discoboyzero
New member
I see no legitimate reason to say a science panel isn't allowed to examine evidence of past cases to make sure the forensics were done correctly just because the panel didn't exist yet. Purely a political move (and John Bradley, the commission chairman installed by Perry to obstruct the report they HAVE released until after the 2010 gubernatorial, is of course loving it), yay for Perry's cronies upping the obstructionism as he preps for a presidential run.
In a blow to death penalty opponents and innocence reformers, the Texas attorney general has declared that a state forensic panel does not have authority to continue its years-long scrutiny of the arson case of Cameron Todd Willingham.
Attorney General Greg Abbott said Friday that the Texas Forensic Science Commission cannot examine forensic testing that predates the panel's Septeraber 2005 inception.
The attorney general's opinion apparently blocks the commission from issuing a determination of negligence or misconduct by state fire investigators in the case of Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for setting the house fire that killed his three young daughters.
But death penalty opponents are calling on the commission to continue to press the case, which was the first the commission had examined.
Former commission Chairman and Williamson County prosecutor John Bradley praised the opinion.
"All it simply does is it focuses the work of the commission on modern forensic cases," Bradley said Friday. "It just makes it clear we're not going to go back 15 to 20 years and second-guess cases or get into people's political agendas."
Current commission Chairman Nizam Peerwani declined to comment on specifics but said the commission will take up the matter at its next meeting.
"What we intend to do is open up the discussion at our Septeraber meeting and determine how each commissioner feels about the opinion," said Peerwani, the Tarrant County chief medical examiner.
The opinion gives the commission some latitude for investigating pre-2005 cases. It states that though the time limitation prohibits the commission from taking any action with respect to forensic evidence tested or offered in court before Sept. 1, 2005, there is no limitation on the commission's power to investigate any allegation of professional negligence or misconduct.
Under that provision, said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Democrat, the commission should continue its review of the Willingham case.
"Nothing in this AG's opinion prevents the Texas Forensic Science Commission from completing its report and ruling that the fire marshal was negligent in its failure to correct the flawed arson science that was used in numerous arson cases," Ellis said in a statement.
The state fire marshal's office has said it made no errors in the investigation.
Stephen Saloom, policy director of the Innocence Project, which filed the Willingham complaint with the commission in 2006, said Abbott's opinion is a setback.
"So we've got seven years of forensic problems to work with - it's a shame you can't go back further," Saloom said. "It needlessly ties the hanRAB of these forensic experts."
He also said that Texas used flawed methoRAB to convict people of arson.
"Those methoRAB have long been known to be scientifically invalid and rejected by fire experts," Saloom said.
Defense attorney Sam Bassett, who was the commission's first chairman, said it appeared "interesting" that the attorney general's office would release an opinion just as the commission was completing its Willingham investigation.
Bassett said an attorney from Abbott's office attended the commission's early meetings and did not raise any concerns about its authority to look into the case.
Then two years ago, Gov. Rick Perry removed Bassett and others from the panel just before a meeting at which they were to hear an arson expert's report that the investigation was botched. Critics accused Perry of trying to cover up information that Texas had killed an innocent man.
As Perry explores running for president, his views on the death penalty are among issues drawing national media scrutiny. and the Willingham case has attracted particular attention.
The new panel continued the examination, over Bradley's objections.
In April, it released a report that did not address the question of negligence or misconduct but said the fire marshal's office had a "duty to correct, duty to inform, duty to be transparent" in such cases. Commissioners said they would hold off on a finding of negligence pending the legal opinion.
"It is frustrating for me to now see them (the attorney general's office) interjecting themselves into this debate years after the investigation has progressed and is about to reach a conclusion," Bassett wrote in an email.
The commission's April report included other broad findings and recommendations based on issues raised by the its inquiry into the Willingham case and the case Ernest Ray Willis, who spent 17 years on Death Row after being convicted of setting a fire that killed two women. Prosecutors dropped the case against Willis after an inquiry suggested that the fire was an accident.
The report found that many forensic investigators in Texas lacked necessary resources or fell short on the scientific background needed for the work. It called for a uniform standard of practice and a code of ethics and said investigators should be better-trained in documenting their analyses and preserving recorRAB.
In the Willingham case, a debris analysis report could not be found.
