Texas tough? John Bradley has a change in heart…We hope he acts on it

By Kirsten Bokenkamp Communications Coordinator Apparently Texas prosecutor John Bradley has recently gotten in touch with a previously unknown side of himself.  The side that tries “to see cases from both sides,” before putting somebody in prison for life, or worse, putting them to death.  And the side that recognizes that the “tough on crime” approach can produce blinders that send innocent people to jail and leave the actual criminals on the street. After fighting so hard against reexamining the case of Cameron Todd Willingham (who was convicted and executed based on evidence experts consider to be “junk science”), and staunchly fighting efforts to free Michael Morton (who was recently exonerated after suffering 25 years of his life in jail for a crime he did not commit) why the sudden change of heart? Actually, from our perspective the why is much less important than the question of how Mr. Bradley will use his change of heart to ensure a more just criminal justice system in Texas.  As The Texas Tribune mentioned, Bradley is a legendarily tough Texas prosecutor: If he speaks up against prosecutorial misconduct and wrongful convictions, people will likely listen.  He could start by calling for a review of all the case files held in Wilco to ensure that no other cases were mishandled.  He could follow the lead of Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins, and create a Conviction Integrity Unit to ensure proper prosecutorial procedures.  We would like to see Bradley push full steam ahead and use his new found viewpoint to advocate for real change.  Without concrete action on Mr. Bradley’s part, his change of heart is just empty rhetoric. We hope that is not the case.