"Texas Forensic Science Commission faces scrutiny today in arson case with questionable science," is the title of Christy Hoppe in today's Dallas Morning News.
The Texas Forensic Science Commission goes under the microscope today when it takes up how to proceed with a case of questionable arson that contributed to the conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham.
The meeting in Irving will be the first since last year to discuss actual cases in which discredited science might have crept into trials. The Willingham case was dismantled two days before a critical meeting in October, when Gov. Rick Perry upended the commission by replacing key members, including the chairman.
His new chairman, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, has been resolute about creating policies and procedures before tackling cases. Under his guidance, the nine-member commission that used to consider all cases as a whole now is split into three-member subcommittees.
The investigative subcommittees can now meet in private because they do not constitute a quorum. The Willingham investigative committee met last week and is poised to discuss with the full commission how it might recommend proceeding.
Also on the agenda is the case of Brandon Moon, who was sentenced to 75 years in prison for rape in El Paso. He served 17 years before the forensic samples used as evidence were retested, showing they came from the victim's husband. Moon was exonerated in 2004.
Seven fire scientists have looked at arson evidence used against Willingham, the Corsicana man who was convicted of killing his two children in a 1991 house fire. All seven concluded that the evidence of an intentionally set fire was largely based on faulty and discredited indicators.
And:
The disruption of the once-obscure forensic science commission has prompted two state legislative hearings and national attention. Many have been critical of Bradley, who has said he consulted lawyers and other state board members before pushing through his recommendations on order and procedures. He said he has discussed the changes with his colleagues and has been open to their ideas.
For instance, at the urging of other commission members, Bradley has reinstituted the public comments portion of the meetings, which will provide for a forum for others to address the commission today.
Today's Texas Tribune Daily Brief features, "The Big Conversation."
If good things come to those who wait, the Texas Forensic Science Commission must be expecting a spectacular meeting today.
They are finally expected to finally take up the matter of the Cameron Todd Willingham case at their hearing in Irving.
Willingham, a Corsicana man who was executed for the arson deaths of his three daughters, has drawn national attention ever since his case was profiled in the New Yorker in September 2009 in an article casting doubt on the science used to convict him.
The matter was expected to be heard by the commission in October, but, just days before the hearing, Gov. Rick Perry replaced then-chairman Sam Bassett with now-chairman John Bradley, the Williamson County district attorney. When Bradley took over, he immediately delayed consideration of the case, saying he needed more time to study the board’s procedures.
Bradley has been repeatedly accused of delaying talk of Willingham. The Forensic Science Commission leadership recently took a bit of a knuckle-wrapping from lawmakers in the House Public Safety Committee, especially when Bradley failed to show up for the hearing to discuss his own commission.
With Bradley missing, chairman Tommy Merritt, R-Longview, said, “What John Bradley testified in front of the Senate committee was that he could not do anything [on the Willingham case] because the commission needed to be organized. ... And what I’m hearing the commission say now, from two commissioners and one former commissioner, that in your opinion, you were organized at the time,” Merritt said. “You were doing your duty, and then all of a sudden John Bradley says, ‘I can’t answer any questions and we can’t move forward for almost a whole year because we didn’t have our ducks in a row.’”
But, today, Bradley is fully expected to be there, in the chairman’s seat, with the Willingham case on the docket.
Earlier coverage begins with the preceding post; all coverage is available through the Todd
Willingham category index.
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