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

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/norwoods-ex-wife-says-he-wasnt-home-much-when-they/nW2B3/
Norwood judge allows evidence in 1988 murder
March 22, 2013

SAN ANGELO — Update 2:15 p.m.: Judge Burt Carnes has allowed evidence in the 1988 beating death of Debra Masters Baker to be presented in court today. He said the evidence is necessary because it addresses the issue of the identity of the killer in the Christine Morton case.
Update 12:30 p.m. Judge Burt Carnes will decide before the jury returns from lunch whether a prosecutor can introduce evidence to them about the beating death of Debra Masters Baker in her bed in her Austin home in 1988. Mark Norwood is also charged with capital murder in connection with the death of Baker.
Prosecutor Lisa Tanner said to the judge after the jury recessed for lunch that that investigators found two hairs at the scene of Baker’s death. The first hair was found on a comforter and it matched Norwood’s DNA, Tanner said. The second hair, which investigators have never mentioned publicly before, was found in Baker’s bathroom on a towel and had a genetic mutation that matches Norwood’s hair, Tanner said.
Norwood had no reason to be in Baker’s house, Tanner said. She said a VCR and cash was stolen from Baker’s house but jewelry was left behind.
Jewelry was also left undisturbed at the murder scene of Christine Morton, who was also beaten to death in her bed. Wood chips were left in her hair.
Judge Burt Carnes asked Tanner if wood chips were left in Baker’s hair. Tanner said there were no wood chips in Baker’s hair.
Lawyers for the defense and the prosecution will present arguments before Carnes at 1:30 p.m. about whether or Tanner can present evidence to the jury today from the Baker murder.
Earlier: Mark Norwood’s second ex-wife, Judy Norwood, testified Friday morning that when they lived in Austin in the 1980s, he was rarely home at night. She said he was out laying carpet.
Norwood is on trial in connection with the beating death of Christine Morton in her southwestern Williamson County home in 1986. Morton’s husband, Michael Morton, was falsely convicted of her death and spent 25 years in prison before he was released in 2011 because of new DNA tests.

More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/norwoods-ex-wife-takes-the-stand-in-murder-trial
Evidence from Baker case allowed in Norwood trial
Similarities fit criteria of 'signature crime'
March 22, 1023

SAN ANGELO, Texas (KXAN) - The judge presiding over the Mark Norwood murder trial on Friday ruled that evidence from a second killing can be presented because of the similarities of both cases.

The ruling by state District Judge Burt Carnes represented a victory for prosecutors trying to prove that Norwood savagely beat Christine Morton to death more than 26 years ago in her Williamson County home.

Carnes said the similarities between Morton's murder and the Debra Baker murder fit the criteria of a "signature crime," thus making evidence from Baker's murder admissible into the current trial.
 ::snipping2::
In both the Morton and Baker cases, the victims were killed with a blunt object and their heads were covered with pillows. DNA matching Norwood's profile was found at both crime scenes.

Norwood has been indicted on a capital murder charge in Baker's death.

Baker's mother and sister both testified Friday about Debra's murder.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/norwood-judge-allows-testimony-about-separate-capi/nW2fz/
Norwood judge allows testimony about separate capital murder case
Updated: 7:41 p.m. Friday, March 22, 2013 | Posted: 6:54 p.m. Friday, March 22, 2013

