Here is a Former County Prosecutor…….

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Here is a former county prosecutor, later appointed criminal court judge, who knowingly sent an innocent man to prison, where he served 25 years before being proven innocent. This poor excuse for a man intentionally withheld crucial evidence of innocence, even after being ordered to turn over all such “exculpatory” evidence to the defense. All he gets is loss of his license (and his judicial position) and ten days in jail. Too bad it couldn’t be a few months – at least – in the same maximum security prisons where Mr. Mortan was forced to try to survive for 25 years. And thank heavens for the Innocence Project and people like its founder, Barry Scheck, with great help from a number of National Association of Criminal Defense lawyers.

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) – On February 6th, 1987, Judge William Lott asked then prosecutor Ken Anderson if he had any evidence which would have been favorable to defendant Michael Morton, who was on trial for the murder of his wife, Christine.

The answer was “No, sir.”

Nearly 27 years later, Anderson will serve jail time for that answer.

A plea deal was announced Friday that includes a 10-day sentence, a $500 fine, and 500 hours of community service to be completed within five years.

Anderson will also resign from the state bar, effectively ending his career in law. He resigned from his position as a judge earlier this year.

All for criminal contempt of court dating back to Michael Morton’s 1987 trial where withheld evidence may have kept the innocent man out of jail.

“It is a good day,” said Morton who served 25 years in prison before DNA testing exonerated him and would later lead to the murder conviction of Mark Norwood.

Some will argue whether the 10-day sentence is appropriate given the severe damage done.

But Morton was satisfied.

“The only thing I wanted is for Ken Anderson to be off the bench and for him to no longer practice law,” said Morton. “Both of those things have happened and more.”

After the hearing, the Innocence Project announced an independent review was approved by Williamson County District Attorney Jana Duty. The review will examine each case where someone is still serving jail time due to a conviction that occurred during Anderson’s 16-year reign as DA.

An audit will also occur for all cases where Former DA John Bradley opposed DNA testing.

Anderson’s punishment is history making according to the Innocence Project and the independent audit is yet another milestone for the case which has reshaped justice in Williamson County and far beyond.

“(Morton) has changed criminal justice in Texas and he along with other exonerees will change it across the county,” said Innocence Project attorney Barry Scheck.

Scheck acknowledged Anderson may ultimately serve just four days in jail due to good behavior and time served, but Gerald Goldstein, another Innocence Project attorney, said a message has been sent.

“This is the first time in the country’s history that a prosecutor has been found guilty of criminal contempt, will go to jail, and be stripped of their law license,” said Goldstein who believes those repercussions will serve as a warning to prosecutors about accountability.

Anderson has until December 2nd to report to the Williamson County Jail to begin his sentence.

Morton has been at almost every court proceeding that has resulted from his exoneration.

“My number one motivating factor for being here is so that what happened to me won’t happen to you,” he said Friday.

It is an impact that has left an indelible imprint in courtrooms across the state, including with Judge Kelly Moore who presided over Friday’s hearing and had one last thing to say to Morton before adjourning the case.

“The world is a better place because of you. At the end of the day a lot of people can’t say that.”

4 On Your Side Investigates Traffic Stop Nightmare

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After all these years as a prosecutor and then criminal defense lawyer, I though I’d seen just about every kind of twisted abuse some police use on citizens – innocent or otherwise – but this outrageous conduct described here takes the cake, and offers a whole new chapter into insidious police abuses. it proves once again that, notwithstanding all the upstanding and honest law enforcement people who really work hard to protect us every day, there are still a bunch who should never have a badge, much less guns. And, you might ask, what in the world were those idiots at the hospital thinking! Read on and weep.

This 4 On Your Side investigation looks into the actions of police officers and doctors in Southern New Mexico.

A review of medical records, police reports and a federal lawsuit show deputies with the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office, police officers with the City of Deming and medical professionals at the Gila Regional Medical Center made some questionable decisions.

The incident began January 2, 2013 after David Eckert finished shopping at the Wal-Mart in Deming. According to a federal lawsuit, Eckert didn’t make a complete stop at a stop sign coming out of the parking lot and was immediately stopped by law enforcement.

Eckert’s attorney, Shannon Kennedy, said in an interview with KOB that after law enforcement asked him to step out of the vehicle, he appeared to be clenching his buttocks. Law enforcement thought that was probable cause to suspect that Eckert was hiding narcotics in his anal cavity. While officers detained Eckert, they secured a search warrant from a judge that allowed for an anal cavity search.

The lawsuit claims that Deming Police tried taking Eckert to an emergency room in Deming, but a doctor there refused to perform the anal cavity search citing it was “unethical.”

