All language subtitles for Detective.Diaries.S01E02.Guilty.Until.Proven.Innocent.1080p.WEBRip.x264-KOMPOST[eztv.re]

Topping the news,
a brutal slaying

in Williamson County
has investigators puzzled.

There should not be
any opposition

to an honest search for truth.

It was beastly.

It wasn't fully human.

There's a lot
of things at that scene

that makes
an investigator wonder

is it someone close to them?

Austin wasn't
the kind of place

you locked your doors and stuff.

The why and the who

were just big open-ended
glaring questions.

You can't have
two identical murders

and not see the relevance
of one to the other.

One side wants
to conceal the truth

and keep it in darkness.

The other side
wants to reveal the truth

and bring it to light.

When God puts on your heart
something that must be done,

it's often something
you're not qualified for.

But sometimes
we're given opportunities

to do things
outside our comfort zone

and we should not be afraid.

Part of the reason
I became a lawyer

was To Kill a Mockingbird.

Atticus Finch was one
of my childhood heroes.

I thought if I could have
a chance someday

to strike a blow
for justice, I...

Wouldn't that be
a great opportunity?

I worked for 20 years
as a civil trial lawyer,

I did some good things
that helped people.

But I'd never done anything
in the criminal sphere.

I was completely unprepared
for the height

and the depth of the power
and the arrogance

of the district
attorney's office

of Williamson County.

There is a strong
political machine against us.

That I didn't see coming.

These... These cases
changed me.

It changed everyone
in... in my family.

On August 12th, 1986.

It was Michael Morton's
33rd birthday.

And, uh, he
and his lovely wife Christine

lived in North Austin.

They had a little
three-and-a-half year old boy

named Eric.

They had a little house.

They had a yard,

they had a little porch

that Michael built
in the backyard.

They had a dog.

Just typical, good people.

That night, they
celebrated Michael's birthday

by having dinner together
in Austin.

Being his birthday,

he wanted to get amorous
with, uh...

with Christine
after Eric was put to bed.

She was very tired,

and she kissed him,

and said,
"Tomorrow night, babe."

The next morning,
Michael said,

He got up at 5:00 AM.

Showered, shaved,

he left a note
on the bathroom mirror

for Christine.

And, um, then he clocked in
at... at his job

at Safeway at 6:00 AM.

If we don't think

that our life could change
like that,

we're wrong.

Later that morning,

a neighbor found Eric

walking by himself
in the front yard.

Eric had a soiled diaper

and the neighbor picked up Eric

and walked him into the house

calling out for Christine.

Christine was not answering.

She walked around with Eric

looking for Christine
in the house

and found Christine's body.

There was blood
all over the walls, uh,

over the ceiling, bits of flesh.

The next door neighbor
was extremely frightened,

immediately called
the sheriff's department

who came straight over.

Sheriff John Boutwell
came to the scene,

the Hazelhurst address
of the Morton house.

Sheriff Boutwell
was central casting

for a Western novel.

He had a Stetson hat, and boots,

and the tie tack on his tie
were handcuffs.

And, uh, he proceeded
to search the house.

Without calling Michael
to tell him that

his wife was dead.

And he went back

and he found Christine's body.

The murderer
covered her corpse

with a blue suitcase
and a wicker basket.

Her face was...
was no longer recognizable

as any sort of person.

Using probably a two-by-four

from the construction area
out back, uh,

we know this
because there were bits of

wood embedded in her brain.

Christine Morton
was lying on her back.

The killer brought it down
with full force

right on her face.

And again.

And again.

Nine or ten times.

She was dead after the second
or, when, probably

if not the first.

Sheriff Boutwell didn't see
signs of forced entry.

He didn't see very much
was stolen.

And investigators determined
that Christine Morton

was not sexually assaulted.

He found Michael's note
to Christine.

And the note said,

"You know, I didn't want to
have a fight with you about sex

but you left me hanging
on my birthday.

And, um, I'll...
I'll see you tonight."

Meanwhile, Michael Morton
went to a daycare

to pick up his son Eric.

Eric was not at the daycare.

So Michael called home,

just see what was going on.

Sheriff Boutwell
answered the phone.

Said, "You have to come home
right now."

He answered
all of their questions

and he told them,
"I didn't do it.

I don't know who did,
I was at work.

I found out about it later."

Topping the news,
a brutal slaying

in Williamson County
has investigators puzzled.

Sheriff's officers refused
to talk in detail

about the slaying,
but the possible suspect

is being questioned
about the murder.

The first time
I saw my brother Michael

after the murder, uh,
was at the funeral.

He was a different person.

So we were we, so was I.

You know, our family
was completely different

because when Chris died,
it tore the family apart.

You know, part of us died.

As the criminal
investigation began,

they interviewed my brother
multiple times.

And they begin to interview
the neighbors.

And his co-workers,
and people that they knew,

asking them, you know,
"What kind of person is he?"

And they looked at him
as the prime suspect.

To think that he could do
something like that,

to his own wife, or to anybody,

we were in a state of shock.

And then the nightmare
went to a whole another level.

Not long after
Christine's funeral...

...Michael heard
the doorbell of his house.

And he picked up his son Eric

and they went
to the door together.

And it was Sheriff Boutwell
and several deputies.

They took his son
out of his arms.

And handcuffed Michael.

And Michael looks back
and sees Eric reaching out

and screaming,
"Daddy, daddy, daddy."

And this little boy
that had just lost his mother,

now is losing his father?

It affected me
as a father

because I thought
about my children.

And that's why I was haunted
by this case.

I can't imagine
how horrible that was

for the little three
and half year old boy.

- No, I can't.
- You can't.

None of us can.
We can't grasp it.

Everything that
happened to my brother

happened so fast.

I mean, right after the funeral

they zero in on him.

Less than six months
after Michael was arrested

the case went to trial.

That is very fast
for a murder trial.

Michael Morton sought
and obtained

the very best lawyers
that he could.

Bill Allison and Bill White.

Michael was...

a little overwhelmed
by the situation

that he found himself in,

but he... but he was not
very evocative.