SAN ANGELO — The capital murder trial of Mark Norwood changed focus Friday afternoon when the judge allowed testimony about the death of another woman.
Norwood, 58, is being tried in connection with the beating death of Christine Morton in southwestern Williamson County in 1986. He has also been charged with capital murder in the beating death of Debra Masters Baker in Austin in 1988.
Williamson County District Judge Burt Carnes made the decision to allow the testimony about Baker after hearing arguments by a prosecutor and a defense lawyer while the jury took a lunch break Friday.
Witnesses have been testifying since Tuesday in the trial, which was moved to San Angelo because the case received extensive publicity in Williamson County. Morton’s husband, Michael Morton, was wrongfully convicted of her death and spent 25 years in prison before DNA test results exonerated him in 2011.
Those results showed that a blue bandanna found outside the Mortons’ house had DNA from Norwood and blood and a hair from Christine Morton.
Prosecutor Lisa Tanner said Friday that testimony about the death of Baker was necessary to help identify who killed Christine Morton.
Tanner said the death of Baker had so many things in common with the death of Morton that it could be regarded as a signature crime — a crime so similar in pattern or method of operation to previous crimes that it identifies a particular defendant as the perpetrator.
Tanner said that both Baker and Morton had two pillows placed over their heads after they were killed, both women were beaten to death in their beds, both had head injuries, and both had cash taken from their wallets though their jewelry was left undisturbed.
Investigators have previously said that they found a hair on Baker’s comforter that matched Norwood’s DNA. Tanner also said Friday that investigators found another hair on a towel in Baker’s bathroom that matched mutations found in Norwood’s hair.
Defense attorney Ariel Payan said that witnesses should not be allowed to testify about Baker’s death because there were not enough similarities to Christine Morton’s death.
Payan said that Baker was killed with a metal object and Morton was killed with a wooden object. He also said that Baker was found naked on top of her bed and Morton was found underneath a comforter with a nightgown on. DNA was found outside in connection with the Morton case but was found inside in the Baker case, he said.
Baker’s mother, Gertrude Masters, told jurors that she found her daughter’s body at Baker’s house on Dwyce Drive in North Austin on Jan. 13, 1988. Masters, who is in her 80s and uses a wheelchair, said her daughter’s VCR had been stolen.
Lisa Conn, one of Baker’s siblings, then testified that the killer had left two diamond rings and a diamond necklace undisturbed.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/dna-expert-testifies-that-sample-found-on-bandana-matched-norwoods
DNA expert testifies that sample found on bandana matched Norwood's
Odds of it not being Norwood's: 663 trillion to 1
Updated: Friday, 22 Mar 2013, 11:01 AM CDT
Published : Thursday, 21 Mar 2013, 12:57 PM CDT

SAN ANGELO, Texas (KXAN) - The chances that a DNA sample found on the bandana recovered near the scene of Christine Morton's murder in 1986 belonged to someone other than Mark Norwood are one in nearly 663 trillion, a forensic expert testified on Thursday.

The expert, Huma Nasir, told jurors on the fourth day of Norwood's murder trial that two DNA samples were found on the bandana that later led to the exoneration of Michael Morton in the deadly beating of his wife. The smaller sample matched Christine Morton's DNA and the larger sample in all likelihood was from Norwood.

Given that fewer than 7 billion people live on earth, chances that it had come from someone else is all but impossible, the seven-woman, five-man jury was told.
 ::snipping2::
Also, Michael Morton was recalled to the witness stand to make clear that a bandana found in near Christine's body had belong to her sister and was not connected to the bandana found near the crime scene with the crucial DNA evidence.

The final piece of testimony heard on Thursday came in the form of a video-taped deposition with Sonny Wann.

Wann is the man who purchased a gun from Mark Norwood in 1986 that would eventually turn out to be the same gun stolen from Michael Morton's closet .

According to Wann's deposition, Norwood was trying to make money and offered to sell the .45 caliber handgun to Wann for $50.

The two men worked together in home construction in the 1980s including homes in the neighborhood where the murder occurred.
 ::snipping2::
Meanwhile, prosecutors in the case filed a five-page document they said connects the 58-year-old Norwood to 17 other crimes dating back to 1980. Many of the offenses, which took place in the Austin area, Tennessee and California, were property crimes.

But two of them involved killings, including the 1988 beating death of Debra Baker of Austin. In November, Norwood was indicted on a capital murder charge in the case. Prosecutors also connected him to the July 1980 death of a Tennessee man named David Fox. No details were provided.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/state-may-rest-in-norwood-trial-tuesday
Prosecution rests case in Norwood trial
Defense getting ready to call witnesses
March 26, 2013

SAN ANGELO, Texas (KXAN) - The prosecution rested its case against Mark Norwood just before lunch Tuesday after introducing more DNA evidence in a case they argued is similar to the beating death of Christine Morton.

Norwood's defense team was expected to call its first witness later in the day.
 ::snipping2::
Christine Morton's husband, Michael Morton, served 25 years in prison wrong convicted before a bandana with DNA that matched a sample of Norwood's exonerated him.

Outside the courtroom on Monday, Morton said he relieved that the case appears to be entering the home stretch. But, he added, that because he is a witness, he is not allowed to be in the courtroom for all of the testimony.

