"THE 2004 EXECUTION, HOWEVER, DIDN'T END QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CASE. FIRE INVESTIGATOR EXPERTS HIRED FIRST BY THE INNOCENCE PROJECT AND LATER BY THE TEXAS FORENSIC SCIENCE COMMISSION CONCLUDED THE ORIGINAL FINDING OF ARSON WAS SERIOUSLY FLAWED.
"WITHOUT THAT FINDING, PROSECUTORS HAVE ADMITTED IT WOULD HAVE BEEN HARD TO WIN A DEATH SENTENCE AGAINST WILLINGHAM.
BUT THE REPORTS HAVE DONE NOTHING TO CHANGE THE MINDS OF MARTIN AND FOUR JURORS REACHED BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IN RECENT WEEKS, WHO ALL REMAIN CONVINCED WILLINGHAM SET THE BLAZE 18 YEARS AGO THAT KILLED 2-YEAR-OLD AMBER AND 1-YEAR-OLD TWINS KARMON AND KAMERON. THEY NEVER HEARD FROM WILLINGHAM, WHO DECLINED TO TAKE THE STAND IN HIS OWN DEFENSE."
JEFF CARLTON: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"CORSICANA, Texas—David Martin is sickened by the suggestion that Texas executed an innocent man when Cameron Todd Willingham was put to death for setting a fire that killed his three children," the Associated Press story out of Corsicana, Texas begins, under the heading "Jurors defend verdict that led to Texas execution."
"The veteran defense attorney represented Willingham at trial," the story, published earlier today (December 2, 2009), continues.
"He looked at all the evidence. And he has no doubt that his client deserved to die.
"I never think about him, but I do think about those year-old babies crawling around in an inferno with their flesh melting off their bodies," Martin said. "I think that he was guilty, that he deserved death and that he got death."
The 2004 execution, however, didn't end questions about the case. Fire investigator experts hired first by The Innocence Project and later by the Texas Forensic Science Commission concluded the original finding of arson was seriously flawed.
(CLARIFICATION: CORSICANA, Texas (AP) — In a Dec. 2 story about executed murderer Cameron Todd Willingham, The Associated Press reported that The Innocence Project hired fire experts to investigate the arson finding in the case. The story should have specified that the experts were commissioned and performed the work for free.)
Without that finding, prosecutors have admitted it would have been hard to win a death sentence against Willingham.
But the reports have done nothing to change the minds of Martin and four jurors reached by The Associated Press in recent weeks, who all remain convinced Willingham set the blaze 18 years ago that killed 2-year-old Amber and 1-year-old twins Karmon and Kameron. They never heard from Willingham, who declined to take the stand in his own defense.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, called 17 witnesses, including the only experts to testify—both fire investigators who told jurors arson was to blame.
"All you can go on when you are on a jury is what is put before you," said one juror, Dorenda Dechaume, 39. "I stand by my vote—guilty."
At trial, the expert testimony was definitive. The county's assistant fire chief, Doug Fogg, testified that he found pour patterns and puddling on the floor, signs that someone had poured a liquid accelerant throughout the Willingham's home. Manuel Vasquez, the state fire marshal whose credentials as a 30-year veteran firefighter and investigator were established on the stand, was unequivocal in his condemnation of Willingham, saying the defendant "told me a story of pure fabrication."
"He just talked and he talked, and all he did was lie," Vasquez said.
The defense didn't present a fire expert of its own—for good reason, Martin said.
"We hired one ... and he said: 'Yep. It's arson,'" Martin said. "It was really very, very clear what happened in the house. Everybody who saw it, of course, reached the same conclusion."
Yet in a report released in August, fire expert Craig Beyler, chairman of the London-based International Association for Fire Safety Science, wrote the analysis conducted by Vasquez was "nothing more than a collection of personal beliefs that have nothing to do with science-based fire investigation."
Two days before the forensic science commission was to consider the report, Gov. Rick Perry fired three members. The move has delayed the commission's investigation indefinitely and drawn accusations that Perry is trying to cover up a mistaken execution on his watch.
Jurors said there were other odd details that sealed Willingham's fate. Ronald Franks, a Corsicana Fire Department paramedic, testified he returned to the home a few days after the fire. He found Willingham, who complained that his dart set was either burned or stolen from the wreckage.
Then, Franks testified, Willingham told him investigators would likely find cologne in the floor samples they were testing. He told Franks "he had poured cologne on the floor because the children had liked the smell of that cologne." He said he had poured it from the bathroom through the hallway to where the children were found, Franks said.
Jurors also heard from Willingham's neighbors. They testified that as the house south of Dallas burned to the ground, he was crouched down outside, screaming. But they also said he moved his car away from the house while his children were trapped inside.
That detail chilled jurors, who inferred Willingham showed more concern for his car than his kids.
"There was evidence of a fire that was deliberate," said juror Henry Ponder, now 81. "Not getting the children out of the house. Getting the car out of the way. It was all there."
Martin's case was brief, with just two witnesses. The first was the family baby sitter, who testified there was an oil lamp in the hallway, suggesting it might have spilled and spread flammable liquid. The second was a jail inmate, who was going to dispute the testimony of a jailhouse snitch who claimed Willingham had confessed. But the judge forbid most of his testimony as hearsay.
Willingham wasn't interested in explaining his behavior at trial. Outside the jury's presence, he took the stand to show for the record he had been advised of his right to testify.
"It's not that I don't wish to (testify), but I don't feel the need to," he said.
The jury returned its guilty verdict in 77 minutes.
"A lot of them wanted to vote right away," Dechaume said. "Me and two other people wanted to go over the facts of the case. It was unfair to go straight in there and decide. We went through everything we could have. All I can go by is what I had seen then."
Both Martin and co-counsel Robert Dunn, who did not return a message from the AP, are experienced attorneys who have represented clients in several capital murder cases. One of Willingham's five appeals claimed he didn't receive adequate legal representation, an argument repeatedly rejected by several appeals courts.
"God forbid that somebody was executed who was innocent. Nobody wants that to happen," Martin said. "But for somebody so obviously guilty like Willingham—it's a travesty to make it seem like it was something other than what it was.""
The story can be found at:
http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_13907076?nclick_check=1
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
