For the First Time Ever, a Prosecutor Will Go to Jail....

[phill4paul]

With hold evidence to wrongfully convict a man for 25 years. Do 500 hrs. community service and 10 days in prison. Just-Us?


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-godsey/for-the-first-time-ever-a_b_4221000.html

For the First Time Ever, a Prosecutor Will Go to Jail for Wrongfully Convicting an Innocent Man

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.

What makes today's plea newsworthy is not that Anderson engaged in misconduct that sent an innocent man to prison. Indeed, while most prosecutors and police officers are ethical and take their constitutional obligations seriously, government misconduct--including disclosure breaches known as Brady violations--occurs so frequently that it has become one of the chief causes of wrongful conviction.

What's newsworthy and novel about today's plea is that a prosecutor was actually punished in a meaningful way for his transgressions.

I give speeches about the Innocence Movement, and tell stories from real cases, all around the world. No matter where I am, when I finish speaking the first question usually is, "What happened to the police/prosecutors who did this to the poor guy?" The answer is almost always, "Nothing," or worse, "The police officer was promoted and now is the chief of his department." The adage that the powerful go unpunished is no truer or more visible than with police officers and prosecutors in America--even when they send innocent people to prison from their misconduct.

My client Roger Dean Gillispie of Dayton, Ohio, for example, spent 20 years in prison as a result of police misconduct. In 2007, we presented overwhelming evidence that the police officers, like Anderson in the Morton case, failed to turn over evidence to the defense before trial that would have cleared Gillispie. We also supplied the court with evidence that the police officer in charge had harassed and intimidated witnesses helpful to the defense, and had manipulated the evidence. Before going to court to clear Gillispie, we met with the local prosecutors, hopeful that they wouldn't tolerate such misconduct and would do a thorough (and neutral) investigation to get to the truth. Instead, they simply denied everything in knee-jerk fashion, and fought to keep Gillispie in prison until a federal court finally found government misconduct and threw out his charges in December 2011. To this day, the police officer in the case has not been investigated by a neutral, independent body. The only thing he has received is promotions.

Rogue cops and prosecutors going unpunished is the rule rather than the exception. In Illinois, two police officers whose improperly grueling interrogation techniques led to the wrongful conviction of Juan Rivera and others were not penalized when their 3rd degree tactics came to light. Rather, they were recently hired at taxpayer expense to teach interrogation courses to other police officers around the state.

A recent study found prosecutorial misconduct in nearly one-quarter of all capital cases in Arizona. Only two of those prosecutors have been reprimanded or punished. This led the Arizona Republic to conclude:

There seldom are consequences for prosecutors, regardless of whether the miscarriage of justice occurred because of ineptness or misconduct. In fact, they are often congratulated.
Other studies/articles with similar troubling results can be found here, here, here, and here.

Fortunately, there is something very simple that judges across the country can do to eradicate this problem. All judges, state and federal, should issue the standing "ethical rule order" proposed by the Hon. Nancy Gertner and Innocence Project Co-Founder Barry Scheck. The proposed order requires prosecutors to disclose, pre-trial, all evidence that "tends to negate the guilt of the accused or mitigates the offense." Details regarding the proposed ethical rule order, including all the justifications supporting it, can be found in this article by Barry Scheck.

The reason such standing ethical rule orders are important is that they allow prosecutors, like Ken Anderson, to be held in criminal contempt if they are later found to have engaged in misconduct. Anderson could be punished today only because such an order had been issued in the Morton case.

Today's conviction of Ken Anderson stands out as an extreme aberration in a society where police and prosecutorial misconduct goes largely unpunished. But it is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, today's result will deter rogue cops and prosecutors in the future from engaging in similar misconduct. But this will happen only if judges across the country do what the judge did more than 25 years ago in the Morton case: issue an order requiring that proper disclosure to the defense, or risk criminal contempt proceedings.

[tod evans]

Fuck that!

This piece of shit got caught once, out of how many?

10 days! Hell no!

Flayed on the square and all his worldly possessions auctioned off before he's granted the reprieve of death.