"Well it feels good that it is getting near the end, but I am completely out of the loop," Morton told reporters. "I'm off in a room with a few others, but 90 percent of the time I don't know what's going on.

"I never imagined being excluded from these proceedings," he added. "But when it is over i'll have a lot of reading to do"

The presiding judge Friday ruled that evidence from Baker could make it a "signature crime.

The ruling by state District Judge Burt Carnes represented a victory for prosecutors trying to prove that Norwood savagely beat Christine Morton to death more than 26 years ago in her Williamson County home.

Carnes said the similarities between Morton's murder and the Baker murder fit the criteria of a "signature crime," thus making evidence from Baker's murder admissible into the current trial.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/dna-analyst-testifies-in-norwood-capital-murder-tr/nW4gm/
Defense rests in Norwood capital murder trial
March 26, 2013

SAN ANGELO — Update 2:40 p.m.: Defense lawyers for Mark Norwood rested their case after only calling three witnesses on Tuesday.
Prosecutors are now calling a rebuttal witness.
Norwood’s mother testified for the the defense, along with the ex-wife of Louis Wann and Wann’s daughter, Melinda.
Norwood had done construction jobs with Wann in Austin in the 1990s.
Police interviewed Wann in 2011, and he gave them a gun stolen from the Mortons’ house the day Christine Morton was killed, officials have said.
Wann said Norwood had sold it to him while they were working on a remodeling job.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/state-may-rest-in-norwood-trial-tuesday
Both sides rests case in Norwood trial
Defendant's mother talks about family life
March 26, 2013

SAN ANGELO, Texas (KXAN) - The defense team in the Mark Norwood capital murder trial rested its case after calling just three witnesses, including the defendant's mother to testify.

Dorothy Norwood told the jury that the man accused of beating Christine Norwood to death in her Williamson County home in 1986 grew up in a close-knit military family. She has also said that she does not believe her son killed Morton.

The defense also called the former wife of the man who said in a deposition that the gun he turned over to authorities that once belonged to Christine's husband, Michael Morton. The man's daughter also testified. Both said that Sonny Wann has a reputation as an untruthful person.

The prosecution, meanwhile, rested its case against Mark Norwood just before lunch after introducing more DNA evidence in a case they argued is similar to the beating death of Christine Morton.

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin 8:30 Wednesday morning.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/closing-arguments-in-norwoods-trial-start-wednesda/nW49x/
Closing arguments in Norwood’s trial start Wednesday
March 26, 2013

SAN ANGELO — Closing arguments in the Mark Norwood trial that has included evidence about the beating deaths of two women in the 1980s will begin Wednesday morning.
Although Norwood is on trial in the beating death of Christine Morton in southwestern Williamson County in 1986, Judge Burt Carnes allowed the prosecution to also present evidence about the beating death of Debra Masters Baker in her Austin home in 1988 because of similarities in the two cases.
Norwood has been charged with capital murder in both deaths.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/mark-norwood-murder-trial-may-wrap-up
Mark Norwood murder trial may wrap up
Been 9,723 days since Christine Morton's murder
March 27, 2013

SAN ANGELO, Texas (KXAN) - It's been 9,723 days since Christine Morton's murder, and the case that has had many twists and turns could be forever closed on Wednesday.

Closing arguments are set to begin Wednesday morning.
 ::snipping2::
Norwood, 58, is charged with capital murder in the 1986 beating death of Christine Morton in Williamson County. He is also charged with capital murder in beating 1988 beating death of Austin homemaker Debra Morton. But even though that trial has not been scheduled, the Morton jury heard evidence from the case because of the similarities in the two killings.

Christine Morton's husband, Michael Morton, served 25 years in prison wrong convicted before a bandana with DNA that matched a sample of Norwood's exonerated him.

Outside the courtroom on Monday, Morton said he relieved that the case appears to be entering the home stretch. But, he added, that because he is a witness, he is not allowed to be in the courtroom for all of the testimony.

"Well it feels good that it is getting near the end, but I am completely out of the loop," Morton told reporters. "I'm off in a room with a few others, but 90 percent of the time I don't know what's going on."

"I never imagined being excluded from these proceedings," he added. "But when it is over I'll have a lot of reading to do."

The presiding judge Friday ruled that evidence from Baker could make it a "signature crime."

