld information that indicated he was innocent.

Defense lawyers recently discovered that investigators had clues at the time of Morton’s murders that pointed to another suspect. Neighbors reported seeing a suspicious van repeatedly parked near the Mortons’ home. The sheriffs department also was aware that Christine Morton’s credit card was used after her death and that her signature was forged to cash a check she had been given as a birthday gift for the couple’s young son.

Perhaps most significantly, the Mortons’ 3-year-old son, Eric, had told his grandmother that he saw a “monster” brutally attack his mother. Rita Kirkpatrick told an investigator days after the murder that they should focus on finding the monster and not on her son-in-law Michael Morton.

In a recent interview with the Tribune, Jesse Baker said he needs to know whether officials there allowed the man who murdered Morton to escape justice and kill his mother.

“The thought that they may have some responsibility in all this and they might not be held accountable is too much to think about,” he said.

 Bradley, the Williamson County D.A., directed questions to the Texas Attorney General's office, which is acting as special prosecutor in the case. Lauren Bean, a spokeswoman at the attorney general's office, referred questions to the Williamson County Sheriff's office.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/former-prosecutor-apologizes-to-wrongfully-convicted-man-1974368.html
Former prosecutor apologizes to wrongfully convicted man
November 16, 2011

GEORGETOWN — Six weeks after Michael Morton was freed from prison after serving almost 25 years for a murder he did not commit, the former prosecutor who secured that guilty verdict offered an apology Wednesday.

Ken Anderson, now a district judge in Georgetown, called the verdict a failure of the criminal justice system but insisted that he acted properly in the Morton case.

"As woefully inadequate as I realize it is, I want to formally apologize for the system's failure to Mr. Morton and every other person who was affected by the verdict," Anderson said at a news conference on the steps of the Williamson County Courthouse, where he spoke to a dozen news cameras and twice as many reporters.

Anderson also denied allegations, made by Morton's lawyers, that he deliberately hid evidence favorable to Morton's defense before the 1987 trial.

"In my heart, I know there was no misconduct of any sort," he said. "The jury's verdict was based on the evidence as we knew it at the time. DNA testing was not available then. It is now. In hindsight, the verdict was wrong."

Morton was freed Oct. 4 after DNA tests linked another man, Mark Norwood, to the murder of his wife in their Williamson County home.

Norwood, a Bastrop dishwasher who lived in Austin in the mid-1980s, was charged last week in the 1986 murder of Christine Morton. He also is a suspect in the 1988 murder of Debra Baker in her Austin home. Both women were beaten to death in their beds.

"If there's anybody who's confused about whether I'm beating myself up and about whether I'm absolutely sick about this case, you're wrong, because I am," Anderson said. "I was involved in a prosecution, we got it wrong. That's something I'm just going to have to deal with."

Baker's daughter, Caitlin Baker, attended Anderson's news conference and said she was unmoved by the judge's apology.

"It's harder for me to hear him not holding himself accountable. He's not taking responsibility," Baker said.

Baker said she held Anderson partially responsible for her mother's death because he and investigators allowed a killer to escape detection by focusing so intently on Morton.
My mother could be alive right now," she said, adding that Anderson's handling of the case shows that he is unfit for a job in the justice system. "If (Anderson) feels bad, prove it — resign," she said.

Anderson's term as district judge ends in 2014, but he declined to discuss his career plans.

Anderson had declined to discuss the mistaken conviction before Wednesday. He said he broke his silence because Morton's legal case recently concluded. "I didn't feel it was appropriate to comment about this case when it was pending before other district judges," he said.

Anderson said he has not apologized directly to Morton.
 ::snipping2::
Anderson was asked repeatedly about accusations that he improperly withheld favorable evidence from Morton's lawyers before his trial — particularly the transcript of a police interview in which it was clear that the Mortons' 3-year-old son witnessed his mother's murder and said his father was not home at the time.

Morton's lawyers did not learn of the transcript until 2008.

Anderson said that while he could not recall specifics of the Morton case, he reviewed trial records and case files and concluded that prosecutors complied with disclosure laws as they existed in 1987.

Anderson also said he could not discuss other disputed aspects of the Morton case, including whether he knew about reports that Christine Morton's credit card may have been used in San Antonio several days after her death.

"I literally have no ability to recall what happened, what I was thinking, why I made decisions in a trial 25 years ago," he said.

On other questions about evidence, Anderson referred reporters to his 12-hour deposition for details. Transcripts of the deposition are expected to be released next week.

Anderson also welcomed an investigation by the State Bar of Texas, which oversees lawyer discipline. Lawyers for the bar are examining actions taken in the Morton trial by Anderson and former Assistant District Attorney Mike Davis, now a Round Rock lawyer.

