http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/04/justice/exonerated-prisoner-update-michael-morton/index.html?hpt=hp_bn1
In 1986, Michael Morton was convicted of the murder of his wife, who was killed in their home, while Morton was at work. Authorities suspected Morton, and the prosecutor made a story of Morton killing his wife for refusing to have sex with him to convince the jury of his guilt, while withholding crucial evidence, like the testimony of Morton's son, and a bloody bandana found in the woods near Morton's home. Thus, Michael Morton ended up imprisoned for 25 years, completely losing contact with his son and every other past connection that was once dear to him. Just recently, the Innocence Project has been able to test the blood on that bandana in the the woods, and connect the DNA to a man already in prison for a similar murder. Michael Morton never killed his wife, but he lost 25 years. Now, that prosecutor who held back that crucial evidence has been subject to the hand of the law-he served 5 days in jail, and will have to perform 500 hours of community service. Recently Rick Perry signed into law the Michael Morton Act, which allows defense lawyers to obtain prosecutor's evidence without a court order. While his ordeal is tragic, I'm glad something good has come from it.
It's sad that Mr. Morton spent so much time behind bars even though he was innocent. I'm glad that this new laws has been signed and I hope that many people will avoid the situation that Mr. Morton had to go through.
ReplyDeleteSelfishness and the sometimes consuming desire to win at all costs can be detrimental to both yourself and others especially in the case of the prosecuting lawyer. Also it is so important that we don't just let these such instances happen and do nothing to prevent them from occurring again. It shows political maturity that they were able to pass an Act that would help prevent something like this from happening again.
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