[President Tommy] Remengesau said Bradley acknowledged he was wrong to block the DNA testing and "is painfully aware that his actions kept an innocent man locked up for longer than he should have been".Hmmmm ... I thought Bradley had recanted his road to Damascus conversion rhetoric, but apparently it's a meme he still trots out when it benefits him, like in a job interview. Grits hopes it's true Bradley is a changed man and that he won't bring the same, misbegotten attitude and arrogance to Palau that he displayed as a prosecutor in Texas. OTOH, on the off chance he hasn't changed, I'd rather him perform that function on an island 8,000 miles away than here. Adios, JB. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.
But he said Bradley deserved a second chance and was seeking it in the island nation of 22,000 people, which is best known for its spectacular diving sites.
"Mr. Bradley says that the Morton case has changed him as a person and has made him a more balanced, fair, and humble prosecutor," Remengesau said in a statement.
He said Bradley had more than 25 years of prosecution experience and had never been found to have violated any law or ethical rule over the Morton case.
"The Republic hired Mr. Bradley because our nation needs experienced and skilled prosecutors to help keep our community safe Mr. Bradley fits that bill," he said.
Bradley is expected to start in his new role before Palau hosts the Pacific Islands Forum at the end of this month.
MORE: A commenter chastised me for this post engaging in "snark." However, since I didn't consider this post particularly snarky, let's add some. I'd mentioned earlier that this story sounded like a bad sitcom plot. A friend of the blog emailed this morning to say, "I have a name for the reality show that Bradley will star in: Kangaroo Court. Or maybe Banana Republic. Can [Charles] Sebesta be in it too?"
Imagine JB will be prosecuting in a place where more people speak Palauan than English, natives live in a matrilineal society, and at least some of them dress like this:
I located the job posting for Bradley's new gig on the Texas District and County Attorneys Association (TDCAA) website; for his sake, I hope $65K goes further in Palau than it does here.
For a nation of about 20,000 people, Palau has 145 cops, which seems like overkill until you realize they must cover around 250 islands that, according to Wikipedia, span an area of ocean the size of France. One of the big crimes they're focused on is illegal fishing with dynamite. A State Department report mentioned that, as of 2012 in Palau, "There were 51 prisoners, including one woman and one juvenile. The prison can hold up to 80 prisoners." During his Williamson County days, Bradley's shop would have filled up that prison in a week or two, so this new scenario will be quite a change of pace for TDCAA's 2009 Prosecutor of the Year.
AND MORE: Here's a statement from Palau's president on the hiring.
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31 comments:
Is Bradley a pompous ass? Yep, probably so. Did he do anything illegal or unethical in forcing Morton to go through the legal process to obtain his DNA results? Absolutely not. In view of everything that's happened, do I think he would exercise his discretion differently if confronted with the same decision? Considering the fact that he lost his job in large part due to that decision, I'm sure he would. At any rate, the little snarky, "holier than thou," "let's pile on" comments and mentality displayed here are not very becoming of you, Grits. Your personal animus toward Bradley is all too transparent. You could probably learn a few things from Michael Morton when it comes to grace and dignity. Give it a rest.
Oh, boo fucking hoo, 11:26. Poor, widdle JB, being persecuted by that big ol' meanie Grits!
You're probably one of the fascist residents of Wilco who voted that scumbag and his scumbag mentor, Ken Anderson, into office in the first place, right?
If so, fuck off.
Nah, 11:43, that sounds more like one of JB's friends at TDCAA. I'm guessing Rob Kepple; Shannon Edmonds signs his name to his comments.
And @11:26, I actually didn't consider this post NEARLY as snarky as it could have been, so I added some snark in an addendum so your comments would appear justified. You're welcome.
@11:26 - Well how could you ever even remotely support Bradley's sense of justice? Sounds like you would make him a good second-hand man there in Palau. I'm glad Bradley has taken this position in Palau so we can give the citizens of Palau a chance to have the same comptempt for him as any sane American.
