SCOTX: Newspaper Did Not Defame Prosecutor in Article That Linked Him to Wrongful Conviction of Michael Morton

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ordered the dismissal of a prosecutor’s libel lawsuit against an East Texas newspaper, rejecting Tommy Lamar Coleman’s claims that he was not involved in Williamson County’s notorious wrongful prosecution of Michael Morton.

Morton was exonerated in 2011 after spending nearly 25 years in prison. A bloody bandana found near the scene of his wife’s 1986 murder in the couple’s home was finally subjected to DNA testing after years of opposition by Williamson County prosecutors. The DNA was linked to a convicted felon named Mark Alan Norwood, whose DNA also was found at a murder scene in Travis County.