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 […]
Arson Detection
Willingham court of inquiry postponed until Oct 14, 2010
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 […]
Update Hina family
New Hampshire’s Sullivan County Superior Court Judge Marguerite Wageling heard arguments on David McLeod’s bail request last Sept. 7, 2010. She issued a ruling last Friday, writing that the state met the requirements for keeping McLeod in jail, but at the same time, she also ordered a second hearing. The state was required to show that the proof […]
“The petition warrants a hearing,” Judge Baird
The inquiry into the Willingham case will be held in his courtroom on Oct. 6-7, but Judge Baird said that it could be extended if necessary. Supporters of Cameron Todd Willingham hailed the Austin district judge’s decision last Monday to open a two-day court of inquiry next month. He will determine whether Willingham was wrongfully convicted and […]
Daniel Dougherty and Forensic Arson Detection
Daniel Dougherty was found guilty of deliberately igniting fires in his home that killed his two sons, Danny(4) and Johnny(3) in 1985. Police arrested Dougherty 14 years later, when his estranged wife came forward and claimed he confessed. A jury found him guilty on capital murder charges in 2000. He is awaiting his execution. His case […]
Political meddling and apathy in Willingham case
Political meddling and apathy in Willingham case has me despondent. A Texas state board said last Friday that arson investigators in the Willingham case used flawed science but were not negligent in an investigation that led to a controversial 2004 execution. The panel also said that investigators did not commit misconduct. Cameron Todd Willingham was […]
The 2004 Willingham execution
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for a fire that killed his three daughters. Prosecutors argued that Willingham deliberately set the 1991 blaze — but three reviews of the evidence by outside experts have found the fire should not have been ruled arson. The last of those reports was ordered by the Texas Forensic […]
Lapointe hearing July 7-8-9, 2010
Christopher Cosgrove, Lapointe’s public defender during the criminal trial, and Henry Theodore Vogt, who sought a new trial for Lapointe in the late 1990s, testified during the latest hearing seeking a new trial for Lapointe. Paul Casteleiro, Lapointe’s current lawyer, focused on what Cosgrove and Vogt didn’t do when they handled the Lapointe case in […]
July 6: Lapointe Habeas hearing
Tomorrow, the Richard Lapointe Habeas hearing will resume for three more days in the Rockville Superior Court. Lapointe was convicted for the 1987 murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin, his then-wife’s 88-year-old grandmother. He was sentenced to life without parole. After the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld his conviction, his lawyer filed a petition for a writ of Habeas Corpus that, if granted, […]
Hina Family Murders from 1989 cracked
On Wednesday, New Hampshire Attorney General Michael Delaney announced that David McLeod has been arrested in West Sacramento, California, on four counts of second-degree murder for “recklessly causing the death of the Hina family under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” according to a written statement from the attorney general’s office. […]
Lapointe hearing May 6, 2010
Karen Lapointe-Martin stands by her ex-husband. She was called to testify yesterday. “Do you recall the day your grandmother died?” Casteleiro asked. “Yes, I do, it was a Sunday,” she responded. She recounted her family’s Sunday routine — go to church, visit with her 88-year-old grandmother, Bernice Martin, then go home for Sunday dinner. That […]
Lapointe hearing May 5, 2010
The hearing before Judge John J. Nazzaro is focusing on evidence that Lapointe’s lawyers argue was previously overlooked, including the length of time that Martin’s apartment was burning until the first firefighter came through the front door, a pair of gloves found at the crime scene that contained the DNA of someone other than Richard, […]
Lapointe hearing May 4, 2010
Richard Lapointe could not have killed Bernice Martin. “None of the confessions fit the crime,” Andy Lefebvre, a retired Bloomfield police officer, told Rick Green. He has been following the case and doing his own detective work for years, after his parish priest asked him to look into it. “He should have been examined prior to […]
Lapointe hearing May 3, 2010
Superior Court Judge John J. Nazzaro began hearing evidence on Monday. The first witness was Michael Ludlow, a retired Manchester police detective who led the investigation into the killing of Bernice Martin. Martin, the grandmother of Lapointe’s wife, was raped and strangled in her apartment on North Main Street in Manchester the evening of March […]
Retired Cop thinks Lapointe is innocent!
Donald Connery, another long time supporter of Richard Lapointe, wrote an article for the Hartford Courant. It is worth reading especially this part: “… the forthrightness of retired Manchester police captain Joseph Brooks. His detectives lured Lapointe to headquarters on false pretenses on July 4, 1989, and got him to agree that he must be guilty. […]
A new trial for Richard Lapointe
Rick Green had an interview today with Richard Lapointe. On Monday, a Superior Court judge in Rockville — in response to a ruling in his favor from the state Appellate Court — will take yet another look at this endlessly appealed saga of what is either a wrongful conviction or a very crafty mentally disabled […]
Arson Case Not on Agenda
Arson Case Not on Agenda as Texas Panel Reconvenes: the Innocence Project Online reports that after a long hiatus and months of national controversy, the Texas Forensic Science Commission will meet on Friday January 29, but the controversial case of Cameron Todd Willingham is not on the agenda. New commission chair John Bradley said he […]
Disappointed in Richey’s behaviour
Disappointed in Richey’s behaviour: I read in the news that Kenneth Richey, a former death row inmate from Ohio, who was released on January 7, 2008, has been in trouble with the law. A bit of history here, is in order. In 1987, Kenny was sentenced to death for the murder of two years old Cynthia […]
In my humble opinion
In my humble opinion we need to follow Judge Cataldo’s lead and ensure that justice will finally be more about the truth than about ‘closing’ a case. As much as we need procedure to bring a case to court, procedure can also stand in the way of bringing a case to court. We should be […]