QUOTE OF THE DAY: “It’s the perfect storm of a case at this time when interest in exonerations is sweeping the country. It’s in the very top of these exoneration cases.”
Houston criminal-defense attorney John Floyd.
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GIST: "John Jackson helped send
Cameron Todd Willingham to death row, but on Monday, lawyers began
screening a jury to decide if he hid evidence that could have spared
Willingham. “It’s the perfect storm of a case at this time when
interest in exonerations is sweeping the country,” said Houston
criminal-defense attorney John Floyd. “It’s in the very top of these
exoneration cases.” The civil judicial-misconduct trial will take
place in the Navarro County Courthouse where Jackson, then an assistant
district attorney, in 1992 persuaded jurors to find Willingham guilty of
capital murder for torching the Corsicana home in which his three young
daughters died. The
adequacy of the arson evidence in Willingham’s high-profile trial was
the subject of several critical investigations after the conviction. But
it’s the circumstances surrounding a purported jailhouse confession
that prompted the New York-based Innocence Project to file a grievance
against Jackson with the state bar association’s Commission for Lawyer
Discipline. According to the grievance, “... Jackson illegally and
unethically made an undisclosed deal” with Willingham’s fellow inmate,
Johnny E. Webb, to grant Webb a series of favors in return for
testifying that Willingham confessed to the crime. Webb subsequently recanted the testimony of Willingham’s alleged confession to setting the blaze in which his daughters died. The
Innocence Project has submitted an interview with Webb, “recorded in
the presence of his current counsel, which supplements and corroborates
the documentary record showing Jackson’s misconduct,” according to its
grievance. According to the bar commission’s petition, Jackson
knew “before, during and after the 1992 trial ... of the existence of
evidence that tended to negate the guilt of Willingham and failed to
disclose that evidence to defense counsel.” Moreover, “(Jackson)
failed to make timely disclosure to the defense details of an agreement
for favorable treatment for Webb, an inmate, in exchange for Webb’s
testimony at trial for the state,” according to the petition. Before
the trial, Jackson also said he had no evidence favorable to
Willingham, who was executed in 2004, according to the petition. Jackson, who went on to become a district judge, also worked to have
Webb’s conviction changed from aggravated robbery to robbery, and
requested early parole for Webb with the Board of Pardons and Paroles,
the bar alleged. Jackson signed warrants for Webb so he would be transferred from prison to the Navarro County jail.".........As
for potential punishment, in the civil trial, “the finder of fact has
complete discretion and can choose from a public reprimand ... to a
suspension to disbarment, depending on the facts of the case and the
disciplinary background of the attorney,” Claire Mock, public affairs
counsel for the bar association’s Office of the Chief Disciplinary
Counsel, said in an email. Mock said a conviction in a civil trial does not automatically give rise to criminal charges. “It’s really the state bar right now that has the biggest stick,” Floyd said. Jackson could have opted to have a bar association evidentiary panel hear the case, but chose a district-court hearing instead. “Getting
in front of a panel is quicker, but if you feel like you’re not going
to do well there, you take it to trial court,” said Floyd, adding that
while proceedings before the bar are confidential, “this is going to air
things out.”"
The entire story can be found at:
The entire story can be found at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/