He was the only suspect they had

and his... The only thing
he had to say about it was,

"It was somebody else.
I don't know who it was."

As long as I live,
I'll still have

an mixed feelings
about this case.

I became involved
in Michael Morton

as a law student working

for Defense Attorney's
Bill White and Bill Allison

who tried the case.

My first impressions of Michael

was he was very well-dressed
articulate man.

He was not, uh, particularly
emotional by nature.

A little bit stern at times,
but very controlled.

Initially the lead up
to the trial.

I was a little, uh, undecided

about whether or not
he had committed this crime.

I was sent up
to Georgetown

to pick up
the crime scene photos.

And I saw the crime scene photos

for the first time.

It was a very, uh,
sobering moment

for a twenty-something
year old law student.

The courtroom
where it was tried

was this big,
very large courtroom

in the old Williamson
County courthouse.

And it was a very old
Southern atmosphere.

It was long church
pew type sitting, old,

kind of wooden bannisters,
and so it was, like,

very, uh, a made
for movie trial.

The prosecutors were the elected

District Attorney Ken Anderson.

Ken Anderson,
he was a very, uh, sarcastic,

aggressive,
and smart prosecutor.

He was quite clever

in his playing
on the emotions of the case,

and quite effective.

He was my meticulous.

He was very, very well-prepared.

So, they brought their A team
for this trial.

The strategy they used
in large part

was a character
assassination of Michael.

The storyline
was essentially, uh,

it was a unhappy marriage.

He was looking for a way out,

lost his temper that night,

and then tried
to cover it all up.

The state's theory
of the case at trial

was that Michael
had killed Christine

in a sex-filled rage

because she didn't have sex
with him on his birthday

and the note that
was on the bathroom mirror,

"You left me hanging
on my birthday."

It was the evidence they used,

but what...
There was more evidence.

There was a hair in her hand.

There was testimony at trial

that it was consistent
with Michael's hair.

In fact they said
it was consistent

with, uh, a hair from his penis.

There was also a semen stain
on the bed.

The State called a witness
at trial to testify

that it was a neat stain
containing only male cells.

Prosecutor asked the State's
Pathologist Roberto Bayardo

to give an opinion
on the time of death.

So, he examined
Christine's stomach contents

and the rate of digestion.

And from that
he deduced a theory

as to the time of death.

Uh, Doctor Bayardo testified
that her time of death

was sometime before
Michael had left for work.

Michael's defense was,
"It wasn't me.

I don't know who it was.
I was at work."

Plain and simple.

The only defense theory
that we had

that this was the act
of some... of some maniac

who had walked into your house
and killed you.

Michael didn't make
the best witness

from an emotional standpoint
I didn't think,

but I didn't feel like
they had, uh, proof

necessary for a conviction.

So, the prosecutor
Ken Anderson

waited until rebuttal
of closing argument,

when it was too late
for the defense

to say anything in response.

In front of the judge,
the jury, the media,

our family,
and in front of my mother.

He stated that,

he felt that after my brother

brutally murdered
my sister-in-law.

That he took her dead hand,

cupped it in his hand,

wrapped her hand
around his penis,

and then masturbated himself
to the point of ejaculation.

And that was just...

that was the lowest of the low,

that... that killed us all.

That... That almost
finish us off.

And then he showed
color photos of the murder scene

and the blood everywhere.

And said, "Don't let this
monster get away.

We are not safe
if we let him get away.

The jury didn't deliberate
very long.

They had scientific
proof of the time of death

from the stomach
contents analysis,

then Michael Morton
was convicted.

Michael Morton
is taken prison for life.

I didn't do this.

- I'm sorry, what?
- I did not do this.

District Attorney Anderson
said a life sentence

is too good for Michael Morton.

He should have been given
the death penalty.

It got sickening after a while
to watch him cry

at the wrong times

and he seemed to only to cry
for himself.

And then just months
after Michael was convicted,

there was another woman

beaten in the face
with a blunt instrument

while she was sleeping,

killed exactly the same way
as Christine Morton.

Breaking news
in North Austin this morning,

the body of a 32-year old
resident

was found in her home
on Thursday murdered

in what investigators called,
a savage beating.

On the morning of
January 13th of 1988,

Debra Jan Baker
did not show up for work.

Her employer
contacted Debra's mother

and asked that
she check on Debra

because it was not customary
for her not show up for work.

So, her mother made her way
to the residence...

called out for Debra.

Was unable to gain a response,

so she made her way
to the master bedroom.

And that's where she had
the grizzly discovered.

My mom called me at work

and told me
that Debbie was dead.

I get... I get,
I don't know what to think.

I just thought, you know,
this can't be, you know,

how can she be dead
and she was, like,

"She was murdered."

By the time we got there,

they'd already set up the tape.

Um, I went under the tape
running toward the house

and I just remembered, you know,

police stopping me, you know,
"Wooh, wooh, wooh."

Backing me up who, you know,

"You can't be here.
Who are you?"

Debra Jan Baker was lying

in a semi-prone position
on the bed.

There was indication
of a violent attack.

There are pillows
over Debra Baker's head

and body.

There were a lot similarities
to the Christine Morton case.

She was struck
multiple times

across the head.

All of the blows to the head

were fatal in nature
and fractured the skull.

The weapon was likely
a thin linear object, uh,

heavy in weight.

And it was gruesome bloody scene

which makes you think
about that poor mom

that had to find her daughter
in that state.

There were other injuries
into her hands

that were characteristic
of defensive injuries

as if she was trying
to fight off the attacker.

There's a lot of
things at that scene

that makes
the investigator wonder,

"Is it someone
close to them?"

It just seemed personal
because it was so violent.

There's also a pillow
propped up underneath her

where she is on her side,
kind of side and stomach,

and that sometimes is an
indication of sexual assault.

But during the course
of the autopsy examination,

uh, they were, uh,
unable to locate

any evidence of seminal fluid.

Debra Jan Baker, uh,
lived with her two children,

but on this
particular evening, uh,

she was at the residence alone.