The ruling by state District Judge Burt Carnes represented a victory for prosecutors trying to prove that Norwood savagely beat Christine Morton to death more than 26 years ago in her Williamson County home.

Carnes said the similarities between Morton's murder and the Baker murder fit the criteria of a "signature crime," thus making evidence from Baker's murder admissible into the current trial.
 ::snipping2::
In both the Morton and Baker cases, the victims were killed with a blunt object and their heads were covered with pillows. DNA matching Norwood's profile was found at both crime scenes.

If convicted, Norwood could be sentenced to prison for life. The death penalty is not being sought.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/jury-begins-deliberating-norwoods-fate/nW5gG/
Jury begins deliberating Norwood’s fate
March 27, 2013

SAN ANGELO — A Tom Green County jury began deliberating the fate of Mark Norwood just before noon Wednesday. Norwood faces capital murder charges in the 1986 death of Christine Morton in her Williamson County home.
Michael Morton, who was married to Christine Morton and wrongfully convicted in her death, was a witness in the trial. He spent 25 years in prison before he was exonerated by DNA evidence in 2011.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/texas_lege/senate-passes-michael-morton-law
Senate committee passes "Michael Morton Law"
Proposal changes handling of evidence
Published March 26, 2013, Updated March 27, 2013

 ::snipping2::The bill approved by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday would require "open file discovery" of material that might help defend a person accused of a crime.

Viewers of TV shows like Law & Order have heard of "Brady material," which refers to the Supreme Court case that set general guidelines for handling exculpatory evidence.

Houston Democratic Sen. Rodney Ellis says his bill would help ensure fair trials. It would require prosecutors to turn over police reports, witness lists, recorded statements. It would make exceptions for safety issues.

The bill is named for Michael Morton, who served 25 years in prison on false charges of killing his wife.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local/norwood-given-life-in-prison-for-morton-slaying/nW55B/
Norwood given life in prison for Morton slaying
March 27, 2013
SAN ANGELO — A brutal murder case that has captured national attention because of its dramatic twists and turns is over. Twenty-six years after being wrongly convicted of his wife’s murder, Michael Morton reacted to a jury’s finding Wednesday afternoon that another man is guilty of the crime by briefly putting his hand over his heart.
The San Angelo jury took about three and a half hours to convict 58-year-old Mark Norwood, who received a life sentence for the 1986 killing of Christine Morton in Williamson County. Norwood stood quietly Wednesday as the verdict was read and would not speak to reporters as deputies rolled his wheelchair to a patrol car waiting to take him back to Williamson County.
He will be eligible for parole after 15 years because of the law in effect in 1986.
Michael Morton spent 25 years in jail before he was exonerated by DNA evidence in 2011, but he has said he is not bitter about the process. His case has prompted an unprecedented court of inquiry to assess the actions of former Williamson County prosecutor Ken Anderson during his initial trial, galvanized debate over Texas’ rules about the sharing of case files before trials and spurred state legislators this session to support a proposal that seeks to hold prosecutors more accountable for misconduct.
Outside the courthouse Wednesday, Morton said hearing the verdict was “a mixed bag. It’s not a celebration. It’s not a happy day.”
 ::snipping2::
Connie Hoff, Mark Norwood’s sister, said the state had “railroaded” her brother because prosecutors had introduced evidence from another murder case into the trial.
Norwood also has been charged with capital murder in the beating death of Debra Baker, who was killed in her Austin home in 1988. His trial date has not yet been set for that charge.
Judge Burt Carnes allowed testimony about the Baker case during Norwood’s trial because he agreed with prosecutor Lisa Tanner that evidence in Baker’s and Christine Morton’s deaths was so similar: Both women were killed by blows to their heads as they slept.
Hoff said that Mark Norwood was “100 percent plus” innocent and was now beginning to go through what Michael Morton had gone through when he was wrongfully convicted in 1987.
“This is history repeating itself,” Hoff said.
Lisa Conn, Baker’s sister, was also at the trial and hugged Tanner after the verdict.
Tanner said after the conviction that she had a legal right to introduce the Baker case into the Norwood trial. Lab analysts testified during the Norwood trial that two pubic hairs found in Baker’s house are linked to Norwood based on DNA.
Defense lawyer Russell Hunt said he will be filing an appeal of Norwood’s case as early as next week.
Ultimately, the jury wasn’t swayed by Norwood’s defense that the state had such weak evidence in the Morton case that they had to introduce the Baker case and that DNA evidence found near the Morton home could have been contaminated as it was collected.
Hunt also argued that Louis “Sonny” Wann of Nashville lied in a videotaped deposition when Wann said that a gun he turned over to investigators in 2011 had been sold to him by Norwood. Authorities said the gun had been stolen from the Mortons’ southwestern Williamson County house the day Christine Morton died on Aug. 13, 1986. Wann said that Norwood had sold it to him when they were both working on a construction job for Travis County Judge Guy Herman in Austin.
Key to the prosecution’s case was the same piece of evidence that led to the overturning of Michael Morton’s prior conviction: a bloody bandanna found by Morton’s brother-in-law, John Kirkpatrick, behind the Mortons’ house. The bandanna had Norwood’s DNA on it, as well as small bloodstains from Christine Morton and a hair belonging to her.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

