"WHEN IT CONVENES JAN. 29 IN HARLINGEN, THE TEXAS FORENSIC SCIENCE COMMISSION WON'T RESUME ITS PROBE INTO THE ARSON FINDING THAT LED TO CAMERON TODD WILLINGHAM'S 2004 EXECUTION. INSTEAD, THE MEETING WILL FOCUS ON FORMALIZING PROCEDURES EXPLAINING HOW THE GROUP WILL CONDUCT BUSINESS, JOHN BRADLEY, THE COMMISSION'S NEWLY APPOINTED CHAIRMAN, SAID THURSDAY. THE MEETING IS THE FIRST SINCE JULY. IN SEPTEMBER, PERRY DISMISSED THREE MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION, TWO DAYS BEFORE IT WAS TO CONSIDER A REPORT CRITICAL OF THE ARSON FINDING THAT LED TO THE EXECUTION. BRADLEY CANCELED THE SUBSEQUENT MEETING. THE WILLINGHAM CASE IS NOT ON THE AGENDA FOR THE UPCOMING MEETING. NOR IS CRAIG BEYLER, THE RENOWNED FIRE EXPERT WHO AUTHORED THE REPORT IN QUESTION."
JEFF CARLTON: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS;
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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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"DALLAS -- A state science panel looking into a possible wrongful conviction in a Texas death penalty case is meeting for the first time since Gov. Rick Perry removed several members, but the execution case is not on the agenda," Jeff Carlton's Associated Press story, which ran on January 21, 1010, under the heading "Texas panel to meet, but Willingham not on agenda," began.
"When it convenes Jan. 29 in Harlingen, the Texas Forensic Science Commission won't resume its probe into the arson finding that led to Cameron Todd Willingham's 2004 execution," the story continues.
"Instead, the meeting will focus on formalizing procedures explaining how the group will conduct business, John Bradley, the commission's newly appointed chairman, said Thursday.
The meeting is the first since July. In September, Perry dismissed three members of the commission, two days before it was to consider a report critical of the arson finding that led to the execution. Bradley canceled the subsequent meeting.
The Willingham case is not on the agenda for the upcoming meeting. Nor is Craig Beyler, the renowned fire expert who authored the report in question.
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Bradley said he isn't ignoring Willingham, and that the board's investigation of the case could conclude this summer. He said he will assign pending cases, including Willingham, to the nine-member body, which includes a defense attorney and several medical examiners.
He said his top priority is bringing structure to the commission, which he said doesn't have policies in place that answer "simple questions, like 'What is the standard for accepting or rejecting a complaint?'"
But the shift in emphasis from Willingham to procedural matters confirms the fears of those supporting the Willingham inquiry. Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, a New York group that focuses on overturning wrongful convictions, called it "an agenda that deflects attention from what everybody wants answered."
And Sam Bassett, the panel's deposed chairman, said it appears the group's new direction "is in my view unnecessarily delaying the investigations we had going."
Willingham was executed for the 1991 deaths of his three daughters in a house fire outside Corsicana.
Perry's appointment of Bradley, a suburban Austin district attorney and conservative ally of the governor, raised concerns that politics would trump science on the forensic panel. Perry is facing a stiff March 2 primary challenge from Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and GOP activist Debra Medina.
"From the agenda alone, Chairman Bradley has not done what he kept on telling people he would do, which is that he was going to proceed with the Willingham case," Scheck said.
Bassett had hoped to complete a final report on Willingham by this summer "and I think we have the potential for meeting the same deadline," Bradley said.
Also at issue is the location Bradley chose for the upcoming meeting - out-of-the-way Harlingen, a city of more than 60,000 on the Mexican border in the southern tip of Texas. The commission's previous dozen meetings were in Austin, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio - the state's four largest cities.
Bradley said he chose Harlingen because a new commissioner lives there, because of interest from state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa and to show diversity in the location of the meetings.
Scheck said the Innocence Project hopes to broadcast the meeting on the Internet.
"There is intense public interest," Scheck said. "We certainly are interested in seeing that the commission ... is not hijacked and its good work undone by a chairman trying to jettison and repudiate all their past work."
The story can be found at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/21/AR2010012103075.html
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
