The 10-day jail term for former Williamson County judge and prosecutor Ken Anderson for withholding exculpatory evidence in the Michael Morton case may be the least of his problems, says the Texas Monthly. That’s because current Williamson County D.A. Jana Duty is allowing an independent review of every case Anderson ever prosecuted. The audit may answer the question of whether Anderson's misconduct in the Morton case was the exception or the rule? Such an audit is unusual for any district attorney's office, but for Williamson County, it's nothing less than extraordinary, says the magazine.
During the more than quarter-century in which Anderson and his protégé, John Bradley, ran the office, it was one of the most secretive and adversarial in the state. Duty is allowing some sunlight to shine in. After the scope of the audit has been defined, the goal is to launch an independent examination of flagged cases at no cost to taxpayers. “We're in discussions with a major international law firm about conducting the review pro bono,” said Nina Morrison of the Innocence Project. Members of the Innocence Project of Texas and the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, as well as University of Texas Law School professor Jennifer Laurin and her law students, are also expected to play a role.