The sliding glass door
on the rear

of the, uh residence
was likely the entry point.

Uh, the jewelry boxes
were opened,

however, it didn't look like
there had been...

Any jewelry had actually been...

had been taken.

There's a blue towel

in the bathroom on the ground.

Which suggested that
the assailant

may potentially had
cleaned up after the fact

or in this case
may have taken a shower.

There were hairs
that were found

when investigators
used a vacuum.

And vacuumed up
a pink comforter,

and the bed, and sheets.

The only things missing
from Debbie's house

were her VCR.

Some money from her purse
and some clothes

which he probably used
to wrap the VCR in.

In crimes, like this

it's typical that
a suspect will sometimes

take an object
usually not a VCR.

My mom died
January 13th 1988,

and I turned four on January
16th of the same year.

So, as my grandmother put it,
I was just a few days shy

of my fourth birthday,

so I don't know
much about her, my mom,

except for what other people
have told me.

But, um, I just spent
my whole life

just living through
other people's stories.

Debbie was, uh,
my oldest sister.

Debbie was always
everybody's big sister.

Debbie was very ambitious,

there was nothing
she wouldn't tackle.

She was working
in real estate, um,

property management.

Was very busy
with very two small children.

We always, um, hung out
at Debbie's a lot,

and on the night
Debbie was murdered,

Debbie and I were just
hanging out at her house.

Debbie didn't have
the kids that night

and we just had kind of
a normal evening

drinking coffee and chatting.

A big cold front was blowing in,

I remember that.

It was odd for Austin.

I heard a noise

and asked her about it,
you know,

"What am I hearing?"

And she's, like,
"A broken pane of glass."

And she put, uh,
a trash bag over it

because of this cold front.

And she said, you know,

"That's probably
what you're hearing."

And then I left
about midnight.

I've always thought
I was hearing him

in her closet.

I've always had that feeling

that he was... he was there

just waiting for me to leave.

Very early on
in the investigation,

investigators were focused
on individuals

that were close to Debra Baker.

They said we need you all,
you know,

to all come down
at the police station

and make a statement.

So, they, you know,

interviewed each of us
separately.

They were trying
to find out about her

and asked us questions,

if we knew anybody
who had anything against her.

Who wanted to, uh...
Who would wanna hurt her.

And then they started, uh,
asking a lot questions

about the estranged
husband, Phil.

Debbie and her husband
were separated,

but they had joint custody.

Phil lived very close by.

And of course they were
asking questions

if Phil was violent
and, you know,

how their relationship was
with the divorce.

And I remember just talking
about, you know, them

just going separate ways,

and they had a lot of
money problems

and, um, you know,

but the detectives
they were so sure

it was Phil, you know,

it's, like, you never know.

You never know
who's gonna go crazy

or who's gonna do this.

Over 50% of female
homicides in the United States

are the result of family
or, uh, dating relationships.

So, very early
in the investigation,

the investigators had focused on

Debra Baker's, uh, ex-husband.

They went through and made sure

that they were thorough

with of course their
interviews of the ex-husband.

They decided
that he wanted the kids.

That was what they told us,
oh, he wanted custody of kids.

So, during the interview,
they were trying to come up

with scenarios of how he might

have been in her house.

He denied...
He denied everything.

They were able to locate
and lift, uh,

approximately fifteen
of his fingertips

from the master bedroom
and in the master bath.

And so they arranged for,
uh, polygraph tests.

Phil passed the polygraphs fine.

I remember at that time
not mentioning

the real reason
for the separation.

I went back and said,
look, I've got to say this,

"They separated
because Phil was gay

and Phil had come out."

Debbie and Phil were separated,

but they had, um,
very amicable relationship,

joint custody, um,

they switched the kids
every week.

He lived very close by.

He had the kids that night
when she was murdered.

And I mean, it's very...
Respectfully for Phil,

but he didn't want
the kids fulltime.

He was enjoying his life.

He was, you know,
able to date and do things

that he hadn't been able to do,

which having two small
children didn't make easier.

Um, and there was no evidence

that her ex-husband
wanted to cause her,

um, this type of harm.

Debbie had no enemies.

She didn't piss people off.

She was everybody's friend.

I just never knew, really,
never knew

anybody to say a bad word
about her.

And that's not just
remembering her saintly.

I mean,
it's just the way she was.

You just couldn't imagine
how anybody

could be that angry at her

because she was very,
very violently killed.

Meanwhile, you know,
the killer is out there,

somewhere.

And then they kind of,
did start moving on,

and start checking out,
you know, other people.

We wanted to explore any avenues

determine if she had any,
other dating relationships.

She wasn't dating.

She was very busy
with the new job,

and two small kids.

A canvass was conducted

of the neighborhood.

The officers also looked
at any other

suspicious activity
that may have been reported,

uh, even prior to the homicide.

There were checks of suspects
in the area

who have had
previous sexual assaults,

burglaries, peeping Toms,
those types of things.

And I know initially
there were 52 suspects

that they compared fingerprints

that they took from the scene.

That information
can be loaded

to a national database

and can be shared with agencies,

uh, from the east coast
to the west coast.

But they didn't have
any matches.

Back in 1988, DNA technology
was just in its infancy.

Uh, so it was a time
where we didn't have

all the resources
that we would...

we would necessarily
have available to us today.

So having an electronic
device like the VCR,

something that would be
identifiable,

um, detectives were able
to obtain the serial number.

So they posted flyers
at various pawn shops

in the area indicating
if any of the employees

would come across a 1984
Montgomery Ward VCR,

with that serial number
that they were

to immediately
notify homicide unit.

However,
didn't have any matches.

This case was really a mystery.

We didn't have a lot to move on

at that point back in 1988.

Then we had the funeral.

And it was weird,

because we knew
the police were there.

They told us they'd be there,
um, you know,

watching to see
who came to the funeral

and all that kind of stuff.

And then same thing we're
looking around who's here,

who do we know who, you know.

And we called and like, "Hey,

did you get anywhere with that",

and you know,

just really would never
tell us anything.

