Maurice Possley's latest reporting on Todd Willingham's case is at the Marshall Project website. The Appendices to the complaint against John Jackson, is via Scribd.
Today's Dallas Morning News publishes the editorial, "Allegations against prosecutor in arson case must be examined." Here's the beginning of this must-read:
Outrageous allegations of unethical or illegal gamesmanship in the prosecution of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004, need a thorough and transparent examination by the State Bar of Texas.
We applaud the Innocence Project for filing a grievance with the bar against the former prosecutor in the case, so the public may get a clearer picture of how the state secured and upheld this death sentence. The Willingham matter has become a symbol of Texas justice, with its many faults and excesses. Previous efforts to unmask the full truth have fallen short. It’s vital that the bar not allow questions to linger about the execution of this man in the deaths of his three young daughters.
In documents filed with the state bar last month, the Innocence Project alleges that former Navarro County District Attorney John Jackson cut — and has since denied — a secret deal with a drug-addled snitch witness to get him to testify that Willingham admitted setting the fire. The grievance also alleges that Jackson fudged records and interceded with state prison officials to get the witness favorable treatment after he was sent to the penitentiary on a robbery conviction.
"Prosecutor under fire in contested execution of Todd Willingham," is AP coverage by Nomaan Merchant, via the Austin American-Statesman. It's also available from the Guardian.
A nonprofit group on Monday accused the prosecutor in the case of a Texas man executed for the fire deaths of his three daughters of trying to cover up a jailhouse informant’s recantation.
The New York-based Innocence Project, which investigates potential wrongful convictions, said it had filed a state bar grievance against John H. Jackson, a former prosecutor and judge who oversaw the case against Cameron Todd Willingham.
Willingham was executed in 2004 for killing his three daughters in a house fire in Corsicana. The project has long pursued Willingham’s case for evidence suggesting that Texas wrongfully executed him. State officials have maintained that they still believe he was guilty of murder.
Newsweek posts, "Texas May Have Executed an Innocent Man," by Taylor Wofford.
Texas executes more inmates than any other state. In 2004, the state put 23 people to death. Records obtained by The Marshall Project suggest one of them may well have been innocent.
"New Report Raises Questions About Guilt of Executed Texas Man," is by Priyanka Boghani for PBS FrontLine. You can watch the FrontLine documentary Death by Fire at the link.
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed on Feb. 17, 2004 after he was found guilty of setting a fire that killed his three young children in December 1991.
Now, nearly 22 years after his trial and 10 years after his death, a new report raises questions about a major piece of evidence against Willingham: his alleged confession to a fellow inmate that he had set the fire.
"We almost certainly execute innocent people with cruelty. This isn't justice," is by Scott Lemieux for the Guardian's Comment is Free.
The case of Cameron Todd Willingham is a particularly striking example of the cavalier way in which the state of Texas – which has executed more than 500 people since the death penalty was reauthorized by the US supreme court in 1976 – administers the death penalty. Not only does the state to this day have essentially no evidence that Willingham committed the crime for which he was accused, it has no real evidence that a crime was committed at all.
"Did Texas execute an innocent man?" is Jonathan H. Adler's post at Volokh Conspiracy via the Washington Post.
Whether or not the death penalty is just, as an abstract matter, there are serious problems with the way it is administered in much of the country.
The Innocence Project has issued a news release, highlighting the Marshall Project's reporting.
Earlier coverage of the newest revelations in Todd Willingham's tragic case begins at the link.
Maurice Possley and Steve Mills first reported on the Willingham case in a 2004 Chicago Tribune series on junk science. The December 9, 2004 report was titled,"Man executed on disproved forensics."
All related coverage is in the Todd Willingham category index.
The Innocence Project has a Todd Willingham resource page which provides a concise overview of the Willingham case with links to all relevant documents.
David Grann's September 2009 New Yorker article is noted here.
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