"Texas Senate approves bill that would change Forensic Science Commission," by Yamil Berard for the Saturday Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
A state panel tasked with weeding out junk science in the criminal justice system would get broader powers under a bill approved by the Texas Senate on Friday.
Senate Bill 1658 would let the Texas Forensic Science Commission launch an investigation without having to wait for a complaint to be filed.
"It is a positive improvement," said defense attorney Sam Bassett, the commission's former chairman.
But some call the bill an effort to keep information from the public and ensure that the commission is under the governor's control.
"This has the governor's fingerprints all over it," said Stephen Saloom, policy director for the Innocence Project.
Bassett and other critics said they worry about provisions that would allow Gov. Rick Perry to appoint all commission members. Currently, the commission's nine members are appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general. The bill would reduce the commission to seven members, all appointed by the governor.
Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said that though he supports what the bill is trying to accomplish, he has "major concerns." Allowing the governor to appoint all members is "a fatal flaw," he said.
"This bill is still a starting point, and if it is not cleaned up, Texas will be worse off with it."
Others are concerned about a provision that would close the public's access to the commission's investigations. The bill would exclude all the information from being subject to the Texas Public Information Act. It would also limit the public's access to cases in which criminal charges are no longer pending or an appeal is in process.
"A central purpose in creating the commission was to create public faith in the investigations," Saloom said. "If you deny public access to all this information .. there's little sense in even having the commission."
On Friday, the governor's office deferred comment to the bill's sponsor, Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen.
"Senate OKs Forensic Science Commission Bill," by Brandi Grissom for the Texas Tribune.
State Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, said SB 1658 was intended to clear up confusion over the role of the Forensic Science Commission, which has been embroiled in an investigation of the Cameron Todd Willingham case for about two years.
Willingham was convicted of setting fire to his Corsicana home and killing his three daughters in 1991, but he maintained his innocence. Following his execution in 2004, fire science experts questioned the evidence used to convict him.
The commission received a request from the Innocence Project, a New York-based group that seeks to exonerate wrongfully convicted people, to review the Willingham case for professional negligence in 2006. It took up the case 3 years later, but the investigation has been fraught with political uproar that has stymied the process.
The commission has approved a final draft of its report on the Willingham case, but the nine-member board declined to make a final ruling about whether there was professional misconduct or negligence on the part of arson investigators because it has been seeking clarification on its jurisdiction from Attorney General Greg Abbott.
Under Hinojosa's bill, the commission would have jurisdiction to investigate the work of both accredited and unaccredited crime labs. It would also be able to initiate investigations of forensic science procedures on its own, without an outside complaint. The bill would clarify that the commission's role is not to issue a determination of guilt or innocence in any case. And it would prohibit the use of commission reports in any civil or criminal litigation.
The AP report is, "Bill would refine duties for Texas forensic panel. It's by Sommer Ingram and via the Beaumont Enterprise.
Hinojosa's bill would eliminate two commissioners, leaving a 7-member panel composed of a prosecutor, defense attorney and five other forensic science experts. He said the panel's new make-up will make the commission geared more toward expert advice and knowledge of forensics while adding expertise of the courtroom.
The legislation affirms that the commission's role is to determine whether any junk science is used in arson cases, but not to rule on guilt or innocence in the case. A report issued by the commission can't be used as evidence in criminal or civil court.
It now goes to the House for consideration.
Earlier coverage of the Forensic Science Commission begins at the link.
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