We just weren't able
to develop any leads

at that point in time.

And eventually the case
ended up going cold.

So then it was just down to us

suspecting everybody we knew.

We all spent years just,

you know, looking side-eye
at people and wondering, hmm.

And you know, it was kind
of poisonous in a way, um,

trying to think about people,

um, suspiciously.

I had people tell me

that when I was a kid,

that I was a young kid
that I would start

crying for my mom.

I don't remember any of that.

Um, but it didn't really
become real for me

until I was 18 and graduating
from high school.

And for some reason,
that graduation date

and I went, oh,
my mom's not gonna be there.

And that's what hit me.

And, um, I... From there,

it was just
a different story altogether.

But it wasn't until I was 18
that I, you know,

really started to think
about what I was missing.

But it was definitely
a cloud over the family,

it always had been.

She was murdered,
but the why of it was...

The why and the who
were just big open-ended,

glaring questions.

Yay.

Michael had been
in prison for 14 years.

He'd lost appeal after appeal.

But in 2002,
the Innocence Project

found out about his case
from Bill Allison,

his lawyer at trial.

The Innocence Project
is a group of lawyers

that are some of the best
and brightest people

I've ever met,

who were among the very first
to consider

how to use
the new DNA technology,

which was
revolutionizing science.

The focus
is on freeing the innocent.

In 2004,
the New York Innocence Project

called me and asked me
to take the case.

It took me a minute to grasp it

because I thought, are you...

are you calling
the right number?

I'd never had any kind
of a criminal case before.

That argument could be made
that I was the least

qualified lawyer in Texas

to take this level
of a murder case.

But, um, they said
that they wanted me.

I think that, uh,

my medical malpractice
experience

and the stomach
contents analysis

was what brought
the end of the case.

Once in, I was in.

One of the first things
that struck me

was the note
he left for Christine.

And I thought, wait a minute,

if I was going
to murder my wife,

the last thing I would do

is leave a note
calling attention

to an argument with my wife.

It would make no sense.

As I read the file,

I found no real
evidence of guilt,

no witness, no eye witness
of any violence,

he had no record.

Mr. Morton passed
two lie detector tests

at the time of his prosecution.

And the medical examiner,

he didn't see the body
for a couple of days.

So he couldn't do
the standard means

of timing death by Rigor mortis,

or liver mortis.

Um, he used an analysis
of stomach contents solely

as his means of timing death,

which all of the medical
literature says,

you can't do.

It should never have come
into evidence at all.

And if that was the basis
for the jury's finding,

then there's nothing.

So there's nothing really
to convict the man at trial.

That doesn't mean he's innocent.

But I was determined to do

what I needed to do to find out.

John Raley
was teaching me the ropes

as a law student
and a law clerk.

I'd always been interested
in Innocence Project cases,

and on Michael's case,

they needed boots
on the ground in Texas.

So John Raley said,

"Hey, kiddo,
let's go do this thing."

And it was kind of, you know,

to give me an opportunity
to do something like that.

Jackie went with me
to visit Michael

the first time in prison.

She was very excited about it.

I was skeptical
that he was innocent,

to be honest with you.

But I was absolutely sure

that he did not get
a fair trial.

And the investigation
was not full and complete.

I knew that we needed
to dig into this case

to get an analysis of what
the facts were at the time

Michael was arrested
at the time of his trial.

And then bring it forward
to now.

We drove to,

I think it was called
the Michael unit,

actually in East Texas
in the middle of nowhere.

John and I got to go in
and see Michael.

And we actually met with him in,

I think the family meeting area,

which we thought was odd
because we were counsel.

I ask him what happened
on August 12th and 13th, 1986?

Take me through those two days,

in as much detail
as you can. And he did.

After one
of the best days of my life,

5 o'clock next morning,
the alarm went off.

And I showered, shaved, dressed.

And, uh, it's the last time
I saw her alive.

It was exactly the same
as he had said at trial

all of those years ago.

John, when we first met Michael,

he had no doubt
that Michael was innocent.

I don't claim
to have psychic powers,

but I cross examine people
for a living

and I can usually tell
if people are fibbing.

And there was nothing
about this man

that did not speak from a place

of integrity and honesty.

At one point,
John excused himself

to go the restroom and he'd left

his sports jacket
folded up on the table.

It took every little bit
of willpower I had

not to reach out
and just kind of touch it

because it looks so soft
and comfortable

and it looked so good.

The visit with Michael
confirmed to me

that he was actually innocent
and then upped the ante,

it is now no longer
just a legal motion.

Now there's
an innocent man in prison.

Now there's a brutal murderer
maybe at large

maybe killing other people.

When John came home that night,

he just... Was...

He was excited
and you could just tell

it was another level of,

um, intensity, you know,
it just kind of like,

okay, this is...
This is the real deal.

There's...
I just met with a man

that has been sitting
in prison all these years,

with this...
He just lost everything.

He's lost everything
and he's innocent.

He shouldn't be there.
And he said, "Kelly, I...

we just...
I've got to get him out,

and, we've got to do it.
This has gotta happen."

And I just said,
"Then do it. Do it John."

Kelly Raley is the smartest
and best person I know.

She is brilliant.
She's beautiful

and, um, she's good.

And I'm blessed to...

That she even wanted
to go out with me,

let alone, marry me.

Kelly is a very good lawyer.

A very good investigator.
A very good researcher.

So she researched
Williamson County

and found out
the political machinations

I was going to be up against,
and understood

more than I did
how hard it was going to be.

John loves challenges.

He's always loved challenges.

He still loves challenges.

And definitely,

he's not the kind of person
that gonna turn

something down
just because it might be

a little bit
out of his comfort zone.

But, I don't want to call him
naive because, you know,

but he was naive.

He really was.

They just... They just had
a real strong familial,

political connection
in that county for decades.

You're not going to get
these folks' cooperation

because that puts
a bad light on their mentors,

their friends, their colleagues

and they're...

They're going
to protect each other,

so I said, "John,
don't be, you know,

don't be fooled by these guys.

