Today in Texas, former prosecutor and judge Ken Anderson pled guilty to intentionally failing to disclose evidence in a case that sent an innocent man, Michael Morton, to prison for the murder of his wife. When trying the case as a prosecutor, Anderson possessed evidence that may have cleared Morton, including statements from the crime’s only eyewitness that Morton wasn’t the culprit. Anderson sat on this evidence, and then watched Morton get convicted. While Morton remained in prison for the next 25 years, Anderson’s career flourished, and he eventually became a judge. In today’s deal, Anderson pled to criminal contempt, and will have to give up his law license, perform 500 hours of community service, and spend 10 days in jail. Anderson had already resigned in September from his position on the Texas bench.
Texas has a well-known (and well-deserved) reputation for frontier justice, for being the kind of place where getting a conviction is often far more important than knowing the RIGHT person’s been convicted. Being a Conservative, law-and-order kind of place, Texas politicians and prosecutors are wont to build a strong reputation as being “touch on crime.” It’s all about convictions…and if every now and then you get it wrong, well, you just hide the evidence and get on with it.
Makes it SO much easier to get re-elected, don’tchaknow?
Except that now again the wrong person really does get convicted for a crime they didn’t commit. That fact hardly makes Texas unique when it comes to miscarriage of justice. What DOES make the Lone Star State stand out is the degree to which prosecutorial misconduct has been the norm. Until now, there’s been little risk that would accrue to a prosecutor willing to cut corners and sit on evidence not favorable to obtaining a conviction. The worst and most obvious case is that of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed for a heinous murder he almost certainly didn’t commit. ‘Course, once the State kills someone there’s no way to un-kill them, so it’s in their best interest to maintain the fiction that justice was done…even when it arguably wasn’t. Governor Goodhair, who’s sent something like 275 human beings to the death chamber, is fond of saying that Texas’s judicial system has worked flawlessly.
Until he was indicted for abuse of power, that is….
For the first time, a Texas prosecutor is being held accountable for official misconduct, if it can in fact even be called that. Former prosecutor and judge Ken Anderson sent Michael Morton to prison for rape…because he sat on evidence that would have cleared Morton. It seems Anderson’s career trajectory was more important to him than what became of a man he knew to be innocent.
What’s newsworthy and novel about today’s plea is that a prosecutor was actually punished in a meaningful way for his transgressions.
The fact that Anderson is being punished is wonderful and a sign that accountability is possible- even in Texas- but to say that he’s being punished in a meaningful way is absurd. Michael Morton lost 17 years of his life- that’s 17 years of living as a free man, of career and family possibilities lost. Where does Morton go to get that back? Who’s going to make him whole? The answer, of course, is no one. Absent any compensation, Michael Morton will never be able to get back the 17 years Ken Anderson took from him.
For his part, Anderson is getting what could only fairly be described as a slap on the wrist:
In today’s deal, Anderson pled to criminal contempt, and will have to give up his law license, perform 500 hours of community service, and spend 10 days in jail. Anderson had already resigned in September from his position on the Texas bench.
Hmm…17 years vs. 10 days? Sorry, but to call that meaningful…or even “punishment” is ridiculous. Anderson took 17 years from Morton because he sat on evidence that would have exonerated him. Anderson was convicted…and he’s being inconvenienced. Yes, he lost his law license and his seat on the bench, but serving 10 days behind bars is a mere nuisance compared to what Morton endured.
For my part, I hope Morton sues Anderson for everything he’s worth. There’s no possible way for Morton to be anything close to fully compensated for the years and opportunities he lost to Anderson’s willful misconduct, but Anderson deserves to lose everything he’s achieved over the years. It was a shame and a fraud, and it was accomplished in part because of what he did to Morton…and if he did it to one man….
There’s no way that Anderson’s punishment can be described as reasonable or appropriate. Not when you consider what he took from Morton. If there’s any justice to be realized from this case, it will serve as a warning to other Texas prosecutors and law enforcement officials willing to cut corners and destroy lives in order to advance their own self-aggrandizement.
Michael Morton deserved better…and I hope he’ll get it.
