That's the title of an editorial in today's San Antonio Express-News. LINK
The Texas Forensic Science Commission agreed to take up the Willingham case in 2007. It is precisely the kind of case the commission was created to address — one in which professional negligence or misconduct may have led to forensic errors.
But the commission, with plenty of manipulation by Gov. Rick Perry, has gone to ridiculous lengths to prolong a finding in the Willingham case. At its September meeting, the commission once again pushed back a discussion of forensic standards applicable to the case until November — after the election.
Underlying the faulty forensics is this question: Did Texas put an innocent man to death in 2004?
Where the Forensic Science Commission has unconscionably dragged its feet in providing an answer, San Antonio attorney Gerald Goldstein has stepped in. Goldstein made a court-of-inquiry filing in an Austin district court last week on behalf of the Innocence Project seeking to clear Willingham's name.
Goldstein made the filing with State District Judge Charlie Baird, who last year cleared Timothy Cole of a sexual assault for which he received a 25-year sentence. Cole died in jail in 1999. In March, Perry issued the state's first posthumous pardon for innocence to Cole.
The difference between Cole and Willingham is that Perry was governor when Willingham was executed, he received Willingham's clemency report and he denied Willingham's request for a stay of execution that might have highlighted the dubious forensic science that put him on death row.
Those are inconvenient facts in an election year for members of the Forensic Science Commission handpicked by Perry. But justice — and the determination of whether Texas executed an innocent man — should not be held hostage to partisan politics.
This week's Austin Chronicle has, "Judge To Review Willingham Case," written by Jordan Smith.
District Judge Charlie Baird will hold a two-day hearing in October to consider evidence on whether Cameron Todd Willingham was actually innocent of and executed for a crime that never occurred. Willingham was executed in 2004 in connection with a fire in his home in Corsicana that claimed the lives of his three young children. State officials – including the State Fire Marshal's Office – concluded that the 1991 fire had been deliberately set by Willingham; Willingham maintained his innocence, including in his last words before death.
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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