Texas “Justice”
Yet another example of “Don’t Mess with Texas.” A new investigation reveals that Texas executed an innocent man. Cameron Todd Willingham was executed by the state of Texas in 2004 after he spent 12 years on death row. The New Yorkerdeconstructs the case against Willinghamand concludes that the case was built upon flimsy forensics and false evidence. It seems that Justice Scalia has the example he’s been looking for – an innocent man put to death by the State.
The facts of the case are heavy: a fire broke out in the Willingham’s home and killed his three children. Authorities believed that Willingham intentionally set that fire. Convicted in 1992, Willingham maintained his innocence throughout the trial and after his conviction. He refused offers to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty.
Three years ago, the Innocence Project released the results of report it commissioned from the the nation’s foremost arson experts about the Willingham case. The report concluded that the fire was accidental, that the forensic evidence was egregiously overblown, and that Texas officials deliberately ignored convincing evidence of Willingham’s innocence in the days before his execution.
In 2007, the Texas Forensic Science Commission agreed to investigate the case further. The results of that investigation were submitted to the comission last week. The indepedent arson expert appointed by the commission found that the arson evidence in Willingham’s case was wrong. The commission is reviewing the report and will release its findings next year.
The results of the commission review are not unexpected, but it is curious why a final report will not be released until next year. Will the delay enable officials to conjure up new evidence of Willingham’s guilt? Are they looking for a new expert to corroborate the State’s version of events? Whatever the reason, the Willingham case is one that Georgia officials should pay attention to. They are coming awfully close to repeating the same mistakes in the case of Troy Davis.
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