Texas GOP Governor Rick Perry today announced that he would not be reappointing several members of his Texas Forensic Science Commission, and has declined to appoint new members in their place. The announcement comes as a leading arson specialist was set to testify before the Commission on an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, an investigation which appeared to have all the necessary evidence to indicate that Texas has put to death an innocent man.
Take a moment to picture a horrific scenario. Your house is burning, and your three small children are inside. Forced to exit from the house, you frantically call for help, as you watch the fire envelope your home, children and all. When the authorities arrive, you are smashing in the childrens window and attempting to re-enter with some, any, hope of saving them, and are so wildly driven that you have to be restrained and handcuffed to prevent you from placing yourself in harm. Later, you'll have to tell your wife the most terrible news she could possibly hear. And you'll have to live with knowing that you survived your three small angels, taken from you far too soon.
Nothing could be worse. Or so it would seem. Because the last kick to your already fragile world would be your arrest for the murder of your children.
That's precisely what happened to Cameron Todd Willingham.
On December 23, 1991, two days before Christmas, the Willingham family lost their three children to a house fire. Sixteen days later, Willingham was arrested and charged with arson and murder. Despite flimsy evidence and suspect testimony, local law enforcement pushed their case and, based upon Willingham's not-so-perfect past and voodoo science, obtained a conviction. Willingham was executed on February 17, 2004. Throughout the process, Willingham maintained his innocence, even rejecting a plea bargain that might have spared him from death rather than accept blame for the murder of his own children.
Since that time, there have been three independent investigations, one officially commissioned by the state Commission, and the evidence has been reviewed by nine of the top forensics scientists in the United States. In every case, the reports have indicated that nothing at all in the evidence is consistent with arson, and the fire appears to be exactly what Willingham claimed, a tragic accident.
Throughout these investigations, and despite all science and reason, Rick Perry and the local law have done what GOP are good at: ignoring anything that doesn't fit into their narrow world view. Gov Perry maintains that no evidence he has seen suggest that the execution was anything but justice served. The local law that convicted Willingham agrees with the Gov. And now, two days before Forensics expert Craig Beyler was set to deliver the devastating and highly critical report that was commissioned, the Governor has replaced three members of the Commission, without replacement. This has temporarily stalled the process, and is likely to permanently stall the process if Perry manages to appoint partisan Commission members who will vote to reject hearing the report.
The Innocence Project, which has been working this case for Willinghams relatives, said:
“This is like the Saturday night massacre,” Scheck said. “The Commission, doing the job the Legislature intended it to, appointed an independent arson expert to examine the reliability of arson evidence in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, who has been executed based on the original finding of arson. On Friday, the Commission was supposed to consider the expert’s report, which strongly indicates that the arson evidence underlying Willingham’s conviction and execution was completely unreliable and would raise serious concerns that Texas has executed this innocent person. Rather than let this important hearing go forward and the report be heard, the Governor fires the independent Chairman and two other members of this Commission. It’s like Nixon firing Archibald Cox to avoid turning over the Watergate tapes.”
While it's a matter of course that Perry would like to protect the integrity of his justice system, there is more to this than simple pride. Early accounts of the Beyler report indicate that there are scathing indictments on the police methodology and evidence collection, as well as prosecutorial irresponsibility in the form of relying on inmate testimony, which is usually found to be so shoddy and unreliable that some state systems outlaw it. This report could open up the state and Corsicana to a wrongful death suit, a suit that would cost the state a pretty penny against a tough budget. It may also hurt Perry politically, as Perry is an ardent defender of the death penalty, and relies on it to keep his "Tough on Crime" image, an image that might be harmed if an investigation can cast significant doubt on our ability to prosecute to a "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard.
If you have an interest in seeing justice TRULY served, I urge you to contact the Texas Governors office and let them know that the Governor should appoint neutral appointees to the Commission as quickly as possible, and encourage the report to be heard. Here is the contact information:
Citizen's Opinion Hotline [for Texas callers] :
(800) 252-9600
Information and Referral and Opinion Hotline [for Austin, Texas and out-of-state callers] :
(512) 463-1782
Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428
*** UPDATE ***
Rick Perry has now replaced the Chairman on the Commission. His replacement is Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, known to be one of the most conservative hard-ass prosecutors in the Lone Star State. His first duty? Cancelling the Beyler meeting to "catch up".