Good God I detest prosecutors! :mad:

[FrankRep]

Ken Anderson to serve 10 days in jail (http://www.statesman.com/news/news/ken-anderson-to-serve-10-days-in-jail/nbmsH/)


Austin American-Statesman
Nov. 8, 2013


Former Williamson County district attorney Ken Anderson will serve 10 days in jail and give up his law license to settle accusations that he hid favorable evidence in the 1987 trial of Michael Morton, who served almost 25 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

During an afternoon hearing in Georgetown, District Judge Kelly Moore found Anderson in contempt of court for telling Morton’s trial judge, during a 1987 hearing, that he had no favorable evidence to give to Morton’s lawyers.
...


Full Story:
http://www.statesman.com/news/news/ken-anderson-to-serve-10-days-in-jail/nbmsH/

[A Son of Liberty]

He should indeed serve a minimum of 25 years, though I'm sympathetic to tod evans' perscription. ;)

[erowe1]

At least his name is made public.

That opens the door for outside-the-state justice.

[aGameOfThrones]

10 days>25 years


What makes today's plea newsworthy is not that Anderson engaged in misconduct that sent an innocent man to prison. Indeed, while most prosecutors and police officers are ethical and take their constitutional obligations seriously, government misconduct--including disclosure breaches known as Brady violations--occurs so frequently that it has become one of the chief causes of wrongful conviction.

Really? Did you read your own post?


What's newsworthy and novel about today's plea is that a prosecutor was actually punished in a meaningful way for his transgressions.

If anything it shows that if you get caught your punishment will be a slap on the wrist.

[erowe1]

10 days>25 years



Really? Did you read your own post?



If anything it shows that if you get caught your punishment will be a slap on the wrist.

That whooshing sound you hear is the OP going over your head.

[tod evans]

Really? Did you read your own post?


p4p's post was one sentence ending in "Just-Us" the rest was cut-n-paste...

[aGameOfThrones]

p4p's post was one sentence ending in "Just-Us" the rest was cut-n-paste...

I was referring to Mark Godsey.

[RJB]

Anyone who lies to convict should get the same sentence that was given, whether a day in jail or the death penalty IMO

BTW I'm against the death penalty, but if it's the law of the land, and someone is railroaded, the liar is basically committing murder.

[erowe1]

Anyone who lies to convict should get the same sentence that was given, whether a day in jail or the death penalty IMO

BTW I'm against the death penalty, but if it's the law of the land, and someone is railroaded, the liar is basically committing murder.

+1

Attempted murder should have been the charge.

[phill4paul]

Anyone who lies to convict should get the same sentence that was given, whether a day in jail or the death penalty IMO

BTW I'm against the death penalty, but if it's the law of the land, and someone is railroaded, the liar is basically committing murder.

+rep. I'm against the death penalty also. However, I strongly believe that sentencing guidelines should be in proportion to those they help to wrongly convict.

[Contumacious]

Fuck that!

This piece of shit got caught once, out of how many?

10 days! Hell no!

Flayed on the square and all his worldly possessions auctioned off before he's granted the reprieve of death.

Good God I detest prosecutors! :mad:

The fact that he is going to Jail, albeit for 10 days, is really amazing given the fact that TX Judicial system is corrupt to its core.

Alcohol, Lies, and Ambition: Another Texas 'Justice' Outrage (http://www.lewrockwell.com/2012/06/william-l-anderson/prosecutors-rule-the-texas-courts/)

By William L. Anderson

June 5, 2012

Anna Jiminez knew a lot of things about Eastwood, and later after Jiminez was elected Nueces County District Attorney, she fired Eastwood. As second chair, she knew the case file and she claimed later that she suspected Eastwood was withholding evidence in violation of the Brady ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, and by the Rules of Conduct for prosecutors in the State of Texas. But while Jiminez reported Eastwood to her superiors, according to later testimony, she never reported Eastwood to the Texas State Bar, as was required by the rules of conduct that govern her as a lawyer and as a prosecutor. (Not surprisingly, Eastwood's superiors did nothing. They enjoyed winning and if a few innocent people went to prison, that was collateral damage. And, anyway, everyone already knew that Hannah Overton was a monster.)"


.

