Good morning. The National Weather Service says Austin will see sunny and mild weather today with a high approaching 70 degrees. A band of severe thunderstorms is expected to blow in Saturday night.
Lead Story: In Georgetown, it’s day five of a court of inquiry seeking answers into the case of Michael Morton. Wrongly convicted for the murder of his wife, Morton spent 25 years behind bars before he was cleared by DNA evidence.
Ken Anderson is the former Williamson County prosecutor who oversaw Morton’s conviction. He is the subject of the court of inquiry but insists he did nothing wrong in the case.
Yesterday the court heard from Bill Allison, one of Morton’s defense lawyers. In an interview with KUT News’ reporting partner The Texas Tribune, Morton says it can be hard to sit through the proceedings:
“Sometimes you get angry. Sometimes you get a little sad. Sometimes you just get numb from sitting through it all. But this is something that I really feel needs to be done. Not so that Ken Anderson will be drawn and quartered. But this is a road to accountability.”
The Tribune’s Brandi Grissom is live blogging today’s court proceedings.
Perry Heads West: Governor Rick Perry leaves Sunday for a four-day trip to California. Gov. Perry will meet with business groups in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, and Orange County, hoping to lure them – and their jobs – to Texas.
Perry’s visit follows a radio campaign promoting Texas that’s been running across California – and building some tension in the process.
“Reports have shown that no state has ever poached their way to long term prosperity,” Kish Rajan with the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development emails KUT News. “Real job creation comes from California’s history as a national leader in start-ups and the expansion of homegrown businesses.”
That’s on the heels of California Governor Jerry Brown calling Perry’s brief tour and ad buy “not a burp. It's barely a fart."
Hutchison Goes to Work: Retired U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison has a new job: working for the law firm of former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Hutchison will serve as senior counsel for Bracewell &Giuliani’s office in Dallas. She’ll advise the firm’s clients on federal regulations – particularly on energy.
Hutchison says she’ll be “an advocate for fair treatment of the energy industry. I think there is a misconception in Washington that they get tax breaks that other industries and businesses don’t get. And it’s wrong.”
Hutchison served almost two decades in the U.S. Senate before deciding not to seek reelection in 2012.
