"Last fall, after Beyler's report called into question the procedures and conclusions in Willingham's case, Gov. Rick Perry shook up the commission, replacing its chairman and several members whose terms had expired.
But the governor's action, which threw a political taint over the nine-member panel and delayed its work on the Willingham review, hasn't prevented the thorough examination that's needed.
Texans are entitled to know whether inadequate methods undermined the accuracy of this conviction, as well as others, and whether anyone should be answerable. Justice isn't done merely by getting criminal cases tried and punishment meted out. It's done by holding the right perpetrators accountable, through credible evidence and reliable procedures."
EDITORIAL: THE STAR-TELEGRAM; "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. ..."
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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 were 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. Legendary "Innocence" lawyer Barry Scheck asked participants at a conference of the National Association of Criminal Defence Lawyers held in Toronto in August, 2010, how Willingham, who had lost his family to the fire, must have felt to hear the horrific allegations made against him on the basis of the bogus evidence, "and nobody pays any attention to it as he gets executed." "It's the Dreyfus Affair, and you all know what that is," Scheck continued. "It's the Dreyfus AffaIr of the United States. Luke Power's music video "Texas Death Row Blues," can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2010/09/cameron-todd-willingham-texas-death-row_02.html
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"The interest of good science prevailed at the Texas Forensic Science Commission on Friday. That's good for the credibility of the state's criminal justice system," the Star-Telegram editorial "Forensic panel can shed more light in WSillingham case," published on September 20, 2010, begins.
"A majority of the commission's members said they want more information before drawing conclusions about the professional competence of fire investigators whose work led to the capital murder conviction and 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham of Corsicana," the editorial continues.
"Now, commissioners plan to listen to live testimony in November from Texas Fire Marshal officials and specialists in arson investigation.
The goal is to answer with certainty one of the most troubling questions raised by Willingham's case: Did investigators engage in negligence or misconduct in ruling that he deliberately set the fire that killed his three young daughters shortly before Christmas 1991?
The ultimate questions -- whether Willingham was erroneously convicted and, thus, wrongly executed -- the commission can't directly answer. It has neither the legal authority nor all the evidence to do so.
But commissioners do have the ability to shine more light on the processes that led to Willingham's indictment and conviction. And doing so can help improve the justice system and increase the care with which arson investigations are undertaken.
Commission Chairman John Bradley, a longtime prosecutor, has pushed for months for a formal finding that there wasn't enough evidence to call investigators negligent. But that wasn't good enough for the scientists on the commission. Several have continued to argue for more inquiry, including Sam Houston State University forensic science professor Sarah Kerrigan; Arthur Eisenberg, professor and chairman of the forensic and investigative genetics department at the University of North Texas Health Science Center; and Garry Adams, coordinator of the biodefense and emerging disease curriculum at Texas A&M University's College of Veterinary Medicine.
There seems to be agreement that the Corsicana Fire Department and Texas Fire Marshal's office relied on flawed scientific theories when they determined that the fire scene pointed to arson. Better science for evaluating fire scenes was available at the time and had been outlined in professional journals.
Panel members still are trying to determine what kind of training the investigators had then and whether they followed it.
One witness expected at the November meeting is Baltimore fire specialist Craig Beyler, whom the commission had hired to review investigation methods used to build criminal arson cases against Willingham and Ernest Ray Willis, the defendant in an earlier unrelated case that ultimately resulted in an exoneration.
Last fall, after Beyler's report called into question the procedures and conclusions in Willingham's case, Gov. Rick Perry shook up the commission, replacing its chairman and several members whose terms had expired.
But the governor's action, which threw a political taint over the nine-member panel and delayed its work on the Willingham review, hasn't prevented the thorough examination that's needed.
Texans are entitled to know whether inadequate methods undermined the accuracy of this conviction, as well as others, and whether anyone should be answerable. Justice isn't done merely by getting criminal cases tried and punishment meted out. It's done by holding the right perpetrators accountable, through credible evidence and reliable procedures."
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The editorial can be found at:
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/09/20/2482452/forensics-panel-can-shed-more.html
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be accessed at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith
For a breakdown of some of the cases, issues and controversies this Blog is currently following, please turn to:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=8369513443994476774
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog; hlevy15@gmail.com;