Even though Mark Norwood's attorney said he will appeal, I'm moving this thread on over to "Finally Solved".  After having put the wrong man, Michael Morton behind bars for 25 years, I feel justice has prevailed. 

[Nut44x4]

 ::justice2NJ::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kvue.com/news/Norwood-attorneys-appeal-capital-murder-case-201528691.html
Norwood attorneys' appeal capital murder conviction
April 4, 2012

SAN ANGELO, Texas -- Attorneys for Mark Norwood have officially asked for  a new trial.

Last week, Norwood was convicted of capital murder for the 1986 slaying of Christine Morton. Norwood is also charged with the murder of Debra Baker here in Austin.
The jury was allowed to hear evidence about the Baker case. Norwood's attorney says that prejudiced the jury against him.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/ap/crime/texas-senate-approves-morton-criminal-justice-bill/nXJ5r/
Texas Senate approves Morton criminal justice bill
April 11, 2013


AUSTIN, Texas — The state Senate on Thursday unanimously approved the Michael Morton Act, a measure named in honor of a Texan who spent nearly 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit and designed to prevent future wrongful convictions.
After their vote, senators stood and applauded and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst banged a specially engraved wooden gavel that was later awarded to a beaming Morton, who watched the proceedings from just off the floor — a long way from the prison cell he was still sitting in just two years ago.
The measure now heads to the House for consideration.
Morton, 58, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the 1986 slaying of his wife Christine, but freed in October 2011, after DNA testing was done on a bloody bandanna originally found near the couple's Austin home. Investigators said the DNA evidence led them to another man, Mark Alan Norwood, whose DNA was in a national database as a result of his long criminal history.
Norwood was convicted last month and sentenced to life in prison for killing Christine Morton. He also has been indicted in a 1988 slaying of another woman who lived near the Mortons.
Morton has repeatedly appeared at the state Capitol in recent weeks to push for Senate Bill 1611, which would create a uniform "open file" policy in Texas, compelling prosecutors to share case files with defense attorneys that can help defendants' cases.
The district attorney at Morton's trial, Ken Anderson, is accused of deliberately withholding evidence from the defense that indicated Morton's innocence. Anderson, now a state district judge, has been the subject of a special Court of Inquiry to determine if prosecutorial misconduct occurred — but no ruling has yet been issued.
The Morton Act's sponsor, Houston Democratic Sen. Rodney Ellis, told the chamber that "Michael's tragic case brought to the forefront something that we already knew in Texas but too often neglected."
"Our criminal discovery process needs serious reform. Exculpatory evidence was in possession of the state in his case, but it was never revealed for over 25 years," Ellis said. "Regardless of whether those facts were intentional or not, what is clear is that a more open, transparent discovery process would help Michael Morton and hopefully many other people in Texas."
Ellis said many counties across the state already use "open file" policies for all criminal cases, but some didn't, making the change proposed in the bill especially necessary.
The measure was originally held up by some senators who worried that sharing certain information with defense attorneys could place witnesses or victims in jeopardy in some cases. But negotiations between Ellis and Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican and former prosecutor, inserted language to remove names of victims or witnesses from case files if they could be in danger.
 ::snipping2::
Online:
Senate Bill 1611: http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/history.aspx?LegSess=83R&Bill=SB1611

Comments:
Posted by bigdan312 at 5:17 p.m. Apr. 11, 2013 Report Abuse
As long as there remains no punishment for prosecutors who violate the law, the risk will still remain.

