COMMENTARY: "Casey: Ghost of Willingham may spell trouble for Perry," by columnist Rick Casey, published by the Chronicle on March 20, 2015.
SUB-HEADING: Rick Casey says the former governor's inaction in murder case coud be another 'oops moment."
PHOTO CAPTION: "John Jackson, the prosecutor in the trial of Cameron Todd Willingham, has been formally accused of misconduct over allegations that he concealed evidence during the murder trial."
GIST: "In his quest to become president, former Gov. Rick Perry must vanquish the phantom of the Cabinet department he wanted to kill - but couldn't remember. That was his legendary "oops!" moment. A story on page A1 of Thursday's Houston Chronicle raises the very real possibility he may have to deal with another ghost - the ghost of Cameron Todd Willingham.........Perry responded to criticism of his appointment of Bradley by calling Willingham a "monster" and accusing reporters of ignoring the testimony of other witnesses who testified.
But the only other witness of substance was a jailhouse snitch who testified that Willingham had confessed to him that he had set the fire to kill his children. Johnny Webb also testified that he had not been promised anything in exchange for that testimony. Webb later recanted his testimony, saying Willingham was innocent, then went back and forth on it. But subsequent investigations have shown that the prosecutor, John H. Jackson, later persuaded a judge to alter Webb's burglary conviction so that he could be immediately paroled. Jackson claims that he took that action not in exchange for Webb's testimony but because Webb was in danger for having testified. The Chronicle story by Allan Turner ("State Bar acts on '95 death case," Page A1, Thursday) reported that the State Bar of Texas, which has been investigating the matter, has filed a formal complaint, accusing Jackson of improperly withholding evidence that could have helped the defense. The lawyer said Jackson will demand a trial on the matter. That trial could, in the middle of the presidential campaign, bring national attention to powerful evidence that Rick Perry allowed the execution of an innocent man. Despite being warned of the bad science in the case."
http://www.chron.com/opinion/outlook/article/Casey-Ghost-of-Willingham-may-spell-trouble-for-6149284.php
PS: For latest coverage of the Mark Lundy retrial go to:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/mark-lundy-murder-retrial
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
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 found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
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Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;