Anderson said he was confident the bar would conclude that he did nothing wrong.
More...

[Sister]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/former-prosecutor-apologizes-to-wrongfully-convicted-man-1974368.html
Former prosecutor apologizes to wrongfully convicted man
November 16, 2011

GEORGETOWN — Six weeks after Michael Morton was freed from prison after serving almost 25 years for a murder he did not commit, the former prosecutor who secured that guilty verdict offered an apology Wednesday.

Ken Anderson, now a district judge in Georgetown, called the verdict a failure of the criminal justice system but insisted that he acted properly in the Morton case.

"As woefully inadequate as I realize it is, I want to formally apologize for the system's failure to Mr. Morton and every other person who was affected by the verdict," Anderson said at a news conference on the steps of the Williamson County Courthouse, where he spoke to a dozen news cameras and twice as many reporters.

Anderson also denied allegations, made by Morton's lawyers, that he deliberately hid evidence favorable to Morton's defense before the 1987 trial.

"In my heart, I know there was no misconduct of any sort," he said. "The jury's verdict was based on the evidence as we knew it at the time. DNA testing was not available then. It is now. In hindsight, the verdict was wrong."

Morton was freed Oct. 4 after DNA tests linked another man, Mark Norwood, to the murder of his wife in their Williamson County home.

Norwood, a Bastrop dishwasher who lived in Austin in the mid-1980s, was charged last week in the 1986 murder of Christine Morton. He also is a suspect in the 1988 murder of Debra Baker in her Austin home. Both women were beaten to death in their beds.

"If there's anybody who's confused about whether I'm beating myself up and about whether I'm absolutely sick about this case, you're wrong, because I am," Anderson said. "I was involved in a prosecution, we got it wrong. That's something I'm just going to have to deal with."

Baker's daughter, Caitlin Baker, attended Anderson's news conference and said she was unmoved by the judge's apology.

"It's harder for me to hear him not holding himself accountable. He's not taking responsibility," Baker said.

Baker said she held Anderson partially responsible for her mother's death because he and investigators allowed a killer to escape detection by focusing so intently on Morton.
My mother could be alive right now," she said, adding that Anderson's handling of the case shows that he is unfit for a job in the justice system. "If (Anderson) feels bad, prove it — resign," she said.

Anderson's term as district judge ends in 2014, but he declined to discuss his career plans.

Anderson had declined to discuss the mistaken conviction before Wednesday. He said he broke his silence because Morton's legal case recently concluded. "I didn't feel it was appropriate to comment about this case when it was pending before other district judges," he said.

Anderson said he has not apologized directly to Morton.
 ::snipping2::
Anderson was asked repeatedly about accusations that he improperly withheld favorable evidence from Morton's lawyers before his trial — particularly the transcript of a police interview in which it was clear that the Mortons' 3-year-old son witnessed his mother's murder and said his father was not home at the time.

Morton's lawyers did not learn of the transcript until 2008.

Anderson said that while he could not recall specifics of the Morton case, he reviewed trial records and case files and concluded that prosecutors complied with disclosure laws as they existed in 1987.

Anderson also said he could not discuss other disputed aspects of the Morton case, including whether he knew about reports that Christine Morton's credit card may have been used in San Antonio several days after her death.

"I literally have no ability to recall what happened, what I was thinking, why I made decisions in a trial 25 years ago," he said.

On other questions about evidence, Anderson referred reporters to his 12-hour deposition for details. Transcripts of the deposition are expected to be released next week.

Anderson also welcomed an investigation by the State Bar of Texas, which oversees lawyer discipline. Lawyers for the bar are examining actions taken in the Morton trial by Anderson and former Assistant District Attorney Mike Davis, now a Round Rock lawyer.

Anderson said he was confident the bar would conclude that he did nothing wrong.
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A true apology offers no excuses.  A true apology is not followed by a "but" . . . and it is my hope Anderson, et al get their "butts" in a lot of hot water. JMO

[MuffyBee]

http://www.texastribune.org/library/multimedia/john-bradley-texas-prosecutor-asserts-change-of-heart/
A Tough Prosecutor Finds His Certitude Shaken by a Prisoner's Exoneration
November 18, 2011

 ::snipping2::
A supremely confident and legendarily tough Texas prosecutor, Bradley says he is learning some of the most important — and humbling — lessons of his 24-year career. It’s a painful process, he says. It is also highly public.

“I have been through a series of events that deeply challenged me,” Bradley, the Williamson County district attorney, said during an extended interview with The Texas Tribune. “I recognized that I could be angry, resentful and react to people, or I could look for the overall purpose and lesson and apply it to not only my own professional life but teach it. And I chose the latter path."