[pcosmar]

Have to wonder how many other lives he destroyed in his career. :(

The ones that can't be "proved".

[GunnyFreedom]

And folks wonder why people are losing confidence in 'the system.'

[Contumacious]

Have to wonder how many other lives he destroyed in his career. :(

The ones that can't be "proved".

According to the Texas Criminal Court the fact that an attorney slept through a capital murder trial does not mean that he received Ineffective Assistance Of Counsel . Defendants in Texas courts are pieces of shit.

.

[pcosmar]

And folks wonder why people are losing confidence in 'the system.'
The system protects the system.
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/franklincoverupexcerpt.shtml


To make a long story short, because of certain incriminating appearances in the case, the captain and his senior officers, although they knew Billy was innocent of all charges, nonetheless sentenced him to hang, a necessity - as they viewed it - to "save the system," not just on their own ship, but in the British fleet as a whole.

Now I think I do understand the Franklin case. I know, now, that all the public officials involved in Franklin-whether they ever heard of Billy Budd or not-fully understood what they were doing.

And what they all have done, and will continue to do in this case, Franklin, and no doubt many others like it, is this: Protect the "system" at all costs. The "system" is the only ultimate sacred cow-not any particular law or constitution, but only "the system." Because, ultimately, it is the system which makes certain that the individuals functioning within it - from judges to lawyers, to prosecutors, to politicians, to businessmen - have their places and positions, and opportunities and pecking order, and future.

And, though it is unfortunate, that on occasion the protection of the "system" requires the deliberate sacrifice of perfectly innocent people, that is hoped overall to be the exception rather than the rule. But without the "system" . .

So, Judge Enbody, now I understand. And, as you said, I may not agree, but I do understand.

[brushfire]

LOL complete failure on so many levels. Some zip ties, old tires, and kerosene may complete the sentence... Where there's a void in civil justice, there's always ghetto justice...

Disgusting, really.

[tod evans]

And folks wonder why people are losing confidence in 'the system.'

I'm way past the "losing" stage...

[pcosmar]

I was referring to Mark Godsey.

Why? Is it relevant ? Please expand on what about Mark Godsey (the writer of the piece) you were referring to.

http://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/author/profgodsey/

[Red Green]

After spending 25 years in prison because of the fuckwad, I would hunt him down, haul his ass over to Mexico and pay a jail to make sure he stays there until dead.

10 days if a fucking joke. Fucker ought to pay at least what he took from the innocent man.

[osan]

What's newsworthy and novel about today's plea is that a prosecutor was actually punished in a meaningful way for his transgressions.


Meaningful? What? No, really... is that a joke?

[osan]

10 days if a fucking joke. Fucker ought to pay at least what he took from the innocent man.

No, he should be killed in a slow and agonizing manner. His death should be the picture of "cruel and unusual". That should be the fate of all officials who violate the mantle of the public trust.

This "sentence" is basically thanks for his service.

[PaulConventionWV]

Fuck that!

This piece of shit got caught once, out of how many?

10 days! Hell no!

Flayed on the square and all his worldly possessions auctioned off before he's granted the reprieve of death.

Good God I detest prosecutors! :mad:

+rep. He deserves so much more than what he got. 10 days and 500 hrs community service is nothing for the crime he committed, one of the worst crimes I can think of.

[PaulConventionWV]

That whooshing sound you hear is the OP going over your head.

I don't see why it went over his head. I was pretty peeved by that "most officers take their constitutional obligations seriously" comment. It's also really hard to see how this punishment is meaningful compared to what he did.

[GunnyFreedom]

I'm way past the "losing" stage...

You and me both. But given all the people defending the system every time a story comes out, we are the exceptions to the rule.

[Origanalist]

You and me both. But given all the people defending the system every time a story comes out, we are the exceptions to the rule.

The apologists are enough to make you sick to your stomach, but it seems to me that there are less of them. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.

[DGambler]

Pass amendments to the state constitutions that if a prosecutor, judge or police officer withholds evidence that sends some to jail, then they receive tha same penalty, all their benefits are forfeit for them and their family and they owe restitution to the convicted.

