"NINETY MINUTES OF BACK-AND-FORTH COVERED THE BESIEGED AGENCY’S NON-EXISTENT ENFORCEMENT POWER, LACK OF WRITTEN PROCEDURAL GUIDELINES AND PUBLIC RECORDS POLICY. ON HAND TO RECEIVE THE GRILLING WERE TWO CURRENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION, GARRY ADAMS AND SARAH KERRIGAN, AND ONE FORMER MEMBER, ALIECE WATTS — ALL OF WHOM STOPPED SHORT OF DEFENDING BRADLEY UNDER POINTED QUESTIONING FROM COMMITTEE CHAIR TOMMY MERRITT, R-LONGVIEW AND OTHERS. IT’S ONLY THE LATEST SET-TO BETWEEN THE FORMERLY OBSCURE BOARD AND LAWMAKERS, WHO HAVE FOR MONTHS BEEN PUSHING THE COMMISSION, WHICH INVESTIGATES COMPLAINTS OF FORENSIC MISCONDUCT, TO REFORM ITS OPERATIONS AND TO REVIEW WHETHER FAULTY SCIENCE LED TO A DEATH SENTENCE FOR CAMERON TODD WILLINGHAM IN 1992. BRADLEY HAS TAKEN HEAT FOR STALLING THAT INVESTIGATION SINCE HE WAS APPOINTED IN OCTOBER BY GOV. RICK PERRY — WHO DISPLACED BRADLEY’S PREDECESSOR AND TWO OTHER MEMBERS ON THE EVE OF THE MEETING AT WHICH THE BOARD WAS SET TO TAKE UP THAT CASE."
REPORTER MORGAN SMITH: THE TEXAS TRIBUNE;
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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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"Lawmakers on Wednesday issued a public rebuke to the Texas Forensic Science Commission, but the commission's embattled chair wasn’t around to hear it," the Texas Tribune story by reporter Morgan Smith published earlier today begins, under the heading "The Inquisition."
"The knuckle-rapping came at an interim hearing of the House Public Safety Committee, whose members were clearly piqued at the conspicuous absence of John Bradley, the commission's newly appointed head, and Leigh Tomlin, its administrative coordinator," the story continues.
"Ninety minutes of back-and-forth covered the besieged agency’s non-existent enforcement power, lack of written procedural guidelines and public records policy. On hand to receive the grilling were two current members of the commission, Garry Adams and Sarah Kerrigan, and one former member, Aliece Watts — all of whom stopped short of defending Bradley under pointed questioning from committee chair Tommy Merritt, R-Longview and others.
It’s only the latest set-to between the formerly obscure board and lawmakers, who have for months been pushing the commission, which investigates complaints of forensic misconduct, to reform its operations and to review whether faulty science led to a death sentence for Cameron Todd Willingham in 1992. Bradley has taken heat for stalling that investigation since he was appointed in October by Gov. Rick Perry — who displaced Bradley’s predecessor and two other members on the eve of the meeting at which the board was set to take up that case.
In a brief phone interview after the meeting, Bradley brushed off Merritt’s ire at his absence, saying the lawmaker was "being misleading.”
“It was some surprise to me that Rep. Merritt thought that less than a week’s notice was sufficient to take an elected official who has a busy schedule to suddenly drop everything and come to this hearing.” He also questioned Merritt's motives, saying he was "trying to create a controversy here, when the real issue is, why did his staff fail to properly plan for a meeting?"
Bradley — who is appointed to the commission, but elected to his position as Williamson County District Attorney — then said he was leaving the office and declined to provide a contact number to be reached for additional questions.
Earlier, at the meeting, the fellow forensic board members who did appear distanced themselves from Bradley under questioning by the committee. The sharpest queries came from the visibly peeved Merritt and state Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth, who made clear his displeasure with the agency’s lack of transparency.
Merritt heatedly described the apparent conflict between the current panel’s testimony and Bradley’s November statements before the Senate’s Criminal Justice Committee. Back then, Bradley insisted under questioning that the board could not move forward in probing the Willingham case until it crafted uniform rules.
On Wednesday, Merritt scolded Bradley in absentia. “What John Bradley testified in front of the Senate committee was that he could not do anything (on the Willingham case) because the commission needed to be organized. ... And what I’m hearing the commission say now, from two commissioners and one former commissioner, that in your opinion, you were organized at the time,” Merritt said. “You were doing your duty, and then all of a sudden John Bradley says, ‘I can’t answer any questions and we can’t move forward for almost a whole year because we didn’t have our ducks in a row.’”
Watts, the former member, concurred. She responded that she had been “dumbfounded” when Bradley said the commission wasn’t ready to hear complaints.
Merritt also asked about a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article that reported commission members were asked to destroy all emails relating to their work.
“I don’t read the newspapers, so I’m not familiar with the story,” Kerrigan said, but added she did remember that instruction from Bradley. She said she “absolutely” did not think he had the authority to make such an order and that she refused to delete her emails.
When Kerrigan later deferred to Bradley as to whether the agency had a records retention policy with the state archive, Burnam broke in to say: “Very simply, it’s state law. You are supposed to have a records retention policy. … I’ve sued the DPS over a violation of state law on records retention policy. So we have every reason to be concerned.”
It took nearly an hour into the hearing before anyone mentioned the case that drew national scrutiny to the state agency. That came from another committee member, state Rep. Barbara Mallory Caraway, D-Dallas, who, referring to the carefully chosen wording of the discussion, asked: “Is this all about that case, the burning case? Of the man who was convicted of burning his kids? For the public listening, there’s just a gap in between somewhere — like we’re talking in space about some particular issue and kind of throwing darts somewhere but missing the middle.”
The burning case would be that of Willingham, the man executed for the arson deaths of his three daughters. Methods the state used to prove he committed arson were called into question in a 16,000-word September 2009 New Yorker story that presented persuasive evidence of Willingham’s innocence.
Just before the October meeting at which the agency was set to investigate the Willingham case, Perry replaced then-chairman Sam Bassett with Bradley, the Williamson County District Attorney. Two other commissioners, including Watts, also got the boot. When Bradley took over, he immediately delayed consideration of the Willingham case, saying he needed more time to study the board’s procedures.
Willingham finally came up by name near the end of Wednesday's hearing, when Burnam asked the panel what the agency planned to consider during its next meeting on April 23. One item on the agenda that day will be the case of the Corsicana man the state executed in 2004."
The story can be found at:
http://www.texastribune.org/stories/2010/apr/08/crime-scene-inquisition/
Harold Levy...hlevy15@gmail.com;
