Interview: Michael Morton sits down with KXAN — Transcript

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1. 0:00tell me this how are you very good
2. 0:04um life
3. 0:06is approaching normaly but it's a new
4. 0:08normal you know there there are fits and
5. 0:11starts lots of frantic running around
6. 0:15and meeting and going and then maybe
7. 0:17like a week or two of sitting here and
8. 0:19watching the squirrels and the fish and
9. 0:21having a good time this is beautiful out
10. 0:24here I mean what is it like to be out
11. 0:27here and watching the squirrels and the
12. 0:28fish and I run the risk and it is a
13. 0:32danger to get used to it and to take it
14. 0:35for
15. 0:36granted but anytime we're gone and I
16. 0:40come back it's a
17. 0:43uh moment and it's a it's a real
18. 0:46blessing there's nothing better in the
19. 0:48morning than coming out on this deck and
20. 0:50um holding Cynthia's hand and drinking a
21. 0:53cup of coffee and watching all the
22. 0:54creators start coming awake cuz this is
23. 0:57kind of the time you know Michael you're
24. 1:00age almost where people start to retire
25. 1:03and you know their life slows down and
26. 1:06um I mean are you feeling that or are
27. 1:08you feeling like you want to well it's
28. 1:11the it's almost the exact opposite is I
29. 1:14had a little bit of a um couple decades
30. 1:17there when I didn't do a lot and I'm not
31. 1:19trying to make up for it because I
32. 1:22can't but things are getting busier and
33. 1:26more intense than I ever expected them
34. 1:27to be you know I have to go here I have
35. 1:30to go there I'm asked to speak here I'm
36. 1:31asked to show up and um it's good to be
37. 1:35busy yeah yeah so tell me why you wrote
38. 1:39the
39. 1:42book I think I wrote
40. 1:45it for a couple reasons
41. 1:49um one
42. 1:51to show people what I went
43. 1:54through
44. 1:56because I want them to be on board with
45. 1:58anything that happens in the aftermath
46. 2:01you know any anything that's going to be
47. 2:02changed from the legislature to police
48. 2:05procedures or court
49. 2:07procedures and
50. 2:10also to kind of like hand it to my son
51. 2:13and say you
52. 2:15know you were in this but you may not
53. 2:18know it and it might be a little bit of
54. 2:22a parental
55. 2:23cheating but rather than have to go
56. 2:26through it face to face you just hand it
57. 2:28to him so you not so a lot of things in
58. 2:31here will be a surprise to
59. 2:35him I don't think there'll be a surprise
60. 2:37to him
61. 2:39necessarily but there'll be you know
62. 2:41maybe some detail or like oh I forgot
63. 2:43that and then I found that there are
64. 2:45things that are surprises that I didn't
65. 2:47know were going to be surprises to him I
66. 2:48just assumed he knew certain
67. 2:52things so there is a lot in the book
68. 2:55about your relationship and and I really
69. 2:58think Eric is
70. 3:00is almost the theme of the book I mean
71. 3:03he's there throughout yeah um that I
72. 3:08noticed
73. 3:11um I wonder if that you know like you
74. 3:14said I wonder if that is if he even knew
75. 3:18you know maybe he didn't even know for
76. 3:2025 years that he was always there with
77. 3:22you because because in the book it is
78. 3:24plain to see that he was always there
79. 3:26with you well I've said that he was my
80. 3:29idol or he was my uh light at the end of
81. 3:31the tunnel he was the reason I got up
82. 3:33every morning that I had to get through
83. 3:34this you know I always everything and
84. 3:36everything else or everyone and
85. 3:38everything else seemed to have been
86. 3:40either taken away or gone or
87. 3:43just
88. 3:44Untouchable but he was always what I
89. 3:47looked forward to or what I um counted
90. 3:50on he was my
91. 3:52reason so it makes sense that you would
92. 3:54want to write this as a sort of
93. 3:58Chronicle for him
94. 4:00yeah um when I was inside I kept a
95. 4:03rather lengthy journal and that was what
96. 4:05I planned on hand ining but after I got
97. 4:09out and read it
98. 4:12um there are Parts in it my son may not
99. 4:14want to
100. 4:16read um I've mellowed a little bit and
101. 4:20um gained a little perspective yeah um
102. 4:23well I like that there are a couple of
103. 4:25excerpts here and there of of your
104. 4:27Journal I think that that will be
105. 4:30something that people enjoy what else do
106. 4:32you think why do you think people should
107. 4:34read this
108. 4:35book beside it being a ripping yarn no
109. 4:38I'm
110. 4:39sorry I think people should read it
111. 4:43um because the vast majority of the
112. 4:48citizenry never I mean never comes in
113. 4:51contact with the criminal justice system
114. 4:53they may have a a civil case there may
115. 4:56be a lawsuit or something but um most
116. 4:59people don't know what the criminal side
117. 5:00of it is and I didn't realize the chasm
