Anderson is facing both civil and criminal court proceedings for his role in prosecuting Morton for the 1986 murder of his wife, Christine Morton. Attorneys for Morton allege that Anderson withheld critical evidence that pointed to Morton's innocence and that he lied to the judge about the existence of that evidence. Morton was sentenced to life in prison and spent nearly 25 years behind bars before DNA testing revealed that he was innocent and connected another man to his wife's killing. He was released from prison in 2011.
In a statement, Anderson made no reference to the Morton case and thanked his supporters. For the "foreseeable future" he said he would be focused on "making the transition into private life."
"There comes a time when every public official must decide that it is time to leave public life," Anderson said in the statement released by his lawyer, Eric Nichols. "For me and my family, that time is now."
Morton's lawyers, John Raley of the Houston law firm Raley & Bowick, and Barry Scheck of the New York-based Innocence Project, said Anderson's resignation was "long overdue."
"We look forward to an adjudication of the pending disciplinary action brought by the state bar as well as the pending criminal charges," they said in an emailed statement. "Judge Anderson deserves a fair trial, but if there are findings against him in either proceeding, we would expect that appropriate penalties be imposed.”
Anderson was appointed to the bench by Gov. Rick Perry in 2002 and the State Bar of Texas named him “Prosecutor of the Year” in 1995. Perry responded to Anderson on Monday with a letter accepting the resignation and thanking the longtime prosecutor and judge for his service.
The State Bar filed a disciplinary case against Anderson last year, and the trial is scheduled to begin on Monday in Williamson County. Anderson could be disbarred if he is found to have violated professional rules of conduct in securing Morton's wrongful conviction.
Anderson is also facing criminal charges after Tarrant County state district Judge Louis Sturns, following a court of inquiry in February, charged the former prosecutor with tampering with government records (a misdemeanor), tampering with physical evidence (a felony) and failing to comply with a judge's order to turn over such evidence, for which he could be held in “contempt of court.”
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Judge Ken Anderson Resigns Amid Ethics Lawsuit
Hopefully his resignation saved the taxpayers a lot of money!
ReplyDeleteThanks for resigning, judge!
ReplyDelete