Morton ‘drained’ on Day One of inquiry

GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) – Michael Morton said Monday he was “drained” following five hours of testimony at the Court of Inquiry for District Judge Ken Anderson, the former prosecutor who helped convict Morton of a murder he did not commit.

“There was more gravity than there has been in the past,” Morton said. “It was emotional, but in the end, cathartic.”

Morton was questioned for several hours by special prosecutor Rusty Hardin and Anderson’s attorney Eric Nichols. He became emotional talking about his time in prison and about the transcript that showed his son Eric talking to his grandmother about the “monster” who killed his mother.

“It’s the wound that never heals,” Morton said Monday. “You would think with repetition that it would be lessened but it hasn’t.  And I only hope that it will lessen with time.”

Morton said he never made eye contact with Anderson during his five hours on the stand.

“I never caught him looking at me,” Morton said. “I do not want revenge on the Judge but I believe that accountability is very important that we need that and without it we’re all doomed.”

Morton is not permitted to speak about specific facts in the case and would not comment on several arguments put on by Anderson’s attorneys.

Before questioning by Nichols, Morton asked Judge Louis Sturns to “be gentle with Ken Anderson.”

“I have a little empathy for what it’s like to have everybody coming after you and the accountability and that sort of thing is necessary and the consequences of our actions are inevitable,” said Morton.

Morton said he believes this inquiry is simply about what his defense attorneys should have known at the time of his trial and what evidence they did not get from prosecutors.

Tuesday, Anderson’s eight-hour deposition will be played in court. Morton’s original defense attorney Bill Allison is expected to testify, as is former Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, who fought DNA testing of evidence that ultimately set Morton free in 2011.

 

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