[ClydeCoulter]

His community service should be to those that he wrongfully prosecuted. Slave to them for the term that the wrongfully accused served.

[erowe1]

I don't see why it went over his head. I was pretty peeved by that "most officers take their constitutional obligations seriously" comment. It's also really hard to see how this punishment is meaningful compared to what he did.

That was Phill4Paul's point.

[Ender]

Anyone who lies to convict should get the same sentence that was given, whether a day in jail or the death penalty IMO

BTW I'm against the death penalty, but if it's the law of the land, and someone is railroaded, the liar is basically committing murder.

In absolute agreement.

[mrsat_98]

Fuck that!

This piece of shit got caught once, out of how many?

10 days! Hell no!

Flayed on the square and all his worldly possessions auctioned off before he's granted the reprieve of death.

Good God I detest prosecutors! :mad:

Jail the bastard for life or until the death penalty kicks in, take away all retirement benefits for his spouse and let everyone he ever prosecuted out of jail. Anything else is a violation of 18 usc 201.

After he is dead skin him and upholstery a chair with his hide for his replacement to sit in as a reminder.

[pcosmar]

I agree with all who say the sentence was too lenient. ( a slap on the wrist)

But it is the first time.. It is Historic.

Here is to hoping for many many more,, and perhaps some harsher sentences.

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

Reminds me of when my brother's baseball glove got stolen by the neighbor kid. Next day, the glove was laying in the middle of the street. My mother goes over and asks the kid's dad about it. He was indignant and said, "Well, you got it back didn't you?!"

This is the same thing. This DA and cronies got caught and were mad and indignant about being caught. The 10 jail days was basically a way of saying, "Yeah, we do shit like this. Big fucking deal."

[Henry Rogue]

Does the convicted get a new trial?

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

And of course that 10 days was a plea deal, and a sweet plea deal at that. Guaranteed the prosecutor overseeing the plea is equally a piece of shit.

[asurfaholic]

25 years of of a mans life was stolen.

That's really depressing. God help us

[DamianTV]

Fuck that!

This piece of shit got caught once, out of how many?

10 days! Hell no!

Flayed on the square and all his worldly possessions auctioned off before he's granted the reprieve of death.

Good God I detest prosecutors! :mad:

They are the Criminals while everyone else that is their Victim ends up in a Private Prison. Oh yeah, just because Private Prisons are Profitable to incarcerate the Innocent.

[osan]

After his dead skin him and upholstery a chair with his hide for his replacement to sit in as a reminder.

Holy shit, this is one of the most diabolically perfect things I have ever read. I could not have come up with better in a thousand years of Sunday's.

Pile on the rep folks because genius should be rewarded.

[mrsat_98]

Holy shit, this is one of the most diabolically perfect things I have ever read. I could not have come up with better in a thousand years of Sunday's.

Pile on the rep folks because genius should be rewarded.

This was SOP for ancient Islamic Courts.

[jjdoyle]

Anyone who lies to convict should get the same sentence that was given, whether a day in jail or the death penalty IMO

BTW I'm against the death penalty, but if it's the law of the land, and someone is railroaded, the liar is basically committing murder.

+rep. This isn't an "accident", and this crap happens all the time. WILLFULLY holding back information, they know shows somebody is innocent, simply trying to railroad or get a plea out of them.

He took away 25 years from this guy, and furthered his own career. I can only imagine there could be more. The sentence is a complete slap on the wrist.

[Christian Liberty]

At least his name is made public.

That opens the door for outside-the-state justice.

Just wondering, but what's your opinion on the "Outside-of-state" justice that you describe from a Biblical standpoint? Could a Christian in good conscience participate in it? Why or why not? Thanks.


No, he should be killed in a slow and agonizing manner. His death should be the picture of "cruel and unusual". That should be the fate of all officials who violate the mantle of the public trust.

This "sentence" is basically thanks for his service.

I'm completely OK with the death penalty for him, or, alternatively, enslaving him as ClydeCoulter recommends. But I don't, can't condone torture. As much as I hate these people, that ain't right. Let the victim choose whether to try to extract compensation or to see justice be done (death penalty) but torture shouldn't be tolerated.


