Barry Scheck may not want to say he thinks this is a widespread problem. He has to face these people every day. But I'll say it. That a prosecutor can get a jury to convict on flimsy speculative evidence is extremely common. They may not all be capital cases, but these abuses are in fact rampant. Nobody wants to believe it, but the signs are everywhere. There is more concern to convict somebody for a crime in order to give the impression that law enforcement is efficient and seems to be getting criminals into jail than to make sure no innocent person gets railroaded. On every level and in every jurisdiction police and prosecutors are out of control. They even nonchalantly have a term they have coined that most of us don't know, but every cop, prosecutor, and criminal defense attorney does: "you can beat the rap but you can't beat the ride." They all routinely lie "to teach somebody a lesson," even if the offense is a minor misdemeanor. How totally complicit everybody is (just collecting their pay) is evidenced in the fact the practice is so broad and common that they have their own little term to refer to it.
I am a prosecutor and I have never heard the phrase you cite. So I suppose that your claim that "every" person in law enforcement knows the phrase is false. Most of the prosecutors I work with are honest men and women who work long hours and have the potential to make a lot more money in private practice. I suppose the internet is a good place for fringe folks to make claims like the ones asserted above. No profession is perfect and there are imperfect people who work in every field, but the wild claims above are pretty darn extreme. Be suspect of any anonymous person who writes things like "On every level and in every jurisdiction police and prosecutors are out of control."
GREAT segment 60 Minutes - this is a very common issue. The courtroom is unfortunately, most often viewed by many lawyers as a game to win vs getting to the truth. I myself am a daughter of a homicide victim. I had to tenaciously dig on my own for truth and 20 years later I found that the prosecutor buried documents which named the real killer, who is still free while an innocent man spends his 18th year in prison for a wrongful conviction. PLEASE keep reporting on these issues to promote awareness of flaws and human error in the justice system. We should especially pay attention to the older cases when accountability, science, and transparency were not of the same standards of today. Mr. Morton, my heart aches for all you and your son have been through.
Lara Logan states "It is not just that an innocent man was put in jail, it was that a killer went free." However, this is not correct. The important part is that an innocent man was sent to prison not that a killer went free. And Michael Morton went to prison not to jail. The laws are set up to protect the innocent not to punish the guilty. It is much worse to put an innocent man in prison than it is to let a guilty man go free.
In addition, it should never had taken 25 years for this to unfold and to let this innocent man go free. The system needs to change and prosecutors need to be held responsible for their actions.
Respectfully, I disagree. It is about an innocent man sent to prison AND a killer free to kill again, as he did take another life. It is about justice. Unfortunately the trickle down effect happenend....the investigators didn't care to look else where....it was a "slam dunk". It is about power, winning, advancement. There was another life lost here....a little boy who lost his mother AND his father. What sadness. A childhood taken from this little boy and ripped away from his father.
Michael Morton is right. Revenge doesn't work, but accountability does. I pray that the justice system holds Ken Anderson accountable and he is required to step down from a judgeship and disbarred. "I am sorry" doesnt cut it. Just imagine how many other innocent people have been sent to prison under his unscruple tactics. No one is above the law.
I agree that it takes too long for injustice to be corrected and that the system does need to change. Michael Morton, go forward, and be a part of the change. If I can help that change let me know.
Laura Logan....you are a wonderful reporter!!! Continue to bring the stories to our attention....and maybe in some small or large way we can all become a part of the change.
luckylandlord you are correct it is bad to put an innocent person in prison than to let a guilty person go free. Lara Logan's statement though is taking the "not just" approach, that a killer was allowed to still roam, and in this instance he killed again ergo a lot of lives were touched becaused the DA ignored the law. And you are correct, 25 years is way too long!
So sad. Such a waste of this man's life. He did not even have the opportunity to grieve his loss and he was persecuted. Williamson County is hell on earth - then and now. Bradley is worse than Anderson - he just hasn't been caught yet.
A total crock to suggest that gov. officials are immune, it is insane and why the Supreme Court continues to show the rest of the U.S. how irrelevant they are. The rule of law my a....
Look what happened in the Duke Lacrosse case where the new attorney general in that case, Roy Cooper, called district attorney Nifong a "rogue prosecutor". This judge did the same thing when he was prosecuting this case, all they think about is lining up convictions, that's why the justice system is based on making deals with defendants in most cases. It is your life but to them it is a career advancement.
Good luck Mr. Morton. Now you have to finish the job given you. Stop this "monster, Also.Known.As, Kony" who robbed you and your family. If he had not been so lazy that other woman could/would be alive. I will not blindly vote for this judge, again, but for justice. Laura, good reporting.
Amazing piece. I was left stunned that a man can spend that much time in State prison for something he didn't do. his 2 MM dollar award doesnt even touch the surface..How many other people are currently in the same situation. I couldnt imagine what that must have been like. The prosecutors and their staff should be sent to jail. I also think they should pay Michael personally. how this man is not bitter is even mor amazing.
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In addition, it should never had taken 25 years for this to unfold and to let this innocent man go free. The system needs to change and prosecutors need to be held responsible for their actions.
Michael Morton is right. Revenge doesn't work, but accountability does. I pray that the justice system holds Ken Anderson accountable and he is required to step down from a judgeship and disbarred. "I am sorry" doesnt cut it. Just imagine how many other innocent people have been sent to prison under his unscruple tactics. No one is above the law.
I agree that it takes too long for injustice to be corrected and that the system does need to change. Michael Morton, go forward, and be a part of the change. If I can help that change let me know.
Laura Logan....you are a wonderful reporter!!! Continue to bring the stories to our attention....and maybe in some small or large way we can all become a part of the change.
see wilcowatchdog.org for the latest on the case.
Look what happened in the Duke Lacrosse case where the new attorney general in that case, Roy Cooper, called district attorney Nifong a "rogue prosecutor". This judge did the same thing when he was prosecuting this case, all they think about is lining up convictions, that's why the justice system is based on making deals with defendants in most cases. It is your life but to them it is a career advancement.