But physicians at the Gila Regional Medical Center in Silver City agreed to perform the procedure and a few hours later, Eckert was admitted.

What Happened

While there, Eckert was subjected to repeated and humiliating forced medical procedures. A review of Eckert’s medical records, which he released to KOB, and details in the lawsuit show the following happened:

1. Eckert’s abdominal area was x-rayed; no narcotics were found.

2. Doctors then performed an exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

3. Doctors performed a second exam of Eckert’s anus with their fingers; no narcotics were found.

4. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

5. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a second time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

6. Doctors penetrated Eckert’s anus to insert an enema a third time. Eckert was forced to defecate in front of doctors and police officers. Eckert watched as doctors searched his stool. No narcotics were found.

7. Doctors then x-rayed Eckert again; no narcotics were found.

8. Doctors prepared Eckert for surgery, sedated him, and then performed a colonoscopy where a scope with a camera was inserted into Eckert’s anus, rectum, colon, and large intestines. No narcotics were found.

Throughout this ordeal, Eckert protested and never gave doctors at the Gila Regional Medical Center consent to perform any of these medical procedures.

“If the officers in Hidalgo County and the City of Deming are seeking warrants for anal cavity searches based on how they’re standing and the warrant allows doctors at the Gila Hospital of Horrors to go in and do enemas and colonoscopies without consent, then anyone can be seized and that’s why the public needs to know about this,” Kennedy said.

Search Warrant Concerns

There are major concerns about the way the search warrant was carried out. Kennedy argues that the search warrant was overly broad and lacked probable cause. But beyond that, the warrant was only valid in Luna County, where Deming is located. The Gila Regional Medical Center is in Grant County. That means all of the medical procedures were performed illegally and the doctors who performed the procedures did so with no legal basis and no consent from the patient.

In addition, even if the search warrant was executed in the correct New Mexico county, the warrant expired at 10 p.m. Medical records show the prepping for the colonoscopy started at 1 a.m. the following day, three hours after the warrant expired.

“This is like something out of a science fiction film, anal probing by government officials and public employees,” Kennedy said.

No Comment

KOB reached out to the attorneys representing the defendants in the lawsuit and all declined to comment on the situation. The attorneys said it’s their personal policy not comment on pending litigation.

4 On Your Side Investigative Reporter Chris Ramirez cornered Deming Police Chief Brandon Gigante.

“As the police chief what reassurances could you give people when they come through your town that they won’t be violated or abused by your police officers?” Ramirez asked Chief Gigante.

“We follow the law in every aspect and we follow policies and protocols that we have in place,” Chief Gigante replied.

“Do you think those officers in this particular case did that?” Ramirez asked.

Gigante didn’t answer, instead he referred Ramirez to his attorney.

The Lawsuit

David Eckert is suing The City of Deming and Deming Police Officers Bobby Orosco, Robert Chavez and Officer Hernandez.

Eckert is also suing Hidalgo County Hidalgo County Deputies David Arredondo, Robert Rodriguez and Patrick Green.

Eckert is also suing Deputy District Attorney Daniel Dougherty and the Gila Regional Medical Center including Robert Wilcox, M.D and Okay Odocha, M.D.

David Eckert Lawsuit.pdf

The Search for Truth

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All too often criminal investigators, and prosecutors, only search for guilt.  I was reading a British crime novel last night, and the protagonist, a 1920’s Scotland Yard detective, reminisced about what an old sergeant had taught him at the beginning of the detective’s career (and I’m paraphrasing): A police officer’s [or prosecutor’s] job should be to search for the truth.  If he just searches for guilt, he’s always going to find it, because everyone’s got some guilt, but if he searches for the truth, then he’s a true man of justice.

When I was a young prosecutor, this was what we were taught by Bill Cahalan, the long-time elected Wayne County Prosecutor, and a truly wonder Man of Justice and Truth, not just “guilt.”

Yet Another Victim of Police Misconduct

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Seventh Circuit Affirms Expert Witness Testimony Following $25 Million Jury Verdict

October 23, 2013 by Inna Kraner

An expert witness vindicated the innocence of a Chicago man who spent 16 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. Thaddeus Jimenez was just 13 year old when he became the focus of a police investigation following the murder of 19 year old Eric Morro. In May 2009, a federal jury found that Jimenez was wrongly imprisoned because of coercive tactics employed by former Chicago police detective Jerome Bogucki. This Seventh Circuit ruling finally exonerates the now 33-year old man whose emotional story (he is the youngest victim of wrongful conviction) resulted in a $25 million jury award for compensatory damages, one of the most substantial verdicts in Chicago’s history.

