That's the title of Dahlia Lithwick's latest Newsweek column, and it tops today's coverage of Todd Willingham's tragic case. It's subtitled, " We have no right to exoneration.
For years, death-penalty opponents and supporters have been working their way toward a moment in which each side would rethink things. They were seeking a case in which a clearly innocent defendant was wrongly put to death. In a 2005 Supreme Court case that actually had nothing to do with the execution of innocents, Justices David Souter and Antonin Scalia tangled over the possibility that such a creature even existed. Souter fretted that "the period starting in 1989 has seen repeated exonerations of convicts under death sentences, in numbers never imagined before the development of DNA tests." To which Scalia retorted: "The dissent makes much of the newfound capacity of DNA testing to establish innocence. But in every case of an executed defendant of which I am aware, that technology has confirmed guilt." Scalia went on to blast "sanctimonious" death-penalty opponents and a 1987 study on innocent exonerations whose "obsolescence began at the moment of publication," then concluded that there was not "a single case—not one—in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit."
This suggested that if anyone found such a case, the Scalias of the world would rethink matters. As of today, the Innocence Project, a national organization dedicated to exonerating the wrongfully convicted through DNA testing, claims there have been 241 postconviction DNA exonerations, of which 17 were former death-row inmates spared execution. The gap between their facts and Scalia's widens every year.
And:
David Grann, who wrote a remarkable piece about the case in last week's New Yorker, sifted through the evidence against Willingham to reveal that the entire prosecution was a train wreck. And at every step in his appeal, Willingham's claims of innocence were met with the response that he'd already had more than enough due process for a baby killer.
But you needn't take Grann's word for it. In 2004 Gerald Hurst, an acclaimed scientist and fire investigator, conducted an independent investigation of the evidence in the Willingham case and came away with little doubt that it was an accidental fire—likely caused by a space heater or bad wiring. Hurst found no evidence of arson, and wrote a report to try to stay the execution. According to documents obtained by the Innocence Project, it appears nobody at the state Board of Pardons and Paroles or the Texas governor's office even took note of Hurst's conclusions. Just before Willingham was executed, he told the Associated Press, "[T]he most distressing thing is the state of Texas will kill an innocent man and doesn't care they're making a mistake."
"Arson Case May Be Catalyst for Forensic Reform," is posted at Forensic magazine's website.
Questions of investigators' competence in a tragic arson case were vaulted to center stage last week when nationally renowned fire expert Craig Beyler blasted the accuracy of the early probes in a study commissioned by the Texas Forensic Science Commission.
Beyler's review joins two earlier expert reports in faulting the work of Texas Deputy Fire Marshal Manuel Vasquez, whose testimony was key to Cameron Todd Willingham's conviction.
And
Learn more about this case in The New Yorker’s extensive article “Trial by Fire”, with details about acclaimed scientist and fire investigator, Dr. Gerald Hurst’s, examination into the Willingham case including his studies into the patterns of fires and many recently debunked theories about distinguishing arson from accidental fires.
Today's Corsicana Daily Sun carries the OpEd, "No arson means no crime occurred," by attorney Victor Steinbok.
I am very puzzled by Mr. Jackson’s column on the Cameron Todd Willingham’s case and by the Daily Sun’s willingness to print it. The column does not try to contradict the findings of the Texas Forensic Science Commission — it can’t. Mr. Jackson is presenting the impossible case that even if Mr. Willingham could not have been convicted of arson — as there was no evidence to support the theory that the fire was set — he still should have been convicted of murder and executed. This claim is like trying to convict someone of murder by firearm when there is absolutely no evidence that he has ever held a gun in his life or ever tried to procure one.
But Mr. Jackson does not stop with the claim alone. He cites seven “facts” in support of the conviction. Unsurprisingly, none of the “facts” have any bearing on the case, even if Mr. Jackson reports them accurately. Mr. Jackson is using his status in the community and in the legal profession to protect a conviction that should not stand.
The Jackson OpEd is noted here; a point-by-point response by Innocence Project staff attorney Nina Morrison, here.
Earlier coverage begins with this post. You can also reach all coverage through the Todd Willingham category index.
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