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Indybay Feature

Texas execution could end death penalty, if we act

by via PWW
Sunday, October 25, 2009 : The fire that killed Cameron Todd Willingham's three daughters in 1991, a tragedy for which he was found guilty and executed by lethal injection under Texas Gov. Rick Perry's watch, was not a case of arson but the result of an accidental fire. This is according to the Beyler Report, commissioned by the Texas Forensic Science Commission.
This report confirms what several of the country's leading fire experts have already found: the prosecution's case relied not on science-based evidence, but instead on the testimony of expert witnesses whose methods resembled more those of psychics than specialists in the study of arson.

However, the Texas Forensic Science Commission is not being allowed to present these findings to the public in its official capacity. Recently, Perry replaced four members of the panel, stymieing the commission's business. Although he denies any political motive, by manipulating the composition of the panel Perry is stalling what will likely be the unprecedented announcement, namely that the state of Texas killed an innocent man.

Surely, Perry saw this coming. On Feb. 14, three days before Willingham was scheduled to be executed, his attorney asked the governor to postpone the execution; newly-obtained expert evidence showed that Cameron did not kill his daughters. On the day of the execution, the governor was faxed a five-page report detailing the evidence. The guilty verdict in doubt, Perry went ahead with the execution as scheduled.

With alarming frequency, individuals are released from prison when review finds fault with the evidence convicting them, incompetent attorneys, prosecutorial misconduct, or new evidence showing the condemned could not have committed the crime for which they have been convicted

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