"The committee met twice in secret, then at the commission's July meeting proposed tentative findings that the arson investigators should not be found to have violated scientific standards at the time, but that their science was erroneous by current national standards.
Some of the scientists indicated they wanted further investigation, and only then did the commission ask the Fire Marshal's Office and Corsicana officials for their views. Both filed responses very critical of Beyler's report.
I asked Commission Coordinator Leigh Tomlin whether Beyler or anyone else would be questioned at Friday's meeting. Under orders, I suspect, from Bradley, she refused to answer.
I reached Beyler, however, and he said the commission had neither sent him copies of the state's or Corsicana's critiques nor asked him to respond.
Meanwhile, Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project, which filed the original complaint, called the state Fire Marshal's response "a misleading document that raises more questions than it answers."
REPORTER RICK CASEY: THE HOUSTON CHRONICLE;
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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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"Friday the Texas Forensic Science Commission will, in a special meeting called just for the purpose, take up the question of whether faulty science was used to convict Cameron Todd Willingham of setting a fire in 1991 that killed his three young children," the Houston Chronicle commentary by reporter Rick Casey begins, under the heading, "Forensic revolt again is in order."
"Not much is at stake for Willingham. He was executed for the crime in 2004," the story, published on September 12. 2010, continues.
"But a lot is at stake for Texas.
Formed in the wake of the scandals at the Houston crime lab that broke in 2002, the Forensic Science Commission represents one of the most promising efforts by any state to deal with the crisis in forensic science.
Made up of seven scientists and forensic practitioners, one defense attorney and one prosecutor, the commission is charged with investigating complaints involving crime labs and forensic investigators. Its larger role is not to point fingers at labs and practitioners but to promote justice by enforcing scientific standards.
Friday's meeting will go a long way in determining whether the commission fulfills that role.
What is important is not what determination the commission makes, but how it makes it.
The commission was on track until nearly a year ago, when Gov. Rick Perry suddenly replaced the former chairman, Austin defense attorney Sam Bassett, with Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley.
The commission had dealt with the matter entirely in the open, going through a process to select one of the nation's most respected arson specialists, Craig Beyler of Baltimore, to assess the Willingham arson investigations and courtroom testimony by Corsicana police and the state's Fire Marshal. Beyler issued a very critical report that found that the investigations met neither the science standards at the time nor national standards put in place since.
A number of other respected arson experts have reached the same conclusion.
The commission was scheduled to question Beyler on his report at a meeting days after Bradley was appointed and then planned to hear from Corsicana officials and the state Fire Marshal's Office. But Bradley cancelled the meeting then persuaded the commission to assign the matter to a committee, which he chairs.
The committee met twice in secret, then at the commission's July meeting proposed tentative findings that the arson investigators should not be found to have violated scientific standards at the time, but that their science was erroneous by current national standards.
Some of the scientists indicated they wanted further investigation, and only then did the commission ask the Fire Marshal's Office and Corsicana officials for their views. Both filed responses very critical of Beyler's report.
I asked Commission Coordinator Leigh Tomlin whether Beyler or anyone else would be questioned at Friday's meeting. Under orders, I suspect, from Bradley, she refused to answer.
I reached Beyler, however, and he said the commission had neither sent him copies of the state's or Corsicana's critiques nor asked him to respond.
Meanwhile, Barry Scheck of the Innocence Project, which filed the original complaint, called the state Fire Marshal's response "a misleading document that raises more questions than it answers."
So the commission's committee reaches a tentative conclusion in secret, then asks the two major arson investigating agencies in the case to defend themselves against Beyler's report, then doesn't bother to get Beyler's response.
What's more, the committee did not take up, nor did it ask the Fire Marshal's Office to respond, to a very serious charge raised in the original complaint by the Innocence Commission: whether the Fire Marshal's Office was negligent in not alerting everyone in the state's justice system, from the governor to the courts to prosecutors and investigators, that new scientific standards were in place and that investigations of older cases may be in error.
This has the appearance of a process dominated by Bradley, not by the scientists on the commission. They have rebelled before, in calm but resolute terms. They need to do so again."
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The story can be found at:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/7197914.html
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;