118. 5:03between the two um one of my
119. 5:07lawyers is a civil attorney and when he
120. 5:10came on board to help he was just
121. 5:13stunned at the imbalance and the way the
122. 5:16two sides go to each other and instead
123. 5:19of having everything out on the table
124. 5:20and all the evidence agreed upon it's a
125. 5:23battle to find out what the other side
126. 5:24has that's insane why else why else do
127. 5:28you think it's important
128. 5:32because we've heard your story yeah
129. 5:34right I mean you know a lot of it's not
130. 5:36news anymore no it is but but there are
131. 5:39things in this book that you know we
132. 5:41hadn't heard before sure um and and and
133. 5:44you know very personal um feelings and
134. 5:47things that you went through and
135. 5:50um so I mean talk to me a little bit
136. 5:52more about that that that you may you
137. 5:54may think you know the story but
138. 5:57really yeah there there's a there
139. 5:59there's a side to all of this that's
140. 6:02um I don't say it's allegory
141. 6:07but my experience may be very unique but
142. 6:11it's easily transferable to anybody who
143. 6:13has uh serious health issues they're
144. 6:15dealing with or finances marital
145. 6:18problems career off track whatever your
146. 6:21tragedy is as Victor Frankle said it's
147. 6:23it's a big deal it's yours and nothing
148. 6:25is more important than that and if I can
149. 6:29go through what I went through and come
150. 6:31out on the other side then whatever
151. 6:34you're going through hopefully there'll
152. 6:37be some encouragement here and I think
153. 6:39that's probably a more personal and more
154. 6:44um meaningful thing for
155. 6:47readers and I think what hit me is that
156. 6:49everything else you know we've seen of
157. 6:51you whether it's an interview whether
158. 6:54it's the documentary that's somebody
159. 6:57else's um idea of your story right right
160. 7:01um so that's it's edited in some way or
161. 7:06uh maybe you don't get to you say you
162. 7:08say everything you want to say but it
163. 7:10doesn't all make it into the story that
164. 7:13part right um but this is this is 100%
165. 7:17you and the and what you want to put out
166. 7:19there yeah and the editing was mine
167. 7:22there are certain things I didn't want
168. 7:22to include and certain things I wanted
169. 7:24to include so I think anybody who
170. 7:27attempts to write a book or or make a
171. 7:29movie or do anything that's all
172. 7:34theirs it's important to them or you can
173. 7:36get you get to see what's important to
174. 7:38them you get to see what they want you
175. 7:40to see or hear what they want you to
176. 7:42hear and um that's a good thing where
177. 7:46did you write the book tell me about
178. 7:48kind of the process of um how that
179. 7:51worked
180. 7:53out that was done here pretty much here
181. 7:56um I did some of it in the old house but
182. 7:59a lot of it was done here and
183. 8:03um you have an office or like out back
184. 8:06here or sometimes I would do it in here
185. 8:08sometimes go up upstairs in the back
186. 8:10bedroom and close the door and you know
187. 8:13how they say it's it's not that hard to
188. 8:14write you just you know open a vein and
189. 8:17put it on the page is that how you feel
190. 8:20sometimes yeah sometimes uh it's
191. 8:25um cathartic it's um
192. 8:29very personal and sometime you have to
193. 8:32go back and remember okay this is for
194. 8:33public
195. 8:34consumption and
196. 8:37um we speak differently when we're in
197. 8:40private than we do in public and so it's
198. 8:42a it's a balancing act it's a mix and uh
199. 8:46you know that better than I do no I
200. 8:48you're you're right but I don't always
201. 8:51find it uh as easy to write especially
202. 8:53when it's about yourself that's a little
203. 8:54harder it's easier telling someone
204. 8:56else's story I think yeah the the memoir
205. 8:59everybody feels like they're an expert
206. 9:01because it's you right and uh other
207. 9:04topics you have to be a little more
208. 9:06circumspect and you have to do more
209. 9:07research
210. 9:08and I had to do a little bit of that
211. 9:11because it's amazing what you forget in
212. 9:13two and a half decades and to pull
213. 9:16something up out of my old Journal I'm
214. 9:17went oh I've forgotten that yeah you
215. 9:21know where were you know what was going
216. 9:22on on this birthday or say on 911 or
217. 9:26just different things that happened well
218. 9:28how wonderful that you had that record
219. 9:30yeah I mean um no matter sure not
220. 9:34everyone in prison keeps a journal oh no
221. 9:36not everybody in prison can
222. 9:39write uh I I would encourage anybody if
223. 9:42no matter how mundane you think your
224. 9:43life is and not interesting keep a
225. 9:46little Journal it doesn't have to be
226. 9:47every day just when the urge strikes
