There is extensive coverage of Friday's meeting of the Forensic Science Commission.
"The Big Stall," is Morgan Smith's follow-up post at the Texas Tribune, today.
Under a crystal chandelier, in a boardroom with all the gilded flourishes of the Irving Omni Mandalay Hotel’s faux-Mediterranean decor, Forensic Science Commission Chairman John Bradley presided over the state agency’s April quarterly meeting on Friday, which, as advertised, addressed the languishing investigation of Cameron Todd Willingham.
His case occupied less than fifteen minutes of the six-and-a-half hour session. That was enough time for Commissioner Sarah Kerrigan to emphasize the commission’s consideration of the long-delayed complaint was “still in its infancy.”
“Other than identifying that it was worthy of an investigation and hiring a consultant to help us, we haven’t made any other progress. We’ve only just begun to assemble the pieces we need,” said Kerrigan, a forensic scientist.
Friday, Smith posted, "More Time for Willingham," on the TribBlog.
Sarah Kerrigan, a member of a now four-person panel tasked with investigating the Willingham complaint said the case was "very much in its infancy." "Other than hiring someone to help we haven’t made any other progress, besides identifying that it was worthy of an investigation and hiring a consultant to help us. We’ve only just begun to assemble the pieces we need," Kerrigan said, adding, "The panel has a lot to do in the coming months."
Members of the commission said they needed time to read the whole transcript of Willingham's trial and consult with additional experts.
Kerrigan was referring to a report prepared last summer for the commission by Craig Beyler, a nationally recognized arson expert, which detailed "more than a dozen instances of improper analysis and mistaken conclusions" issued by the prosecutor's expert witnesses to make their case against Willingham.
Earlier today, in response to a concern that it should contain another member with a legal background, the commission voted to add Lance Evans, a Fort Worth criminal defense attorney, to the three-person subcommittee charged with considering the Willingham complaint. “Obviously everyone is aware of the public perception of what is going on regarding this investigation,” said Evans.
Kerrigan is the only panel member who was on the commission when it originally decided to investigate the Willingham complaint in 2007. Since the panel does not form a quorum, it is not subject to the Open Meetings Act — which means it can deliberate in secret.
Saturday's Austin American-Statesman carried, "Forensic panel 'just beginning' Willingham arson inquiry," by Corrie MacLaggan.
A 10-minute discussion about the investigation marked the first time that the entire commission had considered the case since last fall, when Gov. Rick Perry replaced three members whose terms had expired. When the shake up happened, the commission was about to hear a report from scientist Craig Beyler , who found that bad science was used to convict Willingham of burning down his house.
Beyler said the fire was erroneously ruled to be arson by fire investigators who relied on unproven theories and personal bias, and he raised the possibility that Willingham did not commit the crime for which he was executed.
Perry's foes accused him of intentionally dragging his feet to delay the investigation until after the GOP gubernatorial primary March 2, when he defeated U.S. Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison and Debra Medina.
Friday's progress was not enough for critics who say that the commission is working too slowly and that the subcommittee should meet in public.
Christy Hoppe wrote, "Forensic panel to investigate questionable science," for the Saturday Dallas Morning News.
Stephen Saloom, policy director at the Innocence Project, the advocacy group that filed a complaint in the Willingham case, said after the meeting he was pleased that there was some small movement.
But he raised concerns that the Willingham panel is likely to work in private. The forensic science commission's discussions had all been open before Bradley joined, and he accused the new chairman of trying to take the investigation behind closed doors and continuing to hit the brakes.
"They haven't done an iota of work since he's come on," Saloom said, noting it's been four years since the initial complaints were filed.
In the Willingham case, the commission could determine new acceptable standards for arson science that would be a tremendous advance, Saloom said.
Saturday's Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported, "Four-member panel to discuss Willingham case in private," by Yamil Berard. The public will not be privy to discussions by a four-member panel of
the Texas Forensic Science Commission responsible for scrutinizing the
reliability of the arson investigation used to convict Cameron Todd
Willingham.
Instead, the panel will report its conclusions to the nine-member commission, which will make the matter final, and will include a Fort Worth defense attorney to represent a broader perspective of opinions, commission Chairman John Bradley and the other members unanimously agreed at Friday's regular meeting.
"We're very far from making any conclusions today," said Tarrant County Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Nizam Peerwani, a commission member who is also on the four-member panel.
At the same time, more delays and the formal creation of such a panel sparked criticism by some state lawmakers and others who had expected the commission to dive into discussions about the Willingham case in public Friday.
"More than 800 people in Texas prisons today were convicted of arson. How many of them -- and the thousands of others since the 1990s -- were convicted on the same flawed arson science used in the Willingham" case? state Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston asked. "We may never know at the rate the investigation is going."
In a statement, he said: "Personally, I would prefer to see more commissioners involved in the actual investigations but I'll reserve judgment for now. Hopefully, the investigations will get moving again and we'll see if the new system fulfills the commission's truth-seeking mission."
Allan Turner wrote, "State panel revives review of arson inquiry," for the Houston Chronicle.
The state probe of claims that a North Texas man was executed based on botched arson sleuthing moved into motion Friday after an almost seven-month delay created when Gov. Rick Perry replaced key members of the investigative panel.
Meeting for the first time since January, the nine-member Texas Forensic Science Commission voted to obtain and review the complete transcript of the capital murder trial of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was sentenced to death for setting the December 1991 Corsicana house fire in which his three young children perished.
Commissioners also agreed to renew contact with Baltimore fire expert Craig Beyler, who, in a commission-sponsored review last fall, criticized the arson investigations of Texas Deputy Fire Marshal Manuel Vasquez and Corsicana Fire Chief Doug Fogg.
Perry replaced commission chairman Sam Bassett, an Austin defense lawyer, and two other panel members just days before the Harvard-trained Beyler was to have addressed the commission. Bassett was replaced by Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley.
The review of the Willingham fire investigations will be led by a four-member commission subcommittee made up of Bradley, Fort Worth defense lawyer Lance Evans, Tarrant County Medical Examiner Dr. Nizam Peerwani and Dr. Sarah Kerrigan of the Sam Houston State University forensic science program.
Earlier coverage begins with this post; all coverage is available through the Todd Willingham category index.
The Beyler report prepared for the Forensic Science Commission is here in Adobe .pdf format.
David Grann's September 2009 New Yorker article is noted here. Steve Mills and Maurice Possley first reported on the case in a 2004 Chicago Tribune series on junk science. The December 9, 2004 report was titled,"Man executed on disproved forensics."The Innocence Project, which webcast Friday's FSC meeting, has a Todd Willingham resource page which provides a concise overview of the Willingham case with links to all relevant documents.
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