There are those story's where someone goes to jail and years later evidence comes up that proves their innocence, or a person was framed and wrongly accused, so in these cases what happens? Well, a KXAN article discusses this issue through a case regarding Michael Morton.
After spending 25 years in prison for his wife's murder, Michael Morton was set free in 2011 due to evidence that showed he was not the murderer. The prosecutor at that time was Ken Anderson, who now is the Judge for Williamson County, faces a court of inquiry for withholding evidence in the case that could of helped Morton in court.
As a result of this case, Senator Rodney Ellis introduced two bills. One, Bill 89 that will be heard in the 2013 session and would "create a Texas Innocence Commission to examine post-conviction exoneration" that already has been created in ten other states. This commission will be composed of many people including judiciary, people from the two Houses, and lawyers. Two, "Automatic Disclosure Bill, which would create a statewide standard for disclosure in criminal cases."
I think this bill should be passed, and should have been passed a long time ago, North Carolina passed this bill in 2002/2006. Morton is not the only person that has been wrongfully accused, Morton spent 25 years for a crime he did not commit and there are others like him that have been sent to jail before forensic science could look at important evidence and match fingerprints and blood that could have saved them in court.I think in this case it is especially wrong because the evidence was there it just wasn't presented in court. Ellis mentioned this but I think this issue should be highlighted a little more. Evidence that could show that
"someone is innocent or clearly could exonerate someone" should be shared with the rest of the court.
To start off, I believe this was a great subject to write about. I've always wondered what the consequences when you wrongfully accuse a person. Also, what does the court system do when they were wrong when locking up an innocent person.
ReplyDeleteIt disgust me when a prosecutor will go this far to unfairly win a case. For someone with this authority to practice unethical procedures to gain an unfair advantage is clearly pathetic. I can't believe Ken Anderson was given the right to pass judgement on others after an act like this. Prosecutor misconduct is a serious problem and its barely being noticed. I'm glad that Texas has adopted a convection review committee for those who may be wrongfully imprisoned. Preventatives such as this will help prevent wrongful death penalties and wrongful imprisonment. The disclosure laws should help with withholding evidence that should be presented to pursue an ethical outcome. The goal of the courts should be that of proving of innocence as much as proving of guilt.
This article was informative and meaningful. I believe that Texas should take this further though. The prosecutor should be held personally responsible for a wrongful imprisonment since they cannot be sued in a civil case. Accountability should level the playing field for defendants. I've read of states who award the falsely convicted with money but lets face it, there's no returning those lost years. The proper preventatives must be implemented to stop this unfair justice.
In their post entitled "The Jury's Out," from Thursday, December 13, my colleague discussed a bill that they think should be passed regarding people being wrongly accused of crimes. They used the example of Michael Morton, who was wrongly accused of the murder of his wife and spent 25 years in prison before they found evidence that exonerated him. Now, the prosecutor from that case faces a court of inquiry for withholding evidence that would have prevented Michael from spending those 25 years in prison.
ReplyDeleteMy colleague says that Senator Rodney Ellis introduces two bills that will be heard in the 2013 session. The first is Bill 89 that would "create a Texas Innocence Commission to examine post-conviction exoneration" that will be composed of judiciary people, people from both Houses, and lawyers. This has already passed in ten other states. The other is the "Automatic Disclosure Bill," which would create a statewide standard for disclosure in criminal cases.
I do agree with my colleague, although I noticed that they mentioned that Michael Morton is not the only one that this has happened to and I think they should have included another example. After researching a little myself, though, I found an article about a trio that had been charged with aggravated robbery and one was sentenced to 99 years in prison while the other two took plea deals and got probation. All three were exonerated recently but that does not erase it from their past.
Because of these examples, I do agree with my colleague that these bills should be passed so that innocent people don't have to be punished for things they didn't do.