227. 9:50yeah so um how long did it take you to
228. 9:53write oh between six and nine months and
229. 9:58like I said there was a great deal of
230. 9:59help because the um the Bare Bones was
231. 10:02the journal yeah did anybody have to
232. 10:04talk you into uh publishing or was it
233. 10:08something pretty soon after you were
234. 10:10released that you knew you wanted to do
235. 10:12well I had already had
236. 10:15um aspirations I I've been published in
237. 10:19little things small journals and stuff
238. 10:22and I have a um embarrassed to say how
239. 10:25many novels I have in boxes upstairs
240. 10:28unpublished but I've always wanted to do
241. 10:30that and so um I don't know if it was um
242. 10:34just the practice all those years but
243. 10:37here was an opportunity but I give a
244. 10:39give it a shot see what happens is there
245. 10:42anything
246. 10:44especially I mean is there anything
247. 10:46especially in here
248. 10:48that is your most favorite or moving or
249. 10:55um the part you like the best I like the
250. 10:58epilog best
251. 11:01um everybody knows the um the
252. 11:06tragedy and the dark spots you know the
253. 11:08low valleys and all that stuff but I
254. 11:10like the epilog best because it talks
255. 11:12about my new life my wife um living here
256. 11:17in fact and um I don't know about you I
257. 11:21like it I'm sorry I don't know about you
258. 11:24but I like a happy
259. 11:26ending and uh I have a ending yeah no
260. 11:30doubt yeah so the Michael Morton act um
261. 11:34you know we know that uh this has
262. 11:37been that this will be
263. 11:41um the best thing for our society so
264. 11:44that people uh so that what happened to
265. 11:46you doesn't happen however as you know
266. 11:49there have been some um Growing Pains I
267. 11:54guess uh and and people uh some agencies
268. 11:57are having a hard time uh finding the
269. 11:59Personnel the overtime pay that type of
270. 12:02thing to keep up with the demands uh for
271. 12:06what they're now required to turn over
272. 12:08as evidence what do what do you feel
273. 12:11about about
274. 12:13that
275. 12:17um they're not the bad
276. 12:20guys you know that said that that's the
277. 12:22beginning um but I remember when we were
278. 12:26negotiating and working with the
279. 12:28legislature and all the different
280. 12:31parties I mean there are a lot of
281. 12:32interest groups there and one of the
282. 12:34arguments was that this wasn't even
283. 12:37needed I mean most counties the vast
284. 12:40majority of counties in fact they
285. 12:42already have open file system this is
286. 12:44going to be redundant it's going to be a
287. 12:46waste of the legislative effort and it's
288. 12:50just why we're already doing this they
289. 12:53got passed trying to implement it and
290. 12:55now suddenly this thing that was going
291. 12:56to be redundant is now extra lawyers
292. 13:00extra copies extra time extra money um I
293. 13:05don't think anybody is necessarily being
294. 13:09disingenuous
295. 13:11but
296. 13:13um it's well within our
297. 13:17ability it's well
298. 13:19within um what should be our
299. 13:23goals
300. 13:25and yeah 50 years ago at least it it was
301. 13:29required by the
302. 13:31Constitution this the
303. 13:34MMA here in Texas it just gives it
304. 13:37teeth that's all it
305. 13:39is and so what if it costs extra money
306. 13:42or well time is that how you feel no not
307. 13:45at all because cost is always an issue I
308. 13:49mean cost benefit analysis has to be
309. 13:52involved with every rational decision
310. 13:55right and we don't want to go off the
311. 13:58deep end and just to have an unlimited
312. 14:00budget for
313. 14:01this but um our government needs to be
314. 14:05transparent our prosecutors need to be
315. 14:08open and above board I mean they are our
316. 14:11elected officials they work for us they
317. 14:13are acting in our on our behalf and they
318. 14:16are fighting the good fight we just want
319. 14:19them to be accountable and we want them
320. 14:21to be virtuous and
321. 14:24principled and um I believe they can
322. 14:27because who in the Justice system whose
323. 14:30goal is not to get the right person who
324. 14:34committed a crime of course why would
325. 14:36that not be everyone's goal involved
326. 14:39yeah and I think they'd be the first
327. 14:42ones to say that the prosecutors would
328. 14:44be on board with that
329. 14:47100% the issue arises
330. 14:50because we are not
331. 14:53infallible and I
332. 14:55suspect I strongly suspect that in my
333. 14:58situ situation Ken Anderson was
334. 15:00thoroughly convinced I was the
335. 15:03guy but without full disclosure let's
336. 15:08say um didn't work out that way well
337. 15:11because as human beings I think you know
338. 15:13we yeah once we make up our minds we
339. 15:15kind of pick oh well I want to see this