In the last two years, Bradley and his trademark sharp tongue have been at the center of two of the most controversial murder cases in Texas. In 2009, as chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, he and the New York-based Innocence Project battled aggressively over re-examining the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, the Corsicana man executed in 2004 for igniting the 1991 arson blaze that killed his three daughters. For six years, Bradley also fought the Innocence Project’s efforts to exonerate Michael Morton, who was wrongly convicted of murdering his wife under Bradley’s then boss in Williamson County 25 years ago.

Bradley discovered that not only was he wrong all those years about Morton’s guilt, of which he had been so certain, but that there are serious questions about whether his predecessor may have committed the worst kind of prosecutorial misconduct: hiding evidence that ultimately allowed the real murderer to remain free to kill again.

Some of Bradley’s critics are skeptical of his self-professed transformation, and they say it can’t atone for the years that his stubbornness allowed Morton to remain wrongly imprisoned. But some are hopeful that his lesson will lead other prosecutors to acknowledge that science can reveal and help correct flaws in the state’s criminal justice system.
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“He is, I think, a reasonably principled guy who is a complete product of a system that is finally giving way to a new day here in Texas and the rest of the country,” said Jeff Blackburn, general counsel for the Innocence Project of Texas.
 ::snipping2::
When Bradley arrived in Williamson County in 1989, Michael Morton had already been in prison for two years. Anderson prosecuted Morton for the 1986 murder of Morton’s wife, Christine. He told jurors that Morton brutally beat his wife to death after she refused him sex on the night of his 32nd birthday. The jury sentenced him to life in prison.

Like many convicted criminals, Morton maintained his innocence, arguing that an intruder must have killed his wife after he left for work in the morning. In 2005, Morton began asking the state to test DNA evidence on a number of items, including a bloody blue bandana found near their home the day after the murder.

Bradley tenaciously fought the requests. In the press, he berated the idea that DNA would lead to some “mystery killer.” And he said Morton’s lawyers were “grasping at straws.”

"Once a prosecutor has a case in which he or someone else has achieved a conviction where a body of people have been convinced beyond reasonable doubt someone is guilty and then sentenced them, the presumption becomes that that is a justified verdict that the prosecutor must defend," Bradley said, explaining his opposition to Morton's requests.

Morton’s lawyers also asked Bradley, through public information requests, for investigative materials in the case. From the time of his conviction, Morton’s lawyers suspected that prosecutors had withheld key evidence that could have caused jurors to doubt his guilt. Bradley fought that request, too, arguing it would interfere with the DNA litigation.

Eventually, Bradley lost that fight and turned over the files. Reports from the sheriff’s department showed that in 1987 investigators had several clues that pointed to someone other than Morton as the killer. There was a transcript in which Morton’s mother-in-law told a sheriff’s deputy that the couple’s 3-year-old son saw a “monster” with a big mustache attack his mother — and the monster wasn’t his father. There were reports that Morton’s credit card had been used and a check had been cashed with her forged signature days after her death. Morton’s lawyers, though, had seen none of that information during his trial.

While Houston lawyer John Raley of the law firm Raley & Bowick, and the Innocence Project fought with the prosecutor in court to get the scientific testing done that they believed could exonerate Morton, another but unrelated conflict was unfolding.

The governor appointed Bradley to lead the Texas Forensic Science Commission just as it embarked on a highly controversial investigation of the Willingham case. The Innocence Project had filed a complaint alleging negligence and misconduct in the arson investigation. It also wanted the commission to require the State Fire Marshal’s Office to review other arson cases to determine whether mistakes were made that resulted in wrongful convictions. The commission was set to hear a report from nationally-recognized fire scientist Craig Beyler that raised questions about whether Texas had executed an innocent man.

Bradley abruptly cancelled the meeting, and the pace of the Willingham investigation slowed dramatically. The Innocence Project alleged that Bradley was protecting the governor from potential political fallout during his gubernatorial re-election season. Bradley countered that Barry Scheck, the Innocence Project’s co-founder, and others, were using the commission to attack their real target — the death penalty. Conducting such an investigation, Bradley argued, was outside the commission’s authority.
While the Willingham controversy continued in 2010, the Morton case was beginning to unravel. An appeals court ordered the prosecutor’s office to allow DNA testing on the bandana found near the murder scene. In June, the test results revealed that Christine Morton’s blood was mixed with the hair of a man who was not her husband. In August, a national DNA database search matched that DNA to a felon with a record in California.

But it wasn’t just the DNA.

The court in August also ordered the unsealing of a file that was supposed to contain all of the reports from the initial investigation of Morton’s murder. During a dispute in 1987 over evidence, the judge had ordered Anderson, the prosecutor, to provide him all of the investigator’s reports so that he could determine whether there was any information that could help Morton prove his innocence.