From the State Department:
"UXO - Unexploded ordnance remains a problem in Palau. Although the majority of the land-based UXO is found on the island of Peliliu, UXO can be found almost on any island in Palau. Underwater UXO may also present a threat. Tourists are advised to heed all warnings on areas that might be affected."
Good luck with your endevors Mr. Bradley. WATCH YOUR STEP
The picture that you posted in your blog is not of Palau. Actually, it's not even a close representation of Palau and Palauans. I'm Palauan, I live here... This should be removed. Your blog is already circulating in Palauan forums and news.
@6:56, the pic came from these Israeli tourists who said it's from Palau. I found it searching Google images on "Palau people". Obviously I have no first hand knowledge of indigenous Palauans.
Would you have preferred this pic? Or this? Or this one? Point me to an accurate public domain photo of Palau natives and I'll swap it out.
And enjoy Mr. Bradley as your new Johnny Law. He's quite a piece of work. I hope for your country's sake it's true he's turned over a new leaf.
The topless female on the far top left in the photo you have posted appears to be underage, therefore you have child pornography on your blog. I've taken the liberty of alerting the proper authorities.
Yours truly,
John Bradley
10:34 pm I think it's an adult. Bradley has probably already had her arrested and charged with indecent exposure. After a thorough investigation, and if is determined children were present at the time this picture was taken, the female will then be charged with indecency with a child by exposure. Which would land her on the Sex Offender Registry in the States. The number of counts will be determined by the number of children who saw this woman's bosoms.
Quite possible a plea deal can be worked out. Probation and sex offender treatment with a few thousand in fines and fees; possibly an ankle monitor. Maybe Bradley can have the Center for Cognitive Education open a satellite clinic down in Palau.
Better contact Corrections Corporation. I see the need for a bigger jail coming.
"The Republic hired Mr. Bradley because our nation needs experienced and skilled prosecutors to help keep our community safe Mr. Bradley fits that bill."
Hell, he'll have all yall locked up in no time.
Perhaps Bradley will cause a need to cut a "deal" with the private prison industry!
Well I'm not anonymous and I've been stirring up controversy for over 20 years. I believe DNA should always be allowed, even as in Ricky McGinn's case in 2000 when Barry Scheck told the US Senate Judiciary Committee that DNA testing would likely exonerate his client (it didn't...he was proved absolutely guilty of rape and murder of a 12-year old)
John Bradley screwed up and paid the price of his career. He made a huge mistake in being loyal to a man who hid evidence, an unforgivable sin for a prosecutor.But the first commenter here had it right....give the vituperation a rest...Bradley didn't break the law. Morton is willing to let him move on. You should too.
Joshua Marquis
www.coastda.com
Josh Marquis, there are other people still suffering because of John Bradley. Many of us will not rest until those individuals and their families get justice.
Seeing as you are from Oregon and not Williamson County, Texas, you are obviously not aware of the many issues surrounding Bradley.
I hope you are an ethical prosecutor, but thanks to Bradley, I see that as a contradiction in terms.
And, there is a reason most people choose to remain anonymous. No doubt Bradley has friends in high places. No doubt many of us do not feel safe from Bradley or his few supporters, and there is still work to be done.
Make no mistake, we will not quit until the truth is out.
@1:29, Josh knows perfectly well who JB is, he's affiliated with the national prosecutors association.
And @Josh, Bradley didn't "break the law" in the Morton case, it's true. He behaved so boorishly and contrary to basic decency that the Legislature had to change the law to let cases like Morton's get tested.
Like it or not, JB's move to Palau is news and in this day and age, news generates commentary. Don't like it? Nobody put a gun to your head to visit this blog and read it. JB did a lot more damage to this state than just to Michael Morton. (At one point he was advising prosecutors to seek destruction of DNA evidence so there would be no possibility of post-conviction innocence claims.) I wish him well going forward and hope he can change his ways and put all this behind him, but that doesn't alter his ignominious history here.
Certainly, some people can change. I doubt that John Bradley is one of those. The youth of Palau, as well as tourists from around the globe, should be on high alert. I am advising my friends to avoid Palau in light of John Bradley's newfound power there.