Staff writer Mitch Mitchell contributed to this report, which includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/29/3046033/forensic-panel-is-blocked-from.html#ixzz1Tc8eJdnc
In a blow to death penalty opponents and innocence reformers, the Texas attorney general has declared that a state forensic panel does not have authority to continue its years-long scrutiny of the arson case of Cameron Todd Willingham.
Attorney General Greg Abbott said Friday that the Texas Forensic Science Commission cannot examine forensic testing that predates the panel's Septeraber 2005 inception.
The attorney general's opinion apparently blocks the commission from issuing a determination of negligence or misconduct by state fire investigators in the case of Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for setting the house fire that killed his three young daughters.
But death penalty opponents are calling on the commission to continue to press the case, which was the first the commission had examined.
Former commission Chairman and Williamson County prosecutor John Bradley praised the opinion.
"All it simply does is it focuses the work of the commission on modern forensic cases," Bradley said Friday. "It just makes it clear we're not going to go back 15 to 20 years and second-guess cases or get into people's political agendas."
Current commission Chairman Nizam Peerwani declined to comment on specifics but said the commission will take up the matter at its next meeting.
"What we intend to do is open up the discussion at our Septeraber meeting and determine how each commissioner feels about the opinion," said Peerwani, the Tarrant County chief medical examiner.
The opinion gives the commission some latitude for investigating pre-2005 cases. It states that though the time limitation prohibits the commission from taking any action with respect to forensic evidence tested or offered in court before Sept. 1, 2005, there is no limitation on the commission's power to investigate any allegation of professional negligence or misconduct.
Under that provision, said state Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Democrat, the commission should continue its review of the Willingham case.
"Nothing in this AG's opinion prevents the Texas Forensic Science Commission from completing its report and ruling that the fire marshal was negligent in its failure to correct the flawed arson science that was used in numerous arson cases," Ellis said in a statement.
The state fire marshal's office has said it made no errors in the investigation.
Stephen Saloom, policy director of the Innocence Project, which filed the Willingham complaint with the commission in 2006, said Abbott's opinion is a setback.
"So we've got seven years of forensic problems to work with - it's a shame you can't go back further," Saloom said. "It needlessly ties the hanRAB of these forensic experts."
He also said that Texas used flawed methoRAB to convict people of arson.
"Those methoRAB have long been known to be scientifically invalid and rejected by fire experts," Saloom said.
Defense attorney Sam Bassett, who was the commission's first chairman, said it appeared "interesting" that the attorney general's office would release an opinion just as the commission was completing its Willingham investigation.
Bassett said an attorney from Abbott's office attended the commission's early meetings and did not raise any concerns about its authority to look into the case.
Then two years ago, Gov. Rick Perry removed Bassett and others from the panel just before a meeting at which they were to hear an arson expert's report that the investigation was botched. Critics accused Perry of trying to cover up information that Texas had killed an innocent man.
As Perry explores running for president, his views on the death penalty are among issues drawing national media scrutiny. and the Willingham case has attracted particular attention.
The new panel continued the examination, over Bradley's objections.
In April, it released a report that did not address the question of negligence or misconduct but said the fire marshal's office had a "duty to correct, duty to inform, duty to be transparent" in such cases. Commissioners said they would hold off on a finding of negligence pending the legal opinion.
"It is frustrating for me to now see them (the attorney general's office) interjecting themselves into this debate years after the investigation has progressed and is about to reach a conclusion," Bassett wrote in an email.
The commission's April report included other broad findings and recommendations based on issues raised by the its inquiry into the Willingham case and the case Ernest Ray Willis, who spent 17 years on Death Row after being convicted of setting a fire that killed two women. Prosecutors dropped the case against Willis after an inquiry suggested that the fire was an accident.
The report found that many forensic investigators in Texas lacked necessary resources or fell short on the scientific background needed for the work. It called for a uniform standard of practice and a code of ethics and said investigators should be better-trained in documenting their analyses and preserving recorRAB.
In the Willingham case, a debris analysis report could not be found.
Staff writer Mitch Mitchell contributed to this report, which includes material from the Star-Telegram archives.
Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/07/29/3046033/forensic-panel-is-blocked-from.html#ixzz1Tc8eJdnc