Thursday, March 24, 2016

Bulletin: Daniel Dougherty: Philadelphia: (New trial); Ex-girlfriend still says he didn't set the fire that killed his sons; " Dougherty, 56, has insisted from the start that he awoke to a house ablaze, ran outside, then tried desperately to rescue 3-year-old John and 4-year-old Daniel Jr. He's counting on advances in fire science to free him. Sixteen years ago in 2000, Dougherty was convicted and sentenced to death for setting the fire at the Carver Street rowhouse. He was granted a new trial in 2014 after an appellate court ruled that his lawyer's failures had so skewed the original proceeding that "no reliable adjudication of guilt or innocence took place." His death sentence was vacated in 2012, becoming a life sentence. The retrial holds national implications as an example of cases in which evolving fire science has freed some inmates and brought the guilt of others into question. Prosecutors insist that the original guilty verdict was correct." (Philadelphia Inquirer report published Wednesday March 23, 2016 - updated March 24): Reporter Jeff Gammage;


"She didn't think Daniel Dougherty started the fire that killed his two young sons. She thought it was caused by an electric fan near the front door. That's what Kathleen Schuler told investigators soon after a 1985 blaze destroyed the Oxford Circle rowhouse where she lived with Dougherty, her son, and his boys. The police sought to set her straight: It was arson, and they believed that Dougherty did it. Schuler couldn't accept that. Even later, after she and Dougherty broke up, she went back to police to tell them that she and Dougherty were smokers, and so was a babysitter and other visitors. She hadn't emptied the ashtrays on the day of the fire. On Wednesday in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, Schuler, now Kathleen McGovern, was summoned by prosecutors seeking to convict Dougherty of murder in his second trial, and became the first witness to suggest what is a central claim of Dougherty's defense - that the blaze might not be arson. Dougherty, 56, has insisted from the start that he awoke to a house ablaze, ran outside, then tried desperately to rescue 3-year-old John and 4-year-old Daniel Jr. He's counting on advances in fire science to free him. Sixteen years ago in 2000, Dougherty was convicted and sentenced to death for setting the fire at the Carver Street rowhouse. He was granted a new trial in 2014 after an appellate court ruled that his lawyer's failures had so skewed the original proceeding that "no reliable adjudication of guilt or innocence took place." His death sentence was vacated in 2012, becoming a life sentence. The retrial holds national implications as an example of cases in which evolving fire science has freed some inmates and brought the guilt of others into question. Prosecutors insist that the original guilty verdict was correct.........On Wednesday, it was apparent that the passage of time was impacting the trial, with memories faded and witnesses dead or unavailable. Retired Assistant Fire Marshal John Quinn, whose arson finding helped send Dougherty to death row, is too ill to testify. His previous testimony will be read into the record. On Wednesday, testimony from a Philadelphia homicide detective, now deceased, was read to the jury. He interviewed Dougherty hours after the fire. Dougherty denied setting the blaze. He thought the likely cause was a faulty electrical outlet into which the fan and a stereo were plugged.
Dougherty, then 25, wasn't charged until 14 years later, in 1999. His estranged second wife, Adrienne Sussman, then battling him for custody of their son, Stephen, called police and told them he had confessed to her. She didn't testify at his original trial, and has since died."
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20160324_Ex-girlfriend_still_says_man_didn_t_set_fire_that_killed_his_sons.html