The cost of Ken Anderson’s mistake endures

[TexasTowelie]

Hopefully the cost of a mistake like Ken Anderson’s – both to him personally as well as to the state of Texas and Williamson County – will make prosecutors think twice about what they’re doing in the future. At least that seems to be the hope. Here’s Grits on a recent Statesman article, (Legal bill brings cost of Morton case to nearly half a million dollars for Williamson County), about how much the false conviction of Michael Morton is costing them, Williamson County getting off light financially for Michael Morton exoneration.

Considering the state paid nearly two million dollars to Morton in a lump sum and that Texas taxpayers created a lifetime annuity for Morton in a like amount, quite honestly, it seems to me the county is getting off light. One of Morton’s unrequited reform suggestions was for counties to bear at least part of the burden for compensating exonerees since local officials were fundamentally responsible for most false convictions. That idea didn’t move forward, but it would be folly to think the county would get off scot-free while Judge Ken Anderson, who prosecuted Morton and was arrested this spring for allegedly secreting exculpatory evidence in the case, remains on the bench. For that matter, “If a trial is held, the county will face more expenses.”

Here’s the lead from the Statesman article:

By the time Williamson County pays the latest legal bill, it will have spent almost half a million dollars stemming from the wrongful conviction of Michael Morton, who was freed after serving 25 years in prison for the murder of his wife.

The latest bill of $339,492 is for attorney Rusty Hardin, who presented evidence and questioned witnesses in a special hearing back in February over the original prosecutor’s handling of the 1987 case. At the end of that “court of inquiry,” State District Judge Louis Sturns found then-district attorney Ken Anderson hid potentially exculpatory evidence to secure Morton’s conviction.

The suffering of people convicted of crimes they did not commit is hard to fathom. There is no monetary compensation that can make up for what was done to them. Read what Anthony Graves recently wrote about his time on death row. The only way we can try and make up for this is to do our best to make sure this never happens again.

Source: http://eyeonwilliamson.org/?p=13095

[TxDemChem]

1. That case was a disaster

Anderson deserves to serve a prison sentence of 25 years and pay restitution