Crime in Palau has skyrocketed (relatively speaking) -- see http://palaugov.org/crime-and-offenses/ . That's another reason to avoid that little nation.
I don't like to see so much U.S. taxpayer money flowing to Palau. I plan to write my representatives to seek a reduction in U.S. foreign aid and grants to Palau. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO"), "for fiscal years 1995-2009, U.S. aid to Palau is expected to exceed $852 million." In my opinion, that's way too many of our taxpayer dollars.
@11:26 and Josh, Give it a rest? WTF? It is evident from your comments that you think contributing to taking an innocent man's freedom away is something to be taken lightly. Only those who have done time in prison truly know what this is like.
As I've stated before, in my opinion, all elected/appointed officials who take an oath to protect and uphold the constitution and then willingly, knowingly and intentionally violates any aspect of the constitution, either through action or through intention, absolutely MUST be held accountable.
These lowlife, good-for-nothing, scumbag son of a bitches (hows that for snarkiness) should not have anywhere to run and hide.
For too long have the criminal justice segment of our society been given special consideration when it comes to their f**k ups. They should not be able to conduct their "bidness" behind closed doors but instead air the laundry out for all to see.
It's time for people such as 11:26 and Josh to wake up and realize that no longer can the elite simply get away with business as usual. People are smarter now and are getting fed up and disgusted with this whole type of thing.
Do what you are supposed to do, do it with integrity, honesty and openness. DO NOT expect things to go on as usual.
Your first commenter was spot on. As much as John Bradley was an arrogant, pompous jerk, he did what the taxpayers paid him to do. There is not one shred of evidence that he did anything unethical. In fact he did the exact same thing Jana Duty did in the Morton case, which was to defend the criminal justice process and Williamson County.
I guess everyone needs a villain to explain bad things’ happening but John Bradly isn’t that villain and he deserves this second chance. I wish him well.
Josh may not be from Williamson County but I am and I say he hit the nail on the head. Mr. Bradly did his job and got burned for it. And as far as second chances go, ending up on a tropical island isn’t a bad thing. I believe that Palau made a good choice.
@Robert McCausland, that's an interesting table you linked to. Did you notice the number of misdemeanors plummeted over the period depicted? And of the felony crimes, 460 of 473 in 2012 were for "misconduct." Hard to tell what that means but with 51 prisoners total in 2012, it's likely most of them weren't too serious.
@8:46 and 8:55, y'all act like the Michael Morton case is the only reason people consider Bradley an "arrogant, pompous jerk," as 8:46 put it. Morton was the icing on what was already a triple-decker cake.
As for saying Bradley "did his job and got burned for it," or 8:46 declaring that "he did what the taxpayers paid him to do," you're ignoring that when the taxpayers learned of it, they voted him out of office.
I'm happy for Bradley to get a second chance. I'm also happy he's getting it 8,000 miles away.
The reason he didn't have any disciplinary action for his unethical behavior is that the time limit for prosecution had expired. In fact it was the rare prosecution by Bradley that would have complied with the new "Morton " law, never mind comply with the Texas Cannons of Ethics.
Defense attorneys that worked in Williamson county could give thousands of examples and to their discredit and shame failed through the years to file grievances with the State Bar of Texas.
I will never believe that Bradley, who is very smart, didn't look at that file and know wharf Anderson had done. I can't imagine that he didn't discuss the case with Anderson. Bradley believed, like Anderson, that if he decided that something was inadmissible he didn't have to turn it over.
He is an embarrassment to the Jesuits who taught him and to the state.
Considering some country could probably put him on trial for human rights abuses against one of their nationals, he's got a lot of nerve to leave the USA.
We should all be happy he's gone.
He hadn't shown a change of heart by the time he forced the FSC to a screeching halt and ensured that there would be no real state-sponsored investigation into the Willingham case.
It's pretty clear that you can follow the letter the law, and still be an evil scumbag who shouldn't hold public office anywhere on the planet.
Jason
WOW - Will any other cop be able to top that gypsy move? In the middle of the night, no less.
Welcome to America Palauians. Anyone have a table of the current plea bargain rate for Palau? Not sure what a plea bargain is? Give it time, Bradley's packing his shit as we speak.
