Texas considers changes to law designed to prevent prosecutor misconduct
Sharing court evidence with Michael Morton Act
Multiple Texas district attorneys testified claiming defense attorneys have abused the Morton Act in court but defense attorneys say the bill gives prosecutors more power when it comes to sharing evidence
AUSTIN - A bill in the Texas Senate would change a law that protects criminal defendants from prosecutor misconduct.
SB 1124 would make changes to the Michael Morton Act, a law passed in 2013 that was named after a man who was wrongfully convicted after prosecutors suppressed evidence.
The law requires prosecutors to disclose a broad range of evidence to the defense without the defense having to request it.
Michael Morton Act
Dig deeper:
The new bill, written by Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), went up for a hearing in the Senate Criminal Justice committee on Tuesday.
Multiple Texas district attorneys testified claiming defense attorneys had abused the Morton Act in court.
District attorneys say defense attorneys are abusing the law in cases where police may be holding evidence of which prosecutors are unaware.
Defense attorneys say the bill gives prosecutors more power when it comes to sharing evidence.
Multiple district attorneys, both Republican and Democratic, say misuse of the Morton Act is getting valid evidence tossed out.
What they're saying:
"Unfortunately, defense lawyers are taking advantage of this technicality. By not specifically requesting evidence they know a law enforcement agency has failed to turn over to the prosecutor…" said Sen. Huffman.
Former President of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Samuel E. Bassett, is concerned about giving too much power to district attorneys.
"Our concern at TCLA is this gives too much degression to DAs to determine who is relevant to turn over," said Bassett.
District Attorney in Fort Bend County, Brad Middleton, raised concerns about the Morton Act and just how far it goes in a court of law.
"We had an experience in Fort Bend where we were trying a murder case and from the witness stand we found out there was additional body cam video," said Middleton.
SB 1124
SB 1124 would allow the court to limit requests for copies of materials and evidence to the defense if the request is "unduly broad or burdensome."
Huffman said her proposed changes would not impact exculpatory evidence, meaning evidence that would absolve a defendant of the crime they are accused of.
The other side:
On the other side of the argument, defense attorneys raised concerns that they would not know what evidence to specifically request if they don’t know what the evidence is in its entirety.
The concern is that it shields the state from full disclosure.
What's next:
Seven senators are on the committee. The bill passed out of committee by a 4-0 vote with only four senators in the room to vote.
Michael Morton case
The backstory:
The Michael Morton Act is named after a man who was wrongly convicted after prosecutors suppressed evidence.
Michael Morton was convicted in 1987 and sentenced to life for the murder of his wife.
25 years later, Morton was exonerated after DNA testing connected another man to the crime. His legal team discovered the prosecutor in his case withheld evidence that would have led detectives to another suspect.
The Source: Information in this article is provided by the Texas Senate Committee on Criminal Justice.