"According to Ed Salazar, an assistant fire marshal who spoke to the commission Friday afternoon (after sitting somewhat steely-faced through the morning portion of the meeting with Beyler and DeHaan), Vasquez did rule out other possible causes of the fire – it's just that he didn't record it in his reports. Salazar said that when he began as a lawyer with the office in 1994, he'd noticed the reports were often sparse. But, he suggested, that doesn't mean they're incomplete. There is "no way I can sit here and defend the lack of specificity in these reports," Salazar said. Nonetheless, the investigator in 1991 "followed ... protocol; they followed the practices that were being used at the time."
Indeed, the Fire Marshal's Office told the commission in August that it would stand by its initial determination in the Willingham case, a position that DeHaan said was "dismaying." DeHaan and Beyler are among nearly a dozen fire science experts who have reviewed the state's work in the Willingham case and concluded it relied too much on outdated science, even by 1991 standards."
JORDAN SMITH: THE AUSTIN CHRONICLE;
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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
An enlightening address by veteran arson investigator Daniel Churchward to a symposium held in 2010 paints a devastating picture of fire investigation in America with particular reference to the Cameron Todd Willingham and Ernest Willis cases. It can be found on this Blog at:
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=120008354894645705&postID=7867844197650230941
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cameron Todd Willingham
"Fire science expert Craig Beyler told the state's Forensic Science Commission on Jan. 7 that, at best, the cause of the fatal fire in Cameron Todd Willingham's home nearly two decades ago is "undetermined,"" Jordan Smith's Austin Chronicle column published earlier today begins, under the heading, "Long-Awaited Testimony Rejects Arson Conclusion."
"Furthermore, as time goes by and science improves, the case for the fire to be considered arson "gets less and less, not more and more," he said," the column continues.
"The testimony came some 14 months after Beyler was initially scheduled to discuss the 1991 fire that claimed the lives of Willingham's three young children – and resulted in his conviction and execution for arson.
Beyler's conclusions were echoed by John DeHaan, a 40-year fire scientist who has authored and co-authored several seminal fire science textbooks and who previously worked for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. DeHaan, one of four witnesses asked to present before the commissioners last week, said that although there was not a "uniform standard of practice" for conducting fire investigations back in 1991, there are still elements of investigation that are universal – such as ruling out other accidental or natural causes for a fire before concluding that arson was to blame. That was not done by the Texas State Fire Marshal's Office, which handled the Willingham investigation. In fact, Beyler told the commission, which is made up predominately of scientists, it appears Deputy Fire Marshal Manuel Vasquez (who has since died) never even looked through the charred debris in the bedroom where the Willingham children died. Instead, that debris was simply "shoveled" out the bedroom window. How could Vasquez determine that arson caused the fire if he never even sifted through all the evidence?
John Bradley
According to Ed Salazar, an assistant fire marshal who spoke to the commission Friday afternoon (after sitting somewhat steely-faced through the morning portion of the meeting with Beyler and DeHaan), Vasquez did rule out other possible causes of the fire – it's just that he didn't record it in his reports. Salazar said that when he began as a lawyer with the office in 1994, he'd noticed the reports were often sparse. But, he suggested, that doesn't mean they're incomplete. There is "no way I can sit here and defend the lack of specificity in these reports," Salazar said. Nonetheless, the investigator in 1991 "followed ... protocol; they followed the practices that were being used at the time."
Indeed, the Fire Marshal's Office told the commission in August that it would stand by its initial determination in the Willingham case, a position that DeHaan said was "dismaying." DeHaan and Beyler are among nearly a dozen fire science experts who have reviewed the state's work in the Willingham case and concluded it relied too much on outdated science, even by 1991 standards.
The Innocence Project asked the Forensic Science Commission to review not only Willingham's case but also that of Ernest Willis. Like Willingham, Willis was convicted of arson and sentenced to die. He was later exonerated, however, based on expert opinion that the investigation was flawed and the arson determination erroneous. Willis was released from prison just months after Willingham was executed. Beyler told commissioners that the state's work in both cases was faulty.
Beyler's meeting with the commission was initially scheduled for October 2009. Just days before the meeting, however, Gov. Rick Perry replaced several commission members – including Sam Bassett, an Austin defense attorney whom the panel had appointed as chair – and installed Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley as the new head of the group. Bradley indefinitely postponed the Beyler meeting and advocated scrapping it altogether, a move that was blocked by the members of the panel who are actually scientists.
That didn't stop Bradley last week from behaving combatively toward Beyler, DeHaan, and even a fellow commissioner, Tarrant County chief medical examiner Nizam Peerwani, as Bradley lobbed softballs at Salazar. In both the tone and the substance of his questions, Bradley seemed intent on agreeing with Salazar that the state's success or failure in investigating the Willingham fire is little more than a matter of personal judgment. Whether his fellow commissioners will agree – and what will happen next in the review of the Willingham case – remains to be seen."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The column can be found at:
http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid:1134887
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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;