I'd like to compare it to the rates regarding the years in which Bradley is crowned as their president's personal savior.
How weird is it, to learn that our tax dollars will end up in his bank account, again. Even weirder for a bunch of Bradley's fans to come out swinging in favor of a criminal that conspired with another criminal in order to keep an alleged criminal in prison. Die hard Republicans are so cute, even in the dark. Tune in next week for an update on how they blamed it all on Obama & butter.
A Matrilineal society? Someone please tell his wife about the practice of "walking marriage" asap. :)
@GritsforBreakfast...Although, I was already a loyal reader...I am even a bigger one now after reading this one and your comments... I applause your "snarkiness!!"
P. S. A. brought to you by the Friends of Bradly group.
The Former and Disgraced Public Servant Association has announced that they too are being courted by President Remengesau.
During the F&DPSA quarterly meeting held last night in a reserved booth at an undisclosed Denny's, ("for their safety AMWAY disguises were mandatory") , Bradly was honored for his professionalism and loyalty to the Office(s) in which he has served and dedicated his life to.
Formers - Sebasta , Anderson & O'Brien closed the meeting and impromptu going away ceremony by announcing that they are working on a Logo for their legal enterprise start up to be Headquartered in Palua's legal district.
The Palua Plea & Flee Mill LLP with a little assistance from donors, promises to plea any & all clients out in 15 minutes or, less or, your case is considered pro-bono. Police vehicles are to be equipped with a: Magistrate, Bailiff, Court Reporter and a small desk in the corner for the Pleafense Team.
O'Brien has taken the reigns and crowned himself - King of nolo contendere, with Seabasta & Anderson vying for Plea Master & Flee Master titles.
Please donate to this worthy cause and with your generous donations you can say that you too believe in giving the accused a second chance to redeem themselves.
Considering the act of forgiveness and providing second chances or, clean slates to those applying for Full Pardons - for / based on innocence is the right thing to do when the applicant can show or, prove it. Therefore, we ask that you consider providing letters of recommendation to the Texas Board of Pardons & Paroles Clemency Section. We need to provide clean criminal backgrounds for these fine gentlemen in order for them to receive the respect they are due from those they'll be representing.
We've asked the following question - Before you leave the main-land and embark on this venture, would you consider providing letters of recommendation for a Full Pardon - for / based on innocence for those that can show they too were wrongfully accused and prosecuted on your watch and was told - it would equate to pleading guilty to past crimes therefore, in all honesty they couldn't bring themselves to do it at this time.
O'Brien's closing remarks - I'm not seeking salvation for my sins" drew applause and a Here! Here! from an old man in a trench coat that looked a lot like Kepple. Bradley threw up his pancakes while Anderson hit on the pancake lady. Next month's meeting will be held at a Pasadena chemical plant's break-room. Due to three founding members leaving at the same time has opened up the roster for those wishing to join this prestigious group of fine gentlemen that only did what their jobs and supervisors asked of them to do, nothing more nothing less.
12:10--now THAT is fucking hilarious! lol
Whenever JB's name comes up these days, I harken back to one of my all-time favorite courtroom sound bites. At a first appearance docket, the prosecutor would address the assembled masses before the judge came on the bench. And at some point in his spiel, he would say, "Now, we can take care of your case TODAY."
Do not forget how Bradley tried to "bully" the Forensic Science Commission after Perry appointed him as chairman. Perry removed respected Austin Attorney Sam Bassett as Chair and replaced him with John Bradley for the purpose of stymieing a scathing report on the Willingham case. The scientists on the Forensic Science Commission found that the Forensic evidence supporting Willingham's conviction and subsequent execution was faulty. Bradley pulled every dilatory tactic possible to bury the report. Perry needed Bradly to delay the report of a possible innocent execution while he was running for President. Bradly expected to be appointed to the Court of Criminal Appeals as a reward...but the Morton case was the precipitating event that ruined his career and saved Texas from suffering the further ignominy of Bradley as a Justice on our highest Court for criminal cases.
Bobby Mims
Tyler
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