"In an editorial I’ve brought up before, Duke law professor Jim Coleman suggests that there are effectively two justice systems in the US. If so, I think the high-functioning, principled one is epitomized by the arson case against Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife, just like the Willingham case epitomizes the low-functioning, hypocritical one. Needless to say, Medina didn’t settle for a defense that was merely adequate. His is to Willingham’s as a tank is to a BB gun......"
DEFENCE LAWYER CHARLES KUFFNER: "OFF THE KUFF." (Charles Kuffner describes "Off the Kuff" as "Texas’ longest running progressive political blog." The Blog's motto is "knowledge is good.")
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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. 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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"Via a comment on an older post, I came across this withering critique of Todd Willingham’s defense team," Charles Kuffner's post published earlier today on his Blog "Off the Kuff" begins, under hte heading, "In defense of Todd Willingham."
"There’s an interesting comparison in there that I don’t believe I’d considered before," the post continues.
"Apparently Willingham’s defense was judged to be technically adequate during the appeals process. As I understand it, all that means is that no egregious errors were made. Willingham’s defense may have been error-free but it was still worthless — I’ll do my best to explain why in a bit. First, I want to take a quick look at another case. In an editorial I’ve brought up before, Duke law professor Jim Coleman suggests that there are effectively two justice systems in the US. If so, I think the high-functioning, principled one is epitomized by the arson case against Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina and his wife, just like the Willingham case epitomizes the low-functioning, hypocritical one. Needless to say, Medina didn’t settle for a defense that was merely adequate. His is to Willingham’s as a tank is to a BB gun. The charges against Medina were a bit of an ironic reversal — as Gov. Rick Perry’s general counsel he had a role in denying Willingham a last-minute stay of execution. Did he give a minute’s thought to the enormous difference between the defense the soon-to-be dead man got and the one he’d insist on for himself? I doubt it.
In June 2007, a fire that started in Medina’s detached garage destroyed his house and caused significant damage to neighboring houses as well (my main source an article the Houston Chronicle ran on Jan. 18, 2008). Inspectors claimed that accelerants were used. I can’t tell how their evidence compares to the evidence against Willingham, but at least there was a plausible motive. Medina seemed to be having financial trouble and foreclosure proceedings had been initiated — a “red flag,” according to investigators. Medina’s wife Francisca was charged with arson and he was charged with fabricating evidence.
The theatrical high point of the Medinas’ little flirtation with the wrong side of the bar was in January 2008, when a grand jury handed down indictments against the couple and the DA’s office dropped them like a hot potato. The foreman and assistant foreman of the grand jury were so mad they went to the press. The assistant’s acid comment was that “I’ve just never seen anything like the vigor with which these two defendants were defended by the Harris County District Attorney’s Office….” The foreman said, “If this was David Medina, comma, truck driver, comma, Baytown, Texas, he would have been indicted three months ago.” I think that’s a safe bet, and it’s hard to believe that the Medinas were really treated just like you and me would be.
On the other hand, connections aren’t the only thing that David Medina, Texas Supreme Court Justice, had that David Medina, truck driver, probably wouldn’t have. The real Medina also had the wherewithal to hire top-notch attorneys who in turn hired their own investigators. When Francisca Medina was re-indicted, the defense experts did their thing and the charges were dismissed.
Steve Baldassano, the assistant DA handling the case since January, says his office didn’t have sufficient evidence to prove arson. “We couldn’t eliminate an electrical malfunction,” says Baldassano. Francisca Medina’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin, says that last week he provided the DA’s office with a report prepared by independent fire experts who found that the evidence did not prove arson. “Our experts believe that it could not be called an arson fire,” DeGuerin says. Baldassano says the fire investigators DeGuerin hired are often used by the DA’s office, and “you have to keep an open mind to see if new evidence comes up.”
You have to keep an open mind to see if new evidence comes up. Of course. Who could argue with that, or with what the prosecutor, Vic Wisner, told the New York Times? “We have an ethical duty to seek justice.” And not only that, “it would be unlawful, unethical and irresponsible for me to proceed with a case that I do not think has the ability to get beyond a directed verdict of acquittal, let alone beyond a reasonable doubt.” Amazing how the principles kick in when a state supreme court justice and his high-powered attorneys come knocking at the door. It’s certainly possible that the Medinas burned down their house and their crimes were whitewashed. But as far as I can tell it’s at least as likely that it was another case of overzealous and under-informed fire inspectors. So maybe the special treatment was just that the system worked the way it’s supposed to. Or pretty much that way, except maybe just a little bit more, ummmm… efficiently.
As general counsel to Rick Perry, Medina was involved in the decision to shrug off the last-minute report from Gerald Hurst debunking the forensic evidence against Willingham. Needless to say, it’s deeply ironic that Medina’s wife was cleared of arson charges because the evidence was challenged by an independent expert hired by the defense, or as Perry would say, one of those “latter-day supposed experts.”
We worry a lot about the differential outcomes caused by inequities in the quality of schools or health care (and we should!), but does anything produce starkly differential outcomes like inequities in legal representation?
Good question. Check it out."
The post can be found at:
http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=30639
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;