They're not going
to play nice to you."

That was really hard
for me to grasp.

There should not be
any opposition

to an honest search for truth.

I had no idea,

going into this
how extensive it would be

and how much
work it would take."

We, uh,
we got a little team together

and we started working.

When we got the list of evidence

that was still on file,

we saw this bandana
that had blood on it.

There's a crime report
from one of the deputy's,

that notices that there is
the dirty bandana,

in this curb
near a construction site

about a hundred yards
behind the house.

He doesn't pick it up
because he thinks...

It looks... That it's been
there too long.

Christine Morton's brother,

unimpressed
with the investigated detail

going into this case,

does his own search,
finds this bandana,

picks it up,

brings it back to the house
and they put it into a, uh,

a baggie and they bring it
to the sheriff's office.

And practically, force them
to take it into evidence.

It was noted
to have blood on it.

There was no DNA testing
available back then.

So, it was put in a bag

and it was stored
and it was ignored.

Naturally,
we wanted to try to do

DNA testing on the bandana,

uh, to see who's blood it was,

thinking it might be
Christine's blood.

Intermingled with sweat,

uh, skin cells,

hair perhaps of the perpetuator.

If we could get a solid
DNA sample of those things,

we could run it
through the federal data bank

and maybe identify the murderer.

And so,

uh, the focus of the case

became the blue bandana.

And it was just like
this little time capsule

waiting to be tested.

We sent Jackie
kind as a stealth

to Williamson County.

I went and found the court clerk

and I looked
for the friendliest lady

I could find in the bunch

and, um, asked if I can please

see the evidence in this case,

I needed to just
have a look at it.

I remember they had just
moved in to a new building

and everything
was kind of in shambles,

but she took me to the basement

of that courthouse building

and, um, and pointed me
toward a corner and said,

"It's probably over there."

And she left me there.

In a basement full of boxes.

But the blue bandana
wasn't there.

So she went
to the sheriff's department

and, um, they laughed
at her face and told her,

"No, you cannot see it."

Now, why would they do that

unless, the bandana
could be a problem for them?

In February of 2005,

we filed our motion
for DNA testing

on the bloody bandana.

If we could get
a motion approved,

that would force them to turn
the bandana over for testing.

The district attorney
didn't even respond

to our motion for 10 months.

They kept asking for extensions.

Which were inevitably granted.

While this was happening,

an innocent man was spending
his life in a cage.

The district attorney
had convinced

Christine's family
that Michael was guilty

and so Eric was raised
by Christine's sister

to believe that his father
killed his mother.

There was
court-ordered visitation.

Eric would have
to be brought to me

every six months
by my sister in law.

Visitation is like oxygen,

I would love seeing him,

but I could also see
that he was becoming

more distant as Eric
got a little bit older

and he started, you know,
getting into puberty,

I got a letter
from him that he said,

he would like to,
uh, suspend the visits,

not do them anymore.

And I thought about it,

I kinda weighed the pros
and cons

and I wrote him back,
and I said,

"Well, I'll grant your wish

but you got to come here

and look me in the eye
and tell me that."

We had our greetings
and I asked him

if this was our last visit
and he...

He wouldn't look me in the eye,

he told me that,
"Yeah, it's the last one."

With all the bad things
that had happened,

uh, my wife's murder,
my arrest and conviction,

my life sentence, all of that,

um, didn't do me in,

I thought I was pretty tough
and I could take it,

but, um, when I lost him,

that's what broke me.

My father, was at the time
a retired prosecutor,

and he suggested I just call
the district attorney

and try to talk to him
and reason with him,

and so I did
I called John Bradley,

he had been prosecutor
of the year of Texas,

very powerful man.

And so,

I was negotiating with,

a district attorney
John Bradley,

for a task that might reveal
Ken Anderson,

his mentor, now a judge,

might have put
an innocent person in prison

and let the murderer go free.

But and...
I tried to, you know,

talk to him just...

On a normal level, and say,
"Look,

all we want to know is the truth

and nothing bad
can come from seeking truth.

You know, Michael is where
he is supposed to be,

which is a good thing
or he is innocent,

which means there may be
a brutal murderer

at large killing other people.

Don't you want to find out?"

Um, and he said that, uh,

doing the test
would muddy the waters.

He said doing the test
would muddy the waters.

And I had no idea
what he meant by that.

And I said Mr. Bradley,
truth clarifies.

And, um, the battle was joined.

Kelly gave me
a great analogy one time,

she said,
it was like a split screen

and one side of the screen
is Michael alone in a cage

and on the other side
of the screen John and Kelly,

and they were having
our children

and watching them grow

and doing school activities
with them,

and girl scouts
and boy scouts and sports.

And they go to middle school
and high school

and off to college
for that same time period.

And that's always
kind of haunted me

and it was on my mind
as we were fighting.

He's alone in a cage.

We have to keep fighting.
We can't quit. We can't stop.

On march 7th, 2008,

we had our first hearing
in the case.

This is over three years
after we filed our motion.

And I just thought
it would be a chance

to make a record
about what was going on.

And here's what I said,

"Your honor,
there's a bloodstained bandana

that was found
at the crime scene.

This bandana may contain
the blood of the victim,

Christine Morton,

but it may also contain

skin cells, saliva, sweat

that may contain
the DNA of the murderer.

These have never been
subjected to DNA testing.

There's no harm we believe
in trying to seek the truth,

and we...
We don't understand

why the state is resisting that.

They have fought us
every step of the way.

If there is not enough DNA
to do anything about it,

at least we'll know we tried.

Thank you, Judge."

Well, the judge wouldn't do it.

Because John Bradley
didn't want him to do it,

it's that simple.

Mr. Bradley didn't even speak
at the hearing.

The fix was already in.

John and I were sitting
at the breakfast table,

reading the Houston newspaper
at breakfast

and, we open up the...
The newspaper

and I saw it first

and I almost had a heart attack.

I was like, "John,

Rick Perry just assigned a seat

on the forensic science
commission to John Bradley."

