Defrosting Cold Cases

The Statesman reports that “a draft report issued today by the Texas Forensic Science Commission on the evidence used to convict and execute Cameron Todd Willingham focuses on training and education initiatives for fire investigators and makes several suggestions for continued improvement for investigations. The report, as expected, takes pains to say that it does [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

A Republican leader in the Texas Senate is stalling a vote that would oust the head of the state Forensic Science Commission so the controversial chairman can stay in place to rule on the Willingham case questioning whether he was executed based on faulty arson evidence. The forensics panel is set to meet next week to consider its [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

From the Dallas Morning News: “Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst said Tuesday the Senate will delay action on the confirmation of Williamson County prosecutor John Bradley as chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission while he (Dewhurst) talks to Senate Democrats about their opposition to the nomination. There has been controversy over Bradley’s comments in the [...]

Tags: Arson Detection, Autopsy, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The Sentinel Source reports that ”Prosecutors and defense attorneys last week filed a request for jury selection in David B. McLeod’s trial to begin Aug. 1, according to Senior Assistant Attorney General N. William Delker. McLeod was indicted last year on four counts of murder, accused of setting a blaze that killed Carl R. Hina, 49, Lori [...]

Tags: Arson Detection, Autopsy, Cameron Todd Willingham, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Daniel Dougherty, David McLeod, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Hina Family, Identification, Investigations Division, Kenneth Richey, New Hampshire, Police, Victim, Witnesses

More fire experts have ruled the Willingham fire accidental instead of arson. As you will recall, Willingham was executed by the state of Texas for the murder of his little girls who died in the fire. Here are links to some articles I found today: CNN,  the Dallas News, and the Star-Telegram. Since I have written [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The PBS-TV series “Frontline” will debut its look at the Cameron Todd Willingham case today at 9 p.m., when a program titled “Death By Fire” debuts.  The questions: did Texas execute an innocent man? Several controversial death penalty cases are currently under examination in Texas and in other states, but it’s the 2004 execution of Cameron [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Via Texas Moratorium Network: The Texas Fire Marshal’s Association is holding its 12th Annual Texas Fire Marshals’ Conference Oct 18-22 in Austin at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. It will be interesting to see if any of their members will criticize State Fire Marshal Paul Maldonado for writing a letter to the Texas Forensic Science Commission [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Victim, Wrongful Convictions

Stephen Saloom, the policy director of the New York-based Innocence Project, said prosecutor John Bradley shows “a critically important lack of objectivity” in his approach to the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. Bradley has publicly called Willingham a “guilty monster.” Bradley is the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which is investigating whether fire [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Unsolved Homicide, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

Via SCOTUS Blog: “At yesterday’s oral argument in Skinner v. Switzer, the Court seemed dogged by reality.  In the real world, numerous questions have been raised about the actual innocence of petitioner Henry W. Skinner.  This is why Skinner seeks access to DNA evidence, and it may even be why the Court stayed his execution [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Capital Punishment, Crime Labs, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, DNA, Evidence, Expert Testimony, Faulty Evidence, FBI, Finger Printing, Forensics, Henry Skinner, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Rape kits, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions

The district attorney of Navarro County sought the recusal of state District Judge Charlie Baird in a high-profile court of inquiry that was set to start today to determine whether Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully executed by the state of Texas for the deaths of his three daughters. The motion raised the possibility that the two-day hearing [...]

Tags: Actual Innocence, Arson Detection, Autopsy, Cameron Todd Willingham, Capital Punishment, Crime Scene, Cruelty, Death Row, Evidence, Faulty Evidence, Forensics, Identification, Investigations Division, Miscarriage of Justice, Police, Prosecutorial Misconduct, Texas, Victim, Witnesses, Wrongful Convictions