That's the title of an editorial in today's Fort Worth Star-Telegram. LINK
The interest of good science prevailed at the Texas Forensic Science Commission on Friday. That's good for the credibility of the state's criminal justice system.
A majority of the commission's members said they want more information before drawing conclusions about the professional competence of fire investigators whose work led to the capital murder conviction and 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham of Corsicana.
Now, commissioners plan to listen to live testimony in November from Texas Fire Marshal officials and specialists in arson investigation.
And:
One witness expected at the November meeting is Baltimore fire specialist Craig Beyler, whom the commission had hired to review investigation methods used to build criminal arson cases against Willingham and Ernest Ray Willis, the defendant in an earlier unrelated case that ultimately resulted in an exoneration.
Last fall, after Beyler's report called into question the procedures and conclusions in Willingham's case, Gov. Rick Perry shook up the commission, replacing its chairman and several members whose terms had expired.
But the governor's action, which threw a political taint over the nine-member panel and delayed its work on the Willingham review, hasn't prevented the thorough examination that's needed.
Texans are entitled to know whether inadequate methods undermined the accuracy of this conviction, as well as others, and whether anyone should be answerable. Justice isn't done merely by getting criminal cases tried and punishment meted out. It's done by holding the right perpetrators accountable, through credible evidence and reliable procedures.
Earlier coverage begins with this post.
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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