The City of Chicago appealed the verdict, in part objecting to the testimony provided by Jimenez’s expert witness. They argued that the testimony of expert witness Gregg McCrary was improperly admitted. McCrary worked for the FBI for 25 years, spending 17 years investigating violent crimes as a field agent until his promotion to the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia as a Supervisory Special Agent. He testified describing reasonable practices for police investigations and how the investigation of the murder of Eric Morro departed from those practices. McCrary “told the jury what a reasonable police investigator should have done when presented with these conflicting and/or inculpatory statements during the murder investigation.”

However, the City of Chicago argued that “‘reasonableness’ is a legal conclusion, and experts should not provide legal opinions.” This was a critical element in their appeal as McCrary’s expert witness testimony “tended to show that the errors in defendants’ handling of the investigation were so severe and numerous as to support an inference of deliberate wrongdoing in violation of the Constitution.” The City of Chicago’s motion in limine argued that McCrary’s expert witness testimony “affected their substantial rights” as it “amounted to legal conclusions that were not admissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702.”

The Seventh Circuit upheld the expert witness testimony. U.S. Circuit Judge David Hamilton rejected the City of Chicago’s motion, finding that “the bulk of their argument depends on comparing McCrary’s ‘lengthy and purposeful’ testimony with the ‘weaknesses’ of Jimenez’s claims – in other words, re-weighing the evidence while drawing all inferences in the defendants’ favor. We may not do so.” The Court held that McCrary’s expert witness testimony “was within the bounds of proper testimony for a police practices expert.”

McCrary’s expert witness report from October 2011 illustrates how police investigators “conducted a substandard investigation into the murder of Eric Morro that resulted in the wrongful conviction of the plaintiff and left the true killer of Eric Morro on the streets free to kill again.” Police investigators failed to follow the basics of proper police investigation, focusing on Jimenez being the suspect instead of analyzing the victim’s lifestyle and the situational dynamics to “determine what, if anything, elevated a given individual’s risk for becoming the victim of a violent crime.”

The police developed little or no background information regarding” the victim Eric Morro. Moreover, they ignored evidence surrounding the fatal shooting that pointed to Juan Carlos Torres being the actual shooter. McCrary’s expert witness report goes on to state that “the investigators developed tunnel vision about Jimenez being the shooter and failed to fully investigate Juan Carlos Torres as a suspect and ignored or failed to investigate disconfirming evidence regarding Thaddeus Jimenez.”

McCrary’s testimony was instrumental in proving Jimenez’s claim of malicious prosecution and violation of due process. It should also be noted that the Assistant State’s Attorney and the police investigating Jimenez received a tape of a recorded “conversation during which Torres confessed to the killing.” Yet, “no jury ever heard Juan Carlos Torres’s tape-recorded confession to Eric Morro’s murder.”

Bogucki, the police detective who helmed the investigation “stipulated on the record after the jury’s verdict that his actions had violated Jimenez’s constitutional rights and that the verdict was ‘correct in every way.'”

About the Author: The Expert Institute

The Expert Institute is a New York-based company that connects attorneys to subject matter experts. You can connect with The Expert Institute on Facebook and Twitter and by following their blog. 

More Police Corruption Revealed – Imagine How Different Reality is from TV

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FBI investigating false reports filed by Baltimore police unit
Probe began after federal charges leveled against an officer

By Ian Duncan, The Baltimore Sun

FBI investigators acting on a tip from a disgraced former Baltimore police investigator have found that officers in a special plainclothes unit falsified reports to further their cases, a federal prosecutor alleged in court Thursday.

Kendell Richburg, who was assigned to the Violent Crimes Impact Section, turned on his colleagues after he was charged with federal drug and gun offenses. He told prosecutors he was just one of many who misrepresented facts in order to protect informants and continue making arrests, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Copperthite said.

At Richburg’s sentencing Thursday, Copperthite said the FBI had not found “widespread corruption” in the unit. But he said Richburg’s cooperation had helped investigators to find some officers who were filing improper reports.

Richburg pleaded guilty to drug dealing and firearms charges in March, and his cooperation with the FBI was enough to earn him a slight reduction in sentence. A federal judge sentenced Richburg to eight years in prison, followed by 10 months of home detention.

Copperthite said federal investigators interviewed officers and their superiors and compared written police reports to the memories of witnesses and suspects.

“There are officers we were able to identify who have written false reports,” Copperthite said.

The suspects in the investigation were not named in court, and details of Richburg’s cooperation are under seal. An FBI spokeswoman said the investigation is continuing and that it relates to a number of officers from Richburg’s district.