I couldn't believe it.

I just could not
believe it that...

That he was named to...
To be the chair,

not only to throw him
on the commission that we'd...

But then to name him as
the chair of the commission.

See, this is the man
that won't let DNA be tested,

won't...
Won't allow a DNA test

and he's now the head
of our State's forensic,

it just didn't make
any sense to me

and then I knew how deep
the politics

ran on this whole situation.

This is, you know, all this...

This political mishmash
and gamesmanship

with people's lives at stake
and truth at stake.

You know, there was a time,

I... I've never told
anybody this

and I don't know
that I should now,

there was a time
in the middle of this

that the civil work
was drying up

and we were struggling
financially.

And there was a real
temptation to focus

on work that would bill,

that I could make money
for the family

and not spend so much time
on this pro bono case

where we're up against it

with these power structures
and it's not working out,

nothing good is happening.

And, uh, that was a temptation,

but I was also praying
for guidance

and direction
and the answer was always,

"keep going."

I tried talking to District
Attorney John Bradley again.

He said he would allow us
to test the hair

that was on Christine's hand

if we backed off
on everything else,

including the bloody bandana.

And I looked back
at District Attorney Bradley

and I said, "No,

how stupid do you think we are?

The hair is probably Michael's.

The two of them
slept in that bed.

More likely than not,
it's one of their hairs.

But this is a case
about the bloody bandana.

If you're not gonna let us
test the bloody bandana,

we have nothing else to say."

And he said,
"Well, then we're done."

And maybe it's because
I had driven all the way

from Houston to Georgetown
and maybe

it's because I was tired
and maybe it's frustrating.

But I said it loud enough
that everybody

in his office could hear,

"What are you afraid of?

Let me turn it
on you Mr. Bradley,

because what would you do
if the test results

exonerated him
and identified someone else

as the murderer of his wife,

because I don't want to go
all Jack Nicholson on you,

but I can handle the truth.

Can you, sir?"

And then, I left.

He was afraid of the truth.

He feared truth.

I was seriously concerned
that day that...

That he might actually
have a stroke or something.

It was that bad.
I mean, his...

His blood pressure
was so elevated

and he was so intensely angry
and I...

I just remember there was that
turning point where it was,

like this is gonna kill
my husband.

A few days later,
it's a Saturday morning.

I got a call.

It was Michael.

He said, "Well...

I'm up for parole again."

And I said, "That's great."

He says,
"There's just one catch."

"What?" I said, "What's the...
What's the catch?"

He says, "I have to confess
that I'm guilty of murder."

He's been in 22 years,
his parents were elderly.

He didn't know
where his son was.

Who would have really
blamed him if he'd said,

"Yeah, I'm guilty.
I'm really sorry, let me go."

He said...

"All I have left
is my actual innocence.

And if I have to be in prison
the rest of my life...

I'm not giving that up."

I didn't really
necessarily...

make a deal with God,
I wasn't gonna lie to get out.

But...

there was that, um...

That was there,
I wasn't gonna lie.

When he said this,
I just felt a rush of...

emotion.

And I said...

"I will never quit...

as long as I'm...

breathing air.

I'm fighting to get you
out of prison."

I was getting ready to go
into a hearing

against John Bradley.

And I call my pastor.

And I said,

"I don't think
I have a chance."

He said, "He's on it."

And he called me back
and he said,

"I have dozens of people that
are going to pray for you...

right now and at the moment

of the beginning of the hearing.

It's all organized."

He told me, "This is the most
important thing

you'll ever do as a lawyer."

We've been fighting this fight
for six years now.

We went to Federal Court once.

We've been to the
Court of Appeals twice.

So Nina Morrison, my co-counsel

with the Innocence Project and I

appear before the third
Court of Appeals

to make oral argument.

And it was a conservative
Court of Appeals...

was also a very intelligent
Court of Appeals,

and a fair-minded
Court of Appeals.

And it was so refreshing

to have fresh eyes on the case.

I said, "This bloody bandanna

was the be all and end all
about the case.

And there was no legal
basis to deny

testing of the bloody bandana.

None whatsoever."

They asked the question
that everybody seems to ask.

What if the DNA testing
comes out

against your client?

And I said, "There's only
one way to find out,

do the test."

While their deliberation
was pending,

John Bradley took to the media

and gave an interview.

And he said,

"If Michael Morton
will promise...

that if the DNA results
are inconclusive...

he will confess guilt..."

That I will agree now
to a DNA test.

Saying that if Michael agree
in advance to confess guilt,

if the DNA results
are inconclusive,

that's just playing
with people's futures.

Tyrants do that.

I thought we have fought
too hard

and we've come too far
to get to this moment

and have it taken away.

And I said, "Judge,
we're paying for this.

All we want to know
is the truth.

And so despite
DA Bradley's efforts,

the Court of Appeals ruled
that we could do DNA testing

on the bloody bandanna.

June of 2011,

the first set
of test results came in...

and they revealed that
the blood on the bandanna

was Christine Morton's...

intermingled with the sweat
and the skin cells

of a man who was not
Michael Morton.

My phone rang
while I was on a bus,

and John was just elated.

He was shouting,
"They got a hit."

After... When we got
the first set of results,

I drove to visit Michael
in prison.

John Raley told me
about the hit

and...

didn't have any specifics
or any names yet.

But bingo.

I bounced off the walls
a couple of times.

I stood up, I sat down,
and finally the told me,

"Okay. Take a breath."

I didn't know how long
things were gonna take

is probably gonna be six,
nine months something.

Now, we have to run
the DNA results

on the man through
the federal CODIS databank

to see if we get a hit
on a known perpetrator.

The hit came in.

The DNA of the man
on the bandanna

is Mark Alan Norwood.

Who had been in and out
of prison for years.

So an innocent man is in prison

and a murderer is out there.

And District Attorney,
John Bradley,

is still fighting against
the release of Michael Morton

saying the bandanna
doesn't matter

thinking of goofy theories.