As Mike Nifong and Sgt. Gottlieb proved in North Carolina, an open file policy just means that particularly damaging information just doesn't find its way into the "open file" (Gottlieb supposedly didn't take any field notes until months after the fact allowing him to distort initial witness statements to fit more newly discovered facts, and Nifong entered into a conspiracy with the lab director to withhold exculpatory evidence. Had the lab director not admitted to the conspiracy on the witness stand, the evidence would have remained hidden despite the "open file" policy in effect in Durham at the time.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/anderson-court-of-inquiry-to-resume-in-morton-case/nXQnN/
Anderson court of inquiry to resume in Morton case
April 18, 2013

Georgetown — With his freedom and legacy stake, former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson returns to court Friday afternoon as the inquiry continues into his handling of Michael Morton’s prosecution in 1986-87.
A ruling is considered likely.
District Judge Louis Sturns, who is presiding over the court of inquiry, must determine whether there is reason to believe that Anderson violated state law by intentionally hiding favorable evidence from Morton and his trial lawyers. Such a ruling would require Sturns to issue a warrant for Anderson’s arrest, the first step toward a possible criminal trial.
Sturns also must decide if Anderson should be held in contempt of court for allegedly lying to Morton’s trial judge. Such a finding could lead to jail time.
Morton served almost 25 years in prison for the murder of his first wife, Christine, before he was exonerated in 2011.
Anderson emphatically denied wrongdoing but acknowledged the stakes when he testified during five days of court of inquiry hearings in February.
“I suppose I stand a chance of being handcuffed and taken to jail,” he said.
Courts of inquiry are rare and uniquely Texas proceedings that examine allegations of wrongdoing to determine if a state law has been broken. Such courts function somewhat like grand juries, which decide whether there is enough evidence to proceed to trial.
The latest hearing begins at 1 p.m. in the same Georgetown courthouse where Anderson has served as a state district judge since 2002. He was appointed to the bench by Gov. Rick Perry after 16 years as Williamson County’s top prosecutor, where his tough-on-crime swagger meshed perfectly with the county’s law-and-order image. Morton’s 1987 trial was one of his earliest cases as district attorney.
Lawyers involved in the court of inquiry declined to discuss what will take place at the hearing, and Sturns has not answered media inquiries since the Texas Supreme Court appointed him to lead the inquiry in early 2012.
Sturns has had 10 weeks to wade through transcripts of more than 45 hours of testimony from February’s hearings, plus boxes of evidence from the trial and investigative files related to Christine Morton’s murder and hours of videotaped depositions by Anderson and others taken in 2011.
While testifying in February, Anderson argued that he provided all required information to the court and to Morton’s lawyers, though he acknowledged that he remembered little about his actions in the long-ago case.
Anderson’s attorneys also argued that the statute of limitations on potential violations had expired two decades ago and that the statutes Anderson is accused of breaking — tampering with physical evidence and tampering with a government record — were never intended to punish prosecutors accused of hiding evidence.
Rusty Hardin, a Houston lawyer acting in a role similar to a prosecutor, argued that the district attorney’s office under Anderson engaged in a “pattern and practice” of withholding favorable information from defense lawyers in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
Hardin focused on two pieces of evidence that he said were never revealed to Morton’s trial lawyers:
• A police report of a driver of a green van who appeared to have been watching the Morton home.
• A transcript of a taped police interview in which Rita Kirkpatrick, the mother of murder victim Christine Morton, related a conversation she had with the Mortons’ 3-year-old son Eric, who spoke of seeing a “monster” hurt his mother, accurately described details of the crime scene and claimed his father wasn’t home at the time.
Both sides recently submitted documents containing proposed findings for Sturns, who can accept one side’s version with his signature or fold portions into findings that he writes. Those documents were not made public.
Morton and his new wife, Cynthia, plan to attend the hearing, as will two of the lawyers who helped clear his name — John Raley of Houston and Nina Morrison with the Innocence Project of New York.
More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/ken-anderson-court-of-inquiry-resumes/nXRLm/
Ken Anderson ordered to be arrested for acts during 1987 Michael Morton murder trial
April 19, 2013

Corrects earlier information that Anderson has already been booked into jail; he has not:

