Judge Ken Anderson faces litigation on civil, criminal fronts based on Michael Morton false conviction

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Brandi Grissom at the Texas Tribune runs down Williamson County  District Judge Ken Anderson's response to misconduct allegations from the State Bar, noting that his arguments regarding the statute of limitations on such proceedings inevitably presage the judge's focus at the upcoming Court of Inquiry beginning December 10. Wrote Grissom:

The State Bar conducted a 10-month investigation after a grievance was filed against Anderson in the case.

The State Bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline wrote in its lawsuit against Anderson that he knew of the evidence and withheld it. The lawsuit also alleges that Anderson made a false statement to the court when he told the judge he had no evidence that could support Morton’s claims of innocence.

His conduct, the State Bar commission wrote, violated five of the state’s disciplinary rules of professional conduct.

Those rules, though, come with a statute of limitations: “No attorney licensed to practice law in Texas may be disciplined for Professional Misconduct occurring more than four years before the time when the allegation of Professional Misconduct is brought to the attention of the Office of Chief Disciplinary Counsel, except in cases in which disbarment or suspension is compulsory.”

The statute of limitations doesn’t begin to run in cases of concealment — like what is alleged in the Morton case — until the alleged misconduct “is discovered or should have been discovered.”

The court of inquiry is coming up quick and will be quite the denouement, short of any legislative action next spring, to Michael Morton's long and breathtakingly awful ordeal. I admit not knowing quite what to expect at this unique event, though thanks to an earlier Trib report we know the proceedings will be public.