Wednesday, July 02, 2014

John Bradley to prosecute in island paradise

Grits had heard rumors that former Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley took a post working for the Attorney General in the Republic of Palau, an American protectorate of 20,000 people in Micronesia. I didn't mention this bit of gossip, half fearing it was a gag. But then an item in the Statesman and this column by the Houston Chronicle's Lisa Falkenberg confirmed the offbeat news. Concluded Falkenberg:
Part of me thinks everybody, even John Bradley, has the right to make a living, to learn from mistakes and to get on with life after grievous errors.
The other part thinks Bradley is still a danger to justice everywhere, even 8,000 miles away.
If you've never heard of Palau, check out these results from Google images. For a supposed hard landing that's pretty sweet. Hard to know what to make of this disclosure, but I'd echo the sentiments of Rob Kepple at the Texas prosecutors' association who told Falkenberg, "'It's been awhile,' ... referring to the Morton revelations. 'You know, maybe he gets another chance. Maybe he's got to go all the way to Palau to get it. But I wish him well.'" Me too. Bradley has seemingly floundered a bit since leaving public office and clearly needed to hit the "restart" button: I'd rather he do it there than here, even if the whole story sounds a bit like the premise for a bad television series.

Who knows? Perhaps in Palau, as opposed to in Williamson County, Bradley will have the opportunity to prosecute some of those important oyster felonies, if they have such a thing.

18 comments:

doran said...

Okay, so he has basically moved to a small town to start over. A lot of us do that, either in fact or in our dreams. It is an American tradition.

He could've done worse. With 20,000 population, Palau has more residents than some Texas counties. And if faced with a choice of spending most of your waking hours in a Courthouse in Far West Texas, for instance, or in the County Seat of a Panhandle county, or in Palau, which would you choose?????

John, if you are reading this, let us know if there are any more job postings......

Anonymous said...

If he wanted solitude and isolation, the TDCJ should have a vacancy.

If only Michael Morton had the option of living in Palau or prison...

Anonymous said...

You left out the part about Governor Perry being instrumental in helping Bradley land the job. I think that's kinda important...

Anonymous said...

Oh, you do NOT want to mess with the oyster mafia...

Anonymous said...

I guess everybody gets a second chance, just ask Norman Dale! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmqpcXFWEuA

Gritsforbreakfast said...

10:21 wrote, "You left out the part about Governor Perry being instrumental in helping Bradley land the job"

Falkenberg asked the question, no one told her that was the case. She didn't confirm it.

Anonymous said...

Yea, well if it walks like a duck...

Anonymous said...

Perry was in Palau shortly before Bradley got the job. Perry's non response seems to be telling.

Anonymous said...

Bradley asked Perry and co. to come on over to Palau when he's done messing with Texas to assist him in rigging their CJ system.

I predict that Palau will witness a 97% Plea bargain rate in two years or less.

TriggerMortis said...

I believe the following snippet from the Houston Chronicle article is the most important aspect of all this because it clearly shows that prosecutors have learned nothing from Bradley except to sanitize the files after the conclusion of a case.

Rob Kepple, executive director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association and a former colleague of Bradley's at the Harris County District Attorney's Office, said he hoped the island nation would provide a fresh start for his friend.

"It's been awhile," Kepple said, referring to the Morton revelations. "You know, maybe he gets another chance. Maybe he's got to go all the way to Palau to get it. But I wish him well."

Instead of denouncing Bradley Kepple still looks upon him as being a close friend. Useless, worthless degenerates, both.

George said...

Where is the social media outrage over this sort of thing? This lowlife son of a bitch took 20+ years away from an innocent man and now he is being rewarded by being given a job on a tropical island. He should rot in the hell hole that is the Texas prison system that he has helped fill.

If he did this to one man, how many more are there. This is the type of systemic corruption that permeates our society and I, as an American, am disgusted by it. You should be too.

Anonymous said...

Well to be fair he didn't take 20 plus years away from Michael Morton. His actions however,delayed our finding the truth for about 6 years.

George said...

@ Anonymous 8:38

What you are saying is that a man whose duty was to seek justice, who intentionally withheld evidence and to this day still has not accepted full responsibility for his actions should be excused for this? At the very least you have taken the apologist stance.

Michael Morton was totally and completely innocent of the crime that Bradley convicted him of. So please STOP making excuses for the son of a bitch.

In my opinion, elected/appointed officials who do this must be held to a much higher standard than the average criminal. Bradley should be inside the Texas prison system for at least the same amount of time that Michael Morton spent and dealing with the day to day issues that prisoners face.

It is our duty, sir, to see that this sort of thing does not happen again. We simply cannot depend on the officials to clean this up because that's not going to happen, so stop making excuses for them, if you do this then you too are a part of the problem.

Unless there are severe consequences for those who contribute to unjustly, and in my opinion criminally, rob someone of their freedom this sort of thing will continue. You evidently have no idea how serving 20+ years in prison will adversely affect ones life albeit as a criminal, but to do that being innocent? My God man where is your sense of justice in all of this.

Anonymous said...

I agree totally with George - couldn't have said it any better

And might I just add that this is one of the maybe worst things Mr Bradley is remembered for but there were a whole host of incredible actions that surfaced over the years that were swept away. Once something came to light and hit the news, he immediately settled the case and it was taken out of the limelight so that it hid his true actions over the years...costing the tax payers lots of bucks.....however, can't say I feel sorry much for them because the folks in Georgetown voiced a lot of pride in the scoundrels who do all of this to Michael Morton and all the other injustices that happened up their watch. To me they promoted this kind of behavior instead of seeing justice and upholding the sacredness and fairness of the law. Where are those faceless folks now??
Incredible that our country allows this sort of thing and the politicians who are behind these folks go unpunished.

Anonymous said...

TriggerMortis, I agree with your assessment of Robert Kepple. His comment speaks volumes about his character.

Personally, I wish Bradley a life of haunting dreams about the lives he and his WilCo gang needlessly destroyed. I pray his reputation follows him everywhere he goes. I hope he never escapes his shameful past. And most of all, I hope more truth about Bradley will come out and soon. I want him exposed for every wrong that he did against the people of Williamson County.

Anonymous said...

This island was one of the locations for Survivor.
Tom Westman won and was the sole survivor in the tenth season of the show.

We can only hope that John working there does not emulate that season, with him being the sole survivor.

Anonymous said...

As the DA (and as Assistant DA) for Williamson County, John Bradley did not believe that other people deserved second chances, nor did he believe that they should be able to move on with their lives after grievous errors. He is the epitome of what is wrong with our justice system. What has happened to him is Divine Justice. I can't think of a better fate for someone so egomaniacal and power-hungry than to be forced to leave the country with his tail tucked in humiliation. I hope he feels the burden of the shame he has imposed on his wife and kids for the rest of his life and, as stated above, that his ruined reputation follows him wherever he goes.

Anonymous said...

I have never seen any hint or mention of what sty could Ken Anderson have plopped down from? What rock did he slither under? Did his wife slither with him or did she get a job?