His community service should be to those that he wrongfully prosecuted. Slave to them for the term that the wrongfully accused served.

This is a good suggestion.

Jail the bastard for life or until the death penalty kicks in, take away all retirement benefits for his spouse and let everyone he ever prosecuted out of jail. Anything else is a violation of 18 usc 201.

After his dead skin him and upholstery a chair with his hide for his replacement to sit in as a reminder.

Why should his spouse suffer for what he did? Unless you mean government retirement benefits, in which case, yeah nobody should get those.

Holy shit, this is one of the most diabolically perfect things I have ever read. I could not have come up with better in a thousand years of Sunday's.

Pile on the rep folks because genius should be rewarded.

Again, cruelty. It was funny, but still.

I thought I was the most "unhinged" person on here. I guess I'll have to settle for angriest Christian:p

(now that SF is gone;))

[GunnyFreedom]

The apologists are enough to make you sick to your stomach, but it seems to me that there are less of them. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking on my part.
No, there are less and less of them. Thus 'losing confidence.'

[mrsat_98]

I thought I was the most "unhinged" person on here. I guess I'll have to settle for angriest Christian:p

(now that SF is gone;))

unhinged ? I just recognize the system for what it is.

[donnay]

The fact that he is going to Jail, albeit for 10 days, is really amazing given the fact that TX Judicial system is corrupt to its core.

Alcohol, Lies, and Ambition: Another Texas 'Justice' Outrage (http://www.lewrockwell.com/2012/06/william-l-anderson/prosecutors-rule-the-texas-courts/)

By William L. Anderson

June 5, 2012

Anna Jiminez knew a lot of things about Eastwood, and later after Jiminez was elected Nueces County District Attorney, she fired Eastwood. As second chair, she knew the case file and she claimed later that she suspected Eastwood was withholding evidence in violation of the Brady ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, and by the Rules of Conduct for prosecutors in the State of Texas. But while Jiminez reported Eastwood to her superiors, according to later testimony, she never reported Eastwood to the Texas State Bar, as was required by the rules of conduct that govern her as a lawyer and as a prosecutor. (Not surprisingly, Eastwood's superiors did nothing. They enjoyed winning and if a few innocent people went to prison, that was collateral damage. And, anyway, everyone already knew that Hannah Overton was a monster.)"


.

Absolutely! It's the good ol' boy system. I have three words to say to them: Randall Dale Adams

[presence]

while most prosecutors and police officers are ethical and take their constitutional obligations seriously

lol

now that's funny

[presence]

Fuck that!

This piece of shit got caught once, out of how many?

[]

Good God I detest prosecutors! :mad:

Nietzsche Monsters much?

;)

[tod evans]

Nietzsche Monsters much?

;)

As time goes on it's getting harder and harder to avoid the abyss...

[Origanalist]

Does the convicted get a new trial?

Do all the convicted by him get a new trial?

[donnay]

Do all the convicted by him get a new trial?


That should be demanded!! Prosecutors are only out for one thing, convictions, they care not what damage they cause in the process. Most of them head right into politics. Look at Ghoulini.

[Origanalist]

That should be demanded!! Prosecutors are only out for one thing, convictions, they care not what damage they cause in the process. Most of them head right into politics. Look at Ghoulini.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Gregoire

[phill4paul]

UPDATE: Former prosecutor serves three days of ten day sentence.


Disgraced former Williamson County judge Ken Anderson has been released from jail after serving three days of a 10 day sentence.

Earlier this week he pleaded no contest to a criminal contempt of court charge. He was accused of concealing evidence while he was a prosecutor for Williamson County that would have cleared Michael Morton in his 1987 murder trial. Morton spent over two decades in prison for his wife's murder before DNA evidence exonerated him.
Anderson already had credit for serving one-day in jail before his sentence began. He had his term further reduced because of good behavior. But Anderson's troubles aren't over. All of his previous cases are expected to be reviewed for any other misconduct.

Read More at: http://www.keyetv.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/disgraced-former-wilco-judge-released-jail-14431.shtml#.UoexNxaRjzI

[tod evans]

"Just-Us"

[donnay]

"Just-Us!"