"PROVIDING CONSISTENT AND ACCURATE INFORMATION IS AN ADMIRABLE GOAL. BUT ALL NINE MEMBERS OF THE TEXAS FORENSIC SCIENCE COMMISSION ARE APPOINTED INDEPENDENTLY. THEY ARE NOT SUBORDINATE TO THE CHAIRMAN, WHO IS NOT GIVEN ANY SPECIFIC POWERS IN THE LAW CREATING THE COMMISSION.
AS PUBLIC OFFICIALS, PANEL MEMBERS SHOULD BE FREE TO TALK TO THE MEDIA OR PUBLIC AS THEY CHOOSE, AS LONG AS THEY DON’T UNDERCUT THE COMMISSION’S RESPONSIBILITIES."
EDITORIAL: STAR-TELEGRAM;
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Background: (Wikipedia); Cameron Todd Willingham (January 9, 1968 – February 17, 2004), born in Carter County, Oklahoma, was sentenced to death by the state of Texas for murdering his three daughters—two year old Amber Louise Kuykendall, and one year old twins Karmon Diane Willingham and Kameron Marie Willingham— by setting his house on fire. The fire occurred on December 23, 1991 in Corsicana, Texas. Lighter fluid was kept on the front porch of Willingham’s house as evidenced by a melted container found there. Some of this fluid may have entered the front doorway of the house carried along by fire hose water. It was alleged this fluid was deliberately poured to start the fire and that Willingham chose this entrance way so as to impede rescue attempts. The prosecution also used other arson theories that have since been brought into question. In addition to the arson evidence, a jailhouse informant claimed Willingham confessed that he set the fire to hide his wife's physical abuse of the girls, although the girls showed no other injuries besides those caused by the fire. Neighbors also testified that Willingham did not try hard enough to save his children. They allege he "crouched down" in his front yard and watched the house burn for a period of time without attempting to enter the home or go to neighbors for help or request they call firefighters. He claimed that he tried to go back into the house but it was "too hot". As firefighters arrived, however, he rushed towards the garage and pushed his car away from the burning building, requesting firefighters do the same rather than put out the fire. After the fire, Willingham showed no emotion at the death of his children and spent the next day sorting through the debris, laughing and playing music. He expressed anger after finding his dartboard burned in the fire. Firefighters and other witnesses found him suspicious of how he reacted during and after the fire. Willingham was charged with murder on January 8, 1992. During his trial in August 1992, he was offered a life term in exchange for a guilty plea, which he turned down insisting he was innocent. After his conviction, he and his wife divorced. She later stated that she believed that Willingham was guilty. Prosecutors alleged this was part of a pattern of behavior intended to rid himself of his children. Willingham had a history of committing crimes, including burglary, grand larceny and car theft. There was also an incident when he beat his pregnant wife over the stomach with a telephone to induce a miscarriage. When asked if he had a final statement, Willingham said: "Yeah. The only statement I want to make is that I am an innocent man - convicted of a crime I did not commit. I have been persecuted for 12 years for something I did not do. From God's dust I came and to dust I will return - so the earth shall become my throne. I gotta go, road dog. I love you Gabby." However, his final words were directed at his ex-wife, Stacy Willingham. He turned to her and said "I hope you rot in hell, bitch" several times while attempting to extend his middle finger in an obscene gesture. His ex-wife did not show any reaction to this. He was executed by lethal injection on February 17, 2004. Subsequent to that date, persistent questions have been raised as to the accuracy of the forensic evidence used in the conviction, specifically, whether it can be proven that an accelerant (such as the lighter fluid mentioned above) was used to start the fatal fire. Fire investigator Gerald L. Hurst reviewed the case documents including the trial transcriptions and an hour-long videotape of the aftermath of the fire scene. Hurst said, "There's nothing to suggest to any reasonable arson investigator that this was an arson fire. It was just a fire." Two days before the Forensic Science Commission was to question Beyler in a public forum, the governor replaced its chairman and two other members whose terms were up. That forced the commission to delay the hearing so new members could read up on the case, and no new date has been set. Perry has since replaced a third member of the commission.
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"What is it John Bradley doesn’t want the public to know about the work of the Texas Forensic Science Commission?," the Star-Telegram editorial begins, under the heading "Chairman of Texas forensic science panel oversteps his authority."
"Gov. Rick Perry appointed Bradley, the Williamson County district attorney, to head the commission in September in a hasty shake-up of the panel’s membership that left lingering suspicions about the governor’s motives," the editorial continues.
"Bradley then proceeded to suggest in a public hearing that the commission might need to operate in secret on occasion. This Editorial Board cautioned against that idea on Nov. 14.
Now it sounds as though Bradley could be subtly trying to muzzle other panel members.
What he — and the governor — should realize is that this agency isn’t going to revert to obscurity, and trying to exercise dictatorial control over information is only going to draw negative attention and undermine public confidence.
The Legislature created the commission in 2005 to investigate complaints that state agencies were negligent or committed misconduct in handling forensic evidence, such as DNA analysis or toxicology, in criminal cases.
The nine-member panel gained notice when it hired a Baltimore fire expert who wrote a report questioning the arson determination that led to the capital conviction and 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham.
Perry caused a stir by installing Bradley and two other new members shortly before a planned hearing on that report.
Star-Telegram reporter Dave Montgomery wrote Saturday that commission staff coordinator Leigh Tomlin had asked members for all correspondence about the Willingham case in order to comply with an open records request.
But her Oct. 30 message went further, instructing that commission policy is to "delete all commission correspondence" and saying "if you feel there is something that needs to be saved, forward it to my office."
Bradley told Montgomery that the idea was to centralize data to make it easier to comply with media inquiries.
But any direction to delete public records — which e-mails by members of a public board are — looks problematic, whatever the purpose.
It would be easier to take Bradley at his word if members hadn’t received other e-mails telling them Bradley would handle all media inquiries and statements about the commission.
Providing consistent and accurate information is an admirable goal. But all nine members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission are appointed independently. They are not subordinate to the chairman, who is not given any specific powers in the law creating the commission.
As public officials, panel members should be free to talk to the media or public as they choose, as long as they don’t undercut the commission’s responsibilities.
Each member should be focused on conducting credible, independent investigations with as much transparency as possible.
No one should use the agency as a tool for aggregating power, steering outcomes, stifling dissent or shielding from public scrutiny the work done on behalf of Texans."
Wikipedia tells us that: "The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned by The McClatchy Company."
The editorial can be found at:
http://www.star-telegram.com/242/story/1792469.html
Harold Levy///hlevy15@gmail.com;
