Dousing a troublesome arson probe

[sonias]

Rick Casey Commentary Houston Chronicle 7/22/10
Commentary: Dousing a troublesome arson probe

If you see smoke coming out of the Doubletree Hotel near Bush Intercontinental Airport today it won't be caused by arson.

It will be the eruption when Texas Forensic Science Commission Chairman John Bradley tries to end an investigation into whether the testimony of arson investigators that helped lead to a man's execution for murdering his children was "junk science."

Last fall, two days before one of the nation's top arson scientists was about to appear before the commission to explain his harsh criticism of evidence used to help convict Corsicana man Cameron Todd Willingham of deliberately setting the fire that killed his young children, Gov. Rick Perry abruptly named Bradley, district attorney of Williamson County, to replace the commission's founding chairman, Austin defense attorney Sam Bassett.

The matter was of some sensitivity to the governor. He had been asked by a prominent Texas arson expert to stay Willingham's execution based on a similar critique of the arson evidence against him. Perry ignored the request.

(snip)
Now Bradley has presented the commission with a legal memorandum that would severely limit the scope of its activities and would remove its authority to investigate the Willingham case.

I expect John Bradley will continue to keep the investigation bottled to help Rick Perry. That's John Bradley's job on this commission. Another sham of a commission Perry has packed with his appointees. :mad:

[sonias]

1. Remember the Forensic Science Commission?

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/firstreading/entries/2010/07/23/countdown_86_days_until_the.html">First Reading blog AAS 7/23/10

(snip)
Remember the Forensic Science Commission? This is the panel that was about to get a report last fall on the science used in the case against Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed several years ago after he was convicted of killing his family in a fire. Then Gov. Rick Perry shook up the commission, postponing a look into the conviction of Willingham, who was executed on Perry’s watch.

The commission is meeting today in Houston. The Innocence Project will stream the meeting, and you can watch here.

A memo surfaced this week that, in seeking to explain the commission’s jurisdiction, appears to narrow it. Many believe that the commission chairman, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, is trying to make the scope of the commission too narrow — so narrow that it would not allow for further investigation into the arson science used to convict Willingham.

Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, said Thursday, "The FSC needs to investigate the Willis and Willingham cases because they involved flawed arson science that may have been used in thousands of arson convictions since Todd Willingham was convicted in 1992. There are 732 arson offenders in the Texas prison system today, and on average, 275 are convicted of arson every year. The work of the Commission can ensure that faulty science hasn’t resulted in many wrongful arson convictions in the past, and can prevent more wrongful convictions in the future. We hope the Texas Forensic Science Commission will stop playing politics with the Texas justice system and get to the important work it was charged to do - ensuring we have reliable evidence in our courtrooms, and a fair and accurate justice system the people of Texas can have faith protects the innocent and convicts the guilty."

The meeting starts at 9:30 this morning.

:kick:

[sonias]

2. Forensic Science Commission Narrowing Its Jurisdiction?

Texas Tribune 7/22/10
Forensic Science Commission Narrowing Its Jurisdiction?

A memo from the Texas Forensic Science Commission circulated in advance of tomorrow’s meeting indicates the agency may believe it has no authority to consider the Cameron Todd Willingham complaint.

The document interprets the Commission’s enacting statute as limiting its jurisdiction to laboratories accredited by the Department of Public Safety. That could prevent it from taking up Willingham's case. Willingham was convicted of killing his daughters in arson and was executed in 2004. The complaint in his case hinges on allegedly faulty testimony of experts at trial, not analysis conducted in a laboratory.

The memo is unsigned, though it states that it “has been drafted, reviewed, and edited through the combined efforts of counsel for the Attorney General’s Office, the Office of Court Administration and the Department of Public Safety, along with the two members of the FSC who are lawyers.” (Those lawyers are Commission chairman John Bradley, the Williamson County District Attorney, and Fort Worth criminal defense lawyer Lance Evans. Both are on the subcommittee charged with reviewing Willingham’s case.)

Today, the sponsor of the bill that created the Commission, state Sen. Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa, D-McAllen, issued an open letter to the Commission disputing that interpretation, saying the agency’s scope "includes all forensic science analysis and procedures", which help the Commission identify best practices and eliminate the state’s use of 'junk science'.

John Bradley cutting and running from his responsibilities to cover Perry's ass by any means necessary! :mad: