Christine, his wife, was attacked and killed at their home in Williamson County, Texas, just outside Austin. Michael Morton was at work at the time. Still, authorities suspected him.
"Innocent people think that if you just tell the truth then you've got nothing to fear from the police," Morton says now. "If you just stick to it that the system will work, it'll all come to light, everything will be fine."
Instead, Morton was charged, ripped away from his boy, and put on trial. The prosecutor, speaking to the jury in emotional terms with tears streaming down his face, laid out a graphic, depraved sexual scenario, accusing Morton of bludgeoning his wife for refusing to have sex on his birthday.
"There was no scientific evidence, there was no eyewitness, there was no murder weapon, there was no believable motive," Morton says. "... I didn't see how any rational, thinking person would say that's enough for a guilty verdict."
But with no other suspects, the jury convicted him. "We all felt so strongly that this was justice for Christine and that we were doing the right thing," says Mark Landrum, who was the jury foreman.
Morton spent nearly 25 years in prison.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/04/justice/exonerated-prisoner-update-michael-morton/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
Replies
You did not pose a question to the audience and didn't reply to any comments.
This case just goes to show that instead of officials being so dead set on whose is guilty or not they need to dig as deep as they can for evidence first. It is unfair for this little boy to have to grow up without his father, and especially unfair for this man to have to suffer in jail for doing nothing wrong.
He should not have ha to go to prison. DNA testing is a very productive thing.
That is terribly said. I think lawyers still do that. People fall victim to believing and emotional reason to kill, even if it was a lie.
I think lots of people are wrongly accused a lot in court. There are so many different ways trials can go these days. I think it's sad that he was in jail for so long and no one pulled it back up again.
Holy cow! If they knew that he didn't do it then why would they send him away. That's just stupid!
Oh! Poor man! The best years were wasted in prison
Did they not do a DNA test? Did they even look an any real evidence? This is awful, he should not have gone to prison.
It is amazing what we can do with DNA now. I don't think it was fair to keep the evidence about the strange man and how Eric knew his father wasn't home. I'm glad that he is finally free and hope he can work to free other innocent people.
This is very sad. Have they found who killed her? Also has the father reunited with his son?
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