340. 15:18and I want to see this and I want to see
341. 15:19this but I don't want to see that yeah
342. 15:21and and but if that doesn't if that
343. 15:23isn't allowed to play out in court
344. 15:25that's when you have a problem exactly I
345. 15:27think this actually this MMA is
346. 15:30um the quintessential checks and balance
347. 15:33kicking in I mean this this is trying to
348. 15:36write the
349. 15:37ship but what about this law that now
350. 15:40requires every piece of evidence in a
351. 15:43capital murder case to be tested for
352. 15:47DNA I mean had that been around in your
353. 15:51time well it wouldn't have affected me
354. 15:53it wasn't Capital well number one it
355. 15:55wasn't Capital DNA wouldn't advance that
356. 15:57far at the time the the the hand of God
357. 16:01element in my case was that the actual
358. 16:03perpetrator wasn't even in the system
359. 16:05yet right this is true but
360. 16:08um we we have to have there wouldn't
361. 16:11have been a blue
362. 16:12bandana never been tested just sitting
363. 16:15somewhere for years from here on out is
364. 16:16what I'm saying from here on out there's
365. 16:19not going to be any piece of evidence in
366. 16:20a capital murder case not tested for
367. 16:23DNA yeah um whether we want to make that
368. 16:27a legislative issue or rule issue I'll
369. 16:30be honest I'm not sure oh it is well I'm
370. 16:33saying the rightness or wrongness of it
371. 16:34I'm not sure I got but I think what's
372. 16:36the most important thing from my
373. 16:38perspective at least is that while you
374. 16:41there there should be awareness of all
375. 16:45these things that way the defense at
376. 16:47least knows and this can be raised in
377. 16:49court um testing every single thing
378. 16:52there's a point of absurdity there
379. 16:55because there's you know there's a
380. 16:57diminishing return at some point
381. 16:59um but when you get off into that realm
382. 17:01where you're going to take a life and
383. 17:02there's no Appeal on that you know
384. 17:04because once they're dead they're dead
385. 17:06and you have to start weighing it right
386. 17:10so at least this way you're saying at
387. 17:11least the defense should know about
388. 17:13every piece of evidence and have the
389. 17:15opportunity to test it uh if they want
390. 17:17or at least in the final analysis the
391. 17:19jury will they'll be aware of it and
392. 17:22they'll play that into the equation of
393. 17:24Reasonable Doubt and how that fits
394. 17:29this is coming out of the epilogue okay
395. 17:31Eric has had to adjust again and again
396. 17:33and again to different realities I am
397. 17:37grateful for the way he has welcomed me
398. 17:38back into his life he and Maggie have
399. 17:41just become parents again this time to
400. 17:44Patrick a handsome and healthy little
401. 17:46boy their beautiful little Chrissy is
402. 17:50two I am hoping in the years ahead I can
403. 17:53relive at least a piece of Eric's
404. 17:55childhood by watching their children
405. 17:57grow up I I want to be a good grandpa
406. 18:00for now I am practicing my parenting
407. 18:03skills on the set of baby kittens
408. 18:05Cynthia's formerly feral cat just
409. 18:08delivered the four little fur balls in
410. 18:10an assortment of colors and probably an
411. 18:13equal number of fathers are still muing
412. 18:16loudly in their warm bed in our home
413. 18:18Workshop their eyes have just opened and
414. 18:21they are squinting at their blurry and
415. 18:23bewildering New World wondering where
416. 18:27they are and trying to figure out where
417. 18:29they fit in they are shakily beginning
418. 18:32their new lives I know something about
419. 18:35how that
420. 18:36feels I know what it is to finally find
421. 18:38your
422. 18:39way on this glorious Dawn Cynthia walks
423. 18:43up behind me reaches out and takes my
424. 18:46hand I am free I am home and I'm in love
425. 18:52finally the long night has
426. 18:55ended the sun is rising
427. 19:00didn't expect
428. 19:04that thank you it's okay I cried when I
429. 19:07read that part
430. 19:10too why are you emotional hm why are you
431. 19:13emotional those are your
432. 19:18words this has been a really big deal
433. 19:21and
434. 19:23um in your day-to-day
435. 19:26life you kind of um
436. 19:29for survival or well-being you just you
437. 19:32don't harp on
438. 19:34it and every time it comes back
439. 19:37up you remember in a very powerful way
440. 19:40that oh
441. 19:42yeah that was a big
442. 19:45deal life is good
443. 19:48now anything else you want to add any
444. 19:51other anything else you want to say to
445. 19:53people about why they should read this
446. 19:56book you have to have hope
447. 20:01and
448. 20:02um without hope you will not make
449. 20:06it and even though we have faith hope
450. 20:08and
451. 20:10love Love's the stronger of the
452. 20:14three that'll get us through