Former Williamson County District Attorney Ken Anderson was ordered arrested and booked into jail for the “intentionally harmful act” of hiding favorable evidence to secure Michael Morton’s 1987 conviction for murder, the court of inquiry found.
“This court cannot think of a more intentionally harmful act than a prosecutor’s conscious choice to hide mitigating evidence so as to create an uneven playing field for a defendant facing a murder charge and a life sentence,” District Judge Louis Sturns ruled.
Sturns found probable cause to believe that Anderson broke two state laws and committed criminal contempt of court, then ordered Anderson to be arrested.
Eric Nichols, Anderson’s lead lawyer, told Sturns that he will challenge the ruling with a writ of habeas corpus.
Morton, sitting in the front row, teared up as Sturns read his findings from the bench.
“It was surprisingly emotional,” Morton said afterward. “It was a real sense of vindication. Here was agreement (of misconduct) from the state. I used to be a ward of the state. They owned me. So this is a special way of saying you were right and we were wrong.”
Before issuing his findings, Sturns apologized to Morton on behalf of himself and the state’s judiciary.
2 p.m.: Judge Sturns has issued a warrant for Anderson’s arrest after finding that there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing in his prosecution of Michael Morton. Anderson’s lawyer said he will challenge the warrant.
 ::snipping2::

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/williamson/ken-anderson-to-learn-fate-in-morton-case
Judge rules Anderson withheld evidence in Morton case
Inquiry examined wrongful conviction issues
April 19, 2013
GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) - Ken Anderson deliberately withheld evidence that might have helped Michael Morton avoid being wrongfully convicted of killing his wife in 1986, a judge ruled Friday.

The ruling means that Anderson, now a state district judge who was in the courtroom as the ruling came down, was in criminal contempt of court as Williamson County district attorney in the Morton case. He turned himself in after the ruling by Judge Louis Sturns the was allowed to return to his office after posting $,500 bond on each charge.

"Mr. Anderson consciously chose to conceal the availability of the exculpatory evidence so he could convict Mr. Morton for murder," Sturns said. "This court cannot think of a more intrinsically harmful act than a prosecutor's intentional choice to hide evidence so as to convict a defendant facing a murder charge and a life sentence."

In his ruling, Sturns decided there was enough evidence to show Anderson was guilty on the three charges brought against him: criminal contempt of court, tampering with evidence and tampering with government records.

The ruling means that Anderson will be tried on the charges, but no trial date was set.

Williamson County District Attorney Jana Duty said she's asking Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to act as the prosecutor in the case because her office has three assistant DAs assigned to Anerson's court.

Morton was exonerated in October 2011 when DNA evidence linked the murder of Christine Morton to Mark Alan Norwood, who is now serving a life sentence for the killing. Anderson has steadfastly insisted that he did not act inappropriately when he prosecuted the case.

“We should all stand up for what we have done, and know that no is above the law," Morton said. "I have said that I don’t want Ken Anderson’s head on a stick, and that’s true, the system’s going to do what the system does.”
 ::snipping2::
The special prosecutor in the case, Houston defense attorney Rusty Hardin, focused on whether Anderson failed to give Morton's trial lawyers a transcript and a report about statements made by Morton's then 3-year-old son. They boy said he witnessed the 1986 slaying and indicated it was a "monster" and not his father who committed the crime.

"I think the entire system of justice in Texas has benefited tremendously from this process and Michael’s steadfast insistence that a wrong be righted," Hardin said.

"Neither Michael or I, or others involved with this, have been condemning prosecutors as a group," Hardin added. "The message here is, when it’s done the wrong way, hopefully there’s some changes that will be made that we can deal with."

During the eight-hour deposition in February, Anderson said he couldn't recall if at the time of the trial he had any documents about statements by Morton's son.

"There's no way in God's green earth that, if that was in my file, I wouldn't have told" Morton's attorneys about the boy's statements, Anderson said in the October 2011 deposition. He was being questioned by Barry Scheck, an attorney with the Innocence Project, a nonprofit that helped secure the new DNA testing.

Anderson, who has apologized to Morton but denied any wrongdoing, said when allegations were made he had suppressed evidence, he wasn't worried because he believed Morton was guilty.

[Sister]

Thanks for the updates Miss 
Anderson is still so full of himself.  I truly hope he has to go to jail!
 ::justice2NJ::