The Baltimore Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

The Violent Crimes Impact Section, which consisted of plainclothes officers deployed in some of the city’s most violent neighborhoods, has been praised as a tool for driving down crime. But it also attracted criticism from City Council members for what they described as heavy-handed tactics.

The unit was renamed the Special Enforcement Section in December as part of a shake-up by Commissioner Anthony W. Batts, but it was mostly left intact.

Richburg was a member of a group of officers assigned to the Northwestern District. Copperthite said he first came to the attention of federal authorities when they suspected him of fencing stolen electronic goods.

But when they wiretapped Richburg’s phone, Copperthite said, authorities discovered he was working to protect a drug dealer who authorities said was feeding him information so that Richburg could make easy arrests.

The relationship developed to the point that Richburg helped the dealer, Brandon West, set up a robbery and provided him information about the killing of one of West’s relatives — for which West wanted revenge, according to conversations intercepted on the wiretap described in court Thursday.

In “a lot of the calls it was hard to tell who was in charge,” Copperthite said.

At one point, West and Richburg discussed planting a gun on an unlicensed taxi driver. The plan was never carried out, Copperthite said. But if it had been, he said, agents listening in on the calls were ready to step in and clear the driver.

West was sentenced Tuesday to five years on a federal drug conviction. Details of his case were not available in the public court file Thursday and his attorney could not be reached for comment.

Richburg said in court that his actions, and those of other officers he helped agents identify, were motivated by intense pressure to make arrests. Officers with many arrests were praised, he said, while those with fewer were punished.

“I’m not a bad person,” Richburg said. “I just made some bad choices.”

Police have denied that officers are pressured to reach arrest quotas. They have said Richburg acted alone.

But after his guilty plea this spring, prosecutors said the conviction could taint hundreds of cases. At his sentencing Thursday, U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett described honest police work as the foundation of the criminal justice system.

Crooked officers help feed “cynicism and skepticism” about the fairness of the courts, Bennett added. He said that lying on search warrant applications could undermine people’s constitutional rights.

Bennett made clear that while he understood the pressure on officers like Richburg, his case went beyond playing with the truth to pump up arrest statistics.

“We’re talking about blatant corruption on the streets of Baltimore,” Bennett said.

Having a guardian police officer, he added, would be a “drug dealer’s dream.”

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Copyright © 2013, The Baltimore Sun

Another Innocent Man Freed After 13 Years in Prison

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Neil Rockind, a former hard-charging state prosecutor turned defense lawyer, is a part of this blog because he cares about more than just the acquittals he wins – and there have been plenty – because he cares about justice for everyone.

Wrongly Accused David Camm Not Guilty — Remember Him And Others — The System Wrongfully Accuses and Convicts People Everyday

During jury selection, I usually ask jurors what they think of the system. Prosecutors hate when I ask this question. Why?  Because I want to know what jurors think of the system.  Most have never given much thought to whether the system works, how it does and when it fails, how it fails.  Most tune out stories of wrongful accusations, wrongful convictions and the wrongly incarcerated. They might hear a story here and there but they’ve never really thought about it. I ask them.  Prosecutor’s don’t.  The reason that prosecutor’s don’t is that jurors will inevitably concede and then openly discuss how the system has failed fellow citizens.Wrongful accusations, wrongful convictions, lying police officers, bad or no science, lying or paid off experts and disinterested or uncommitted jurors.  I have had some jurors express different opinions — the system fails because guilty men go free, a few have said.  I wonder about these people — what kind of life must they live where their only complaint with the system is that it doesn’t get enough people.  How quick they must be to judge.  How little burden of proof or evidence they must need to conclude that someone is guilty. Remember:  the system is imperfect and regularly ensnares the innocent or not guilty – REGULARLY!!!!!   David Camm is a shining and awful example of an innocent man convicted.  The system failed him 2x and for 13 years.  It finally got it right: today, he was found not guilty.  He has been incarcerated for 13 years, accused of killing his family and deprived of the basic needs and wants of a man whose family was murdered — the ability to attend his family’s funeral, grieve for them and lay a flower on their grave sites.  Shame on the prosecutors and police who perpetrated this crime on David Camm.  Shame. I often wonder if it wouldn’t be a fairer system if prosecutors had to pay a fine if they wrongly prosecuted someone.  Shouldn’t the state pay the attorney’s fees, incarceration fees, cost of defense and lost opportunity costs of those they accuse but fail to convict. Wouldn’t that limit the depths and lengths that they were willing to go to convict an accused.  I can think of several prosecutors right now who would undoubtedly try far fewer cases if limited or sanctioned in this way.