Today's Dallas Morning News carries the editorial, "Forensic panel should push in defining 'duty',"
There appears to be little or no dissent among members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission that soon-to-be outdated science was used to build an arson-murder case that led to Cameron Todd Willingham's execution.
The key decision for the commission now is how to formalize that conclusion. It should send the strongest message possible to forensic investigators about their duty to justice.
The commission wisely decided last week to summon experts for face-to-face questioning on the state of arson science in 1992, when Willingham was convicted of setting the Corsicana fire that killed his three children.
Members are interested not only in the standards at the time but also whether emerging science had escaped the notice of Willingham investigators. It's an obvious question: Were they diligent in staying abreast of their craft?
To their credit, a majority of commissioners want to push further: They want to sort out a forensic investigator's responsibility when evolving science casts doubt on conclusions that had been reached under outmoded standards.
And:
The commission was created in 2005 to review charges of professional negligence, and, where appropriate, prescribe "corrective action" for the agency in question. Defining a forensic professional's "duty to correct" appears central to the spirit of the law.
The Willingham report will be the commission's first. The tone should reflect the high stakes involved in the nation's leading death penalty state.
Earlier coverage begins with this post from yesterday. All Willingham 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 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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