Like maybe Michael
killed Christine

and then went out and found
a bandanna out back,

and then brought it in
and dipped

Christine's blood in it,

and then maybe wearing gloves
at the time,

and then took it back
and dropped it again,

or maybe aliens abducted him.

I... You know,
it was just crazy stuff.

Amazing, isn't it?

But the momentum increased.

Our freedom
of information act

request for the district
attorney's complete file

was a game-changer.

It changed everything.

When I was able to finally
get my hands on the file,

I saw that the evidence
of Michael's innocence

was in the district
attorney's file

and had been concealed.

There was a big
footprint in the mud there

that nobody had ever done
a plaster cast of later.

There were strange fingerprints

on the sliding glass door.

Nobody ever ran those prints.

There was a sighting
of a strange man

in a green van during the days

before the murder,

in the area where the bloody
bandanna was found,

and they don't follow the lead?

Another piece of evidence
that was concealed

and this is crucial
and absolutely heartbreaking.

Eric talked to his maternal
grandmother,

Christine's mother,

on the day
of Christine's funeral.

She wrote down verbatim
what Eric told her.

And then the key portion.

This was in their file.

And they concealed it...

from the defense,
from the court,

and from the jury.

They knew,
they knew he was innocent.

And they sent an innocent man
to prison for life...

and they let the monster
who killed his wife

go free to kill again.

We have a tiny
little law firm

and everybody was involved
in the case

in one way or another
trying to help.

We'd been investigating
Mark Alan Norwood.

We are not law enforcement,
but we're finding ourselves

kind of being
like law enforcement.

We wanted to see if
there were other cold cases

that lined up
with Christine Morton's.

There's a cold case website
for unsolved murders.

My wife, Kelly, had found it
a couple of years earlier.

A couple of paralegals
from our firm,

Cynthia Martinez and Kay Canobie

were playing around
with this website.

Well, I feel like

I've always had some
sort of like...

private investigator-ish
type of personality

and my parents always
just said that I was nosy.

We were searching cold cases
in Travis County

and just scrolling
through the pages

and then we came across
a lady that looked

very similar to Christine Morton

and her name
was Debra Jan Baker.

Debra Jean Baker
had been bludgeoned to death

in her home in a very similar
way to Christine Morton.

And we found out
where Mark Alan Norwood

was living in Austin at the time

of Christine Morton's murder.

So I thought let's compare
Ms. Baker's address

to Mr. Norwood's address

and see how far apart
their houses are.

And in turned out,

their houses
were one street apart.

And their...
The backs of their houses

kind of faced to each other,
they were just kind of like

diagonally across
from each other.

So they were very close.

I mean that kind of,
was like, you know,

that was big for us.

We felt like it was big.

We didn't know at that time

how big it was gonna be but...

And we thought, "Oh, my God.

We have to...
We have to tell someone.

We have to tell
law enforcement."

And so we found that...

that Debra Jan Baker
was killed in Travis County.

We didn't trust
the District Attorney

of Williamson County,
but maybe we can tell

the District Attorney
of Travis County.

Nina Morrison and I
went together

to the District Attorney
and, uh,

I remember it was a very hot day

and we had to walk
about a half a mile

before we got there.

We came in drenched with sweat.

And all these nice people
were waiting for us

in this conference room.

John was very passionate.

You could tell that he...

he knew...

that Michael Morton
was innocent.

And it made me sick
to my stomach.

So my primary goal

was to solve
the Debra Baker case.

We were able to go back,

comb through the evidence we had

in the Debra Baker case

and we had identified
pubic hairs

that were found
on the pink comforter...

and the blue towel
from the bathroom.

And had them sent off
to the laboratory,

which revealed that...

we definitively had
identified Mark Alan Norwood

as being the perpetrator

in the death of Debra Baker.

I remember saying...

"Oh, wow, this is it."

An innocent man in prison,

a murderer out there.

There's no feeling like that.

Norwood lived
with his mom,

we figured out where he lived,

and we informed the detectives

who paid him a visit.

Today, the Williamson County
Sheriff's office has arrested

Mark Alan Norwood for the murder

of Christine Morton,

which occurred
on August 13th, 1986.

There's so much...
so much joy

and so much peace
that comes over you,

that they had found
the other killer,

that proved to me that day

that there is a God
and a Holy Spirit

looking down over us.

We were very happy about that,

but the Baker family
deserved justice.

This is about them too.

That was it.
It's finally like, okay.

They're actually looking
at this again,

they're actually got do
something about this.

We got word
that Ken Anderson

was gonna do a press conference.

I went, "Oh, gotta go...
gotta go to this thing,"

and we booked it up
to Georgetown

and my aunt met me there.

And, it was just a small crowd,

it was mostly just reporters
and Ken Anderson said,

"The system got it wrong."

In my heart,

I know there was no misconduct
whatsoever.

I believe that the prosecutors

fully complied with all
the orders of the court.

When Ken went inside,
he didn't take any questions

that I remember,
but I looked up for my phone,

,

I'm surrounded and cornered...

Literally cornered by reporters

and I feel like
being in a zombie movie

when they've just crawling
on top of me.

He's not holding himself
accountable.

He's making a lot of excuses.

The fact that he let a man

go to kill my mother is...
more than enough reason.

I mean, if he really
feels bad, he should resign.

Prove it and resign

and retire to Florida somewhere.

Everything we do
has consequences

and that's one of the
consequences of what he did

was that a killer was out there.

You can't play
the what-if game forever,

but if I'm gonna play it
right there if...

What if Michael had not been
the prime suspect

and the only suspect
that we know of.

Mom could've still been alive

if he hadn't done some
of the things he'd done.

So I do still, to this day,

hold Ken Anderson
was responsible for that.

Yes.

Yes. I do believe that.

I think if they had followed
their leads,

they would've had Norwood
within a few weeks.

After the Baker case,
and that hit,

the state had no place else
to maneuver.

The court of public opinion

is becoming
squarely against them.

The news media
is picking up that...

There are these DNA hits
and people were asking

why is Michael Morton
still in prison?

On Monday,
Bradley, who was not

the original
prosecuting attorney,

dodged questions about why?