When that file was opened two decades later, Bradley and Morton’s lawyers found a paltry six pages of police reports.

Both Bradley and Morton’s lawyers knew that there were many more pages. Despite his order, the judge was not given the transcript that included the Mortons’ son’s description of the murder or the financial transactions that occurred after Morton’s death.

For the defense attorneys, it seemed to confirm their suspicions: the prosecutor’s office had withheld critical information so they could secure a conviction. For Bradley, the development was a shocking revelation that raised serious questions about his former boss and friend.

“I fully expected that that sealed file would contradict some pretty strong accusations,” Bradley said. “It didn’t.”

Then came another, perhaps even bigger bombshell.

In September, Travis County investigators linked the DNA from the Morton bandana to DNA found on a hair at the scene of the 1988 murder of Debra Masters Baker. The man whose DNA was on those items during the 1980s lived only blocks away from Baker and about 12 miles away from the Morton’s home.
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[MuffyBee]

http://smmercury.com/50864/freethought-san-marcos-judge-ken-anderson-still-can%E2%80%99t-tell-the-truth-about-the-morton-case/
Freethought San Marcos: Judge Ken Anderson still can’t tell the truth about the Morton case
Freethought San Marcos: A column
by LAMAR W. HANKINS
November 21, 2011

[Sister]

http://smmercury.com/50864/freethought-san-marcos-judge-ken-anderson-still-can%E2%80%99t-tell-the-truth-about-the-morton-case/
Freethought San Marcos: Judge Ken Anderson still can’t tell the truth about the Morton case
Freethought San Marcos: A column
by LAMAR W. HANKINS
November 21, 2011

Let justice prevail and let heads roll where they may!
::justice2NJ::

[MuffyBee]

http://austin.ynn.com/content/top_stories/281767/anderson-acknowledges-evidence-kept-from-defense
Anderson acknowledges evidence kept from defense
December 1, 2011

(Videos at Link)

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/williamson/morton-lawyers-put-prosecution-on-defense-2017000.html
Morton lawyers put prosecution on defense
By Chuck Lindell
December 6, 2011

ombining tenacity with legal creativity, lawyers for Michael Morton are doing something that has never been attempted in the nation's 280 previous DNA exoneration cases: They're investigating the prosecutor who sent Morton away for a murder he did not commit.

Armed with court-given power not typically available to defense lawyers, Morton's legal team has pried open investigative files and forced former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson to answer questions under oath and against his will.

The team has also combed court records and interviewed current and former county officials to flesh out allegations that Anderson hid evidence that could have spared Morton from serving almost 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife, Christine.

And now we know where all this effort is headed.

On Dec. 19, Morton's lawyers will provide a written report of their findings to District Judge Sid Harle, who took over Morton's case in August.

They'll discuss the report in open court with Morton likely to be in attendance.

And they'll conclude by asking Harle to take action against Anderson, though what type of action is something Morton's lawyers are keeping to themselves for the moment.

A hint, however, can be found in the transcript of an Oct. 3 hearing that took place in Harle's chambers. Morton lawyer Barry Scheck told Harle that they would return to his court if they found indications of misconduct by Morton's prosecutors.

"I do think that that might trigger other investigations," Scheck told the judge.

Bennett Gershman, a law professor at Pace University in White Plains, N.Y., and the author of several books on prosecutorial ethics, said several states have created innocence commissions to examine wrongful convictions in hopes of avoiding future mistakes.

But Gershman said he has heard of no similar post-exoneration investigations led by defense lawyers that seek to assign blame for a wrongful conviction.

"I just find this whole procedure extremely unusual," he said.
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[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/man-accused-in-morton-slaying-plans-to-plead-2019173.html
Man accused in Morton slaying plans to plead not guilty, lawyer says
December 7, 2011

GEORGETOWN — The man recently charged in the 1986 death of a woman whose husband was wrongfully convicted of the crime plans to plead not guilty when his case goes to trial, his attorney said Wednesday.

Mark Norwood, 57, of Bastrop has been charged with capital murder in the death of Christine Morton. A pretrial hearing for Norwood that was scheduled at the Williamson County Courthouse on Wednesday was reset to Jan. 18. Norwood did not appear in court Wednesday.

The Williamson County district attorney's office has recused itself from the case because it handled the case that resulted in the conviction of Morton's husband, Michael Morton. The state attorney general's office is prosecuting the case.

The attorney general's office does not comment about pending cases, spokeswoman Lauren Bean said.

Michael Morton spent almost 25 years in prison in his wife's death before he was released in October after DNA evidence, which was only recently tested, linked Norwood to the crime.
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