CBS
A Texas father who spent nearly 25 years behind bars for a murder he didn't commit is pressing for tougher penalties targeting prosecutors who withhold evidence, saying he wants to prevent other innocent people from falling victim to overzealous authorities.
"This isn't about me because my case is finished," Michael Morton said during an interview Thursday with The Associated Press. "But there's no reason it can't happen to you or to anyone."
Morton was convicted in the fatal 1986 beating of his wife by a prosecutor who Morton and his attorneys believe knowingly withheld critical evidence. Morton walked out of prison a free man last October, after DNA testing cleared him and pointed to another man now charged in the murder and implicated in a similar 1988 slaying.
Morton was awarded nearly $2 million under the state's compensation law, and a special prosecutor is investigating whether the lead prosecutor in his case — now a Texas judge — hid evidence.
But Morton said his fight isn't over.
He plans to sit down with lawmakers and State Bar officials, and use the notoriety he reluctantly gained from his high-profile exoneration, to get tough new rules in place that would ensure prosecutors could be fined or even disbarred for concealing evidence in Texas, where more former inmates have been exonerated than any other state.
"We want to tell prosecutors, 'Just play fair, follow the rules, obey the law," Morton said. "I'm not a lawyer, but I've been around a whole bunch of them lately. They can do this and we can help get the Legislature to make it doable, too."
Investigations of court officers are rare, and the one against Ken Anderson — a rising star among young prosecutors when he handled Morton's trial in 1987 — is especially so since he's now a Texas District Court judge.
 |
| Michael Morton poses for a photo in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, March 29, 2012. After spending 24 years in prison for the murder of his wife, which he did not commit, Morton says he's not interested in revenge, but the prosecutor that convicted him is now a sitting judge who is being investigated by special prosecutor for possible misconduct in the case. |
"This isn't about me because my case is finished," Michael Morton said during an interview Thursday with The Associated Press. "But there's no reason it can't happen to you or to anyone."
Morton was convicted in the fatal 1986 beating of his wife by a prosecutor who Morton and his attorneys believe knowingly withheld critical evidence. Morton walked out of prison a free man last October, after DNA testing cleared him and pointed to another man now charged in the murder and implicated in a similar 1988 slaying.
Morton was awarded nearly $2 million under the state's compensation law, and a special prosecutor is investigating whether the lead prosecutor in his case — now a Texas judge — hid evidence.
But Morton said his fight isn't over.
He plans to sit down with lawmakers and State Bar officials, and use the notoriety he reluctantly gained from his high-profile exoneration, to get tough new rules in place that would ensure prosecutors could be fined or even disbarred for concealing evidence in Texas, where more former inmates have been exonerated than any other state.
"We want to tell prosecutors, 'Just play fair, follow the rules, obey the law," Morton said. "I'm not a lawyer, but I've been around a whole bunch of them lately. They can do this and we can help get the Legislature to make it doable, too."
Investigations of court officers are rare, and the one against Ken Anderson — a rising star among young prosecutors when he handled Morton's trial in 1987 — is especially so since he's now a Texas District Court judge.
