"Cacy was convicted of murder in the 1991 death of her uncle, Bill Richardson, at their Fort Stockton home. The key evidence came from the Bexar County Medical Examiner's office, which determined there was gasoline on Richardson's clothes.
That evidence was later debunked by nearly a dozen fire experts and numerous attorneys who worked on her case for free. As a result, the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole released Cacy after she had served six years of a 99-year prison sentence.
Her attorneys and many forensic experts say Richardson, a heavy smoker, likely died of a heart attack. They believe he dropped a cigarette that started a fire.
Cacy, however, is still legally considered a convicted murderer and must meet with a parole officer three times a month. She said she is afraid of getting a traffic ticket, because police will run her license and learn that she remains, in the eyes of the law, a paroled murderer......
"The science commission is the same group looking into whether fire investigators were negligent in determining that arson was the cause of a 1991 fire that killed three young sisters in Corsicana. That arson finding helped convict the girls' father, Cameron Todd Willingham, of murder. He was executed in 2004."
REPORTER JEFF CARLTON: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS;
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"DALLAS — A woman convicted of killing her uncle by dousing him with gasoline and setting him on fire asked the Texas Forensic Science Commission on Wednesday to determine whether a crime lab committed professional misconduct when it claimed to have found traces of gasoline on his clothes," the Associated Press story by reporter Jeff Carlton published on September 29, 2010 under the heading, "Texas innocence group fights use of `junk science', begins.
"The Innocence Project of Texas, as part of its campaign against what it calls "junk science," filed the complaint on behalf of Sonia Cacy, 63. She has been free on parole since 1998 after the forensic evidence used to convict her was widely discredited," the story continues.
"John Bradley, the head of the science commission, said in an e-mail that "FSC policy is to avoid public discussion of pending complaints, especially those not yet reviewed or investigated." The medical examiner's office, which is in San Antonio, did not immediately respond to a message from The Associated Press.
The science commission is the same group looking into whether fire investigators were negligent in determining that arson was the cause of a 1991 fire that killed three young sisters in Corsicana. That arson finding helped convict the girls' father, Cameron Todd Willingham, of murder. He was executed in 2004.
Cacy was convicted of murder in the 1991 death of her uncle, Bill Richardson, at their Fort Stockton home. The key evidence came from the Bexar County Medical Examiner's office, which determined there was gasoline on Richardson's clothes.
That evidence was later debunked by nearly a dozen fire experts and numerous attorneys who worked on her case for free. As a result, the Texas Board of Pardons and Parole released Cacy after she had served six years of a 99-year prison sentence.
Her attorneys and many forensic experts say Richardson, a heavy smoker, likely died of a heart attack. They believe he dropped a cigarette that started a fire.
Cacy, however, is still legally considered a convicted murderer and must meet with a parole officer three times a month. She said she is afraid of getting a traffic ticket, because police will run her license and learn that she remains, in the eyes of the law, a paroled murderer.
"I have to be perfect," said Cacy, who now lives in Fort Worth. "I guess everybody important knows I am innocent except for the state of Texas."
Attorneys Jeff Blackburn and Gary Udashen, who are Innocence Project of Texas board members, said filing the complaint with the forensic science commission is the first step toward clearing Cacy's name.
"This is the most stark example of what junk science can do to someone," Blackburn said.
Blackburn and Udashen said junk science is most common in Texas in cases involving blood spatter patterns, arson investigations and dog scent identifications.
They unveiled a four-point plan designed to ferret out possible wrongful convictions caused by the use of such science: They are offering to assist law enforcement agencies in reviewing cases, file litigation involving such cases, bring appropriate cases to the science commission and offer a reform plan to the Texas Legislature.
"This junk science problem is real and it's big," Blackburn said.
The innocence group's news conference Wednesday came a week after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals acquitted a Coldspring man convicted in 2007 of killing a high school janitor. The chief evidence in that case came from a trio of dogs who linked the scent found on the victim's clothing when he was killed to the scent of the man eventually convicted.
The dog handler, a former sheriff's deputy, was targeted last year by the Innocence Project of Texas for allegedly passing off junk science as a legitimate investigative technique."
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The story can be found at:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7224253.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;
Is The Age of Progressive Prosecutors Over?
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