So, we were able to negotiate...

his release.

It was, uh,
somewhat chaotic.

There was a precession,
cameras were everywhere,

people, I didn't know
which way we were going.

Fortunately the sun was
beaming down right there

and it was just beautiful,
kind of fall day.

The sun felt so good on my face.

I kinda tilt my head back
like of getting a sun tan

or something
trying to just drink it in.

And he said the colors
were so bright.

And it was so beautiful.

It was one of those
lifetime moments

that you cherish, forever.

He's not on anybody's payroll.

I had no money to give him

to publicly broadcast
good things about you that say

you know, this is a...

To this day...

He's my friend...

and he's my brother.

So we made arrangements
to meet for dinner later...

and we sat over dinner,
we had... He had a steak.

And I remember that he was
having his knife and fork,

and he was kind of, like...

And I said, "You okay, man?"

He was, "I'm trying
to remember how to do this.

I haven't held a knife
and a fork for 25 years."

Reagan was president
when he went in,

he'd never held a cell phone.

And we're telling him
about cell phones, like...

He goes, "I heard about these.

I heard you can send
a picture."

And he said, "A picture?"

They go, "Michael,
you can send a movie."

Can you imagine?

My role in this case
was that, um,

I'm an Assistant
Attorney General

for the state of Texas

and so I was brought in
to prosecute

the Mark Norwood case.

When all of this began...

there was the investigation
into Christine's murder.

Separate and apart
from that was the realization

that there was another murder,
Debra Baker's murder,

that bore striking similarities

that may very well be connected.

I didn't know
at that point in time

whether or not Debra's case
would be tried.

When we met
with the DA's office

and they said,

"You know, we don't think
we necessarily wanna do this.

Just be taxpayer paying
for another trial.

I was livid

and we all made it very clear

that this was not gonna fly.

This is not gonna happen
because we wanted mom

to have her own story
that she was...

she was not just
a murder victim.

And one of my classes
that was taught

by Travis County Sheriff,
he kept...

He was talking about it
and he kept saying,

"There's this other woman."

I was like, "No.
Her name was Debra."

And he said, "Who cares?"

I do. I do.

I am her daughter, I care.

We can't stop what happened

and the only thing you can do
for someone at that point

is to keep fighting for them

to get what they deserve
in the end,

which in this case is a...
is a trial and a conviction.

I don't see evil
very much in my life.

When Mark Alan Norwood
walked into the courtroom,

I saw him and I realized...

that's what it looks like.

That's evil.

The ironies are so vast
in this case

that the first time
Michael was in a courtroom,

he was the guy on trial,

and the second time
he was in the courtroom,

he was my first witness.

It was very, very surreal.

As you might imagine.

It was no secret that whoever
was gonna try Mark Norwood

for one of the murders
would probably want

to let the jury know
about the other murder

just because it helps you know
that it is the right guy.

We had to basically prove up

the entire Debra Baker
murder case

during our trials,

we essentially had
two trials altogether.

The similarities between
the two cases were striking.

And I believe I listed 16
different similarities.

Debra Baker and Christine Morton

were both 33-year-old women
with long dark hair

who had children,
who were at home in bed.

They were both in water beds,
which seemed odd.

They were both murdered
on the 13th of the month.

They were both murdered
on a Wednesday,

they were both murdered
in the early morning

or late hours.

Both of their homes,
there was evidence

that showed that a perpetrator

had come over a back fence.

They were both struck
by a blunt object in the head

multiple times.

They both had items piled
on the top of their heads

after they were murdered
as if to hide their faces.

Both houses had...

valuable jewelry
out in plain view

that was not disturbed.

I mean it goes on and on,
the two crime scenes

were remarkably similar.

But the biggest thing was
is that Mark Norwood's DNA

was at both of those two scenes.

We've never afforded
an opportunity

to sit down
with Mark Alan Norwood

to determine
why he had committed

this brutal murders.

I believe Mark Norwood
is a serial killer

and there are probably
other crimes

that he committed that we just,

as investigators have not
connected him to yet.

Mark Alan Norwood
was convicted of the murder

of Michael Morton's wife
Christine

and Debra Jan Baker.

Two convictions.

Two life sentences.

And it was...

I don't even wanna say
it was a relief,

because it just... It...

I don't know
that there's an emotion

you can assign to it.

I was holding hands
with my husband,

I hugged my brother,
hugged my dad...

and I don't know.

It's an end to something

that had just always
been there for me

so I don't know
how to describe it really.

I am sitting outside
on the steps,

crying and releasing that,
you know,

finally realizing
that we had done

everything we could do
for Debbie.

It was a great sense of relief,

a great sense of justice.

You know, for so many years,

our family
was completely broken.

And we'd go through
the motions but, you know,

we were all broken inside.

I can't tell you.

I can't put into words
what that day was like.

It was like, finally,
some satisfaction

knowing that he's gonna spend

the rest of his life in prison.

And we actually,
actually began to heal.

It took 25 years

for the arc
of the moral universe

to bend toward justice.

In fighting
to free Michael Morton,

we felt that we were part
of a tradition

of lawyers in America

who stood for justice
against strong forces.

We spoke truth to power...

and we were honored to do so.

This story is not over.

The investigation is continuing

about the concealing
of this evidence

that should have
exonerated Michael

almost 25 years ago.

There are many happy
moments for me in this case.

For me, personally.

The reunion of Michael
and Eric was in my house.

I noticed
that our shoes

were disturbingly similar.

We both had on new blue jeans.

When we held our heads,
our gates as we walked

were eerily similar and...

The genes are there.

There was
this longest silence...

The longest silence
and then I kept listening

like because...
I was within ear-shot

and I kept thinking,
"What? Are they whispering?"

We shook hands
immediately,

but that morphed into a hug.

It was like this melding,
we just came back.

It's just as natural as that,

and I couldn't have
planned it any better.

And Michael said,
"Son."

And Eric said, "Dad."

And I think just for a second...

I got a glimpse
of what heaven must be like.