You may recall a while back we
talked about Mike Anderson’s training for his prosecutors; he ripped into the
Innocence Project and seemed to suggest that it was the DA’s office against the
world.
Well, Bexar County District
Attorney Susan Reed wants to see prosecutors all over Texas required to make Brady education part of their mandatory
training each year. The bill passed the House & Senate, and is currently
awaiting Governor Perry’s signature. If you’re not familiar with Brady, that’s the requirement that
prosecutors turn over any exculpatory evidence (that which tends to prove the
defendant’s innocence.)
This was one of a number of bills
and reforms inspired by the Michael Morton case; Morton was convicted and
served 30 years for the brutal murder of his wife before it was revealed that
his prosecutor had hidden evidence that could have exonerated him.
I think any effort to improve the
administration of justice is a good thing, but it does leave me wondering how
this could affect Coy’s case. There may be hidden information, but we have no
way to know; remember, the police don’t appear to have made any effort to
gather physical evidence in his case.
The first interview, that crucial
‘outcry’, was recorded with no audio. The mother’s first written statement,
which could have shown consistency or inconsistency in the girl’s accusation,
was discarded. The first police
report, the first complaint, is hidden from the public by the Family Code.
Meanwhile, the Texas Court of
Criminal Appeals is overturning Jonathon Salvador’s cases by the hundreds;
Salvador is the Houston Crime Lab tech that was faking test results.
We know that one of Coy’s
prosecutors got in trouble for a Brady
violation some years after his case. Doesn’t that warrant at least a close
second look at all her cases? If TDCJ wants to make sure their prosecutors know
it’s wrong to lie and cheat to get a conviction, what better place to start
than past cases?
No comments:
Post a Comment