Posted on 05/04/2006 11:06:59 PM PDT by Northern Alliance
A man executed by Texas in 2004 was convicted on an erroneous interpretation of fire evidence, according to a report from four leading arson experts.
The experts called the fire evidence presented at the trial of Cameron Willingham for the 1991 murder of his three children in a Corsicana, Texas, house blaze "bad science" in the report presented to Texas officials Tuesday.
"(The state's expert witnesses) relied on interpretations of 'indicators' that they were taught constituted evidence of arson. While we have no doubt that these witnesses believed what they were saying, each and every one of the indicators relied upon have since been scientifically proven to be invalid," the Arson Review Committee report states.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
The left has been frantically searching for a "wrongly executed" criminal for years, but they haven't found one yet. They may have to invent one in their battle against capital punishment.
And if one is found?
Then you'll hear unlimited propaganda against the death penalty.
{sigh}
This may well be one.
I think lots have been found through DNA testing, but I should add I don't have any opinion on the credibility of this panel. I posted the story because I thought it was newsworthy.
It would be like finding that an innocent person had been killed by a policemen, a surgical procedure or a school bus. The fact that an innocent person had ever died, even once, due to any of those things would clearly prove that policemen, surgical procedures and school buses are all unconstitutional, and should never be used by a just society.
And they haven't found one now. I knew of Cameron. Our office in Southern Oklahoma prosecuted him for other crimes. He was from southern Oklahoma, before hooking up with the mother of the kids. It was a big case in North Texas and Southern Oklahoma. His family was from the Ardmore, Oklahoma area. Cameron was a punk. There was a lot of other circumstantial evidence from the trial that indicated guilt. One big piece was eyewitness testimony that before the fire got way out of hand, that Cameron was seen standing outside the house doing nothing to try and get in and save the kids. Witnesses said he didn't seem too upset about the fire. As I recall, neighbors tried to get in and save the kids, but he didn't. Neighbors who testified said he was outside trying to push his car away from the burning house and was hollering to people to help him save his car, even though his kids were inside the house dying. And a firefighter testified that he was yelling about his prize dartboard getting burned in the fire, and that he wanted them to save the dart board. But he never seemed concerned about the kids.
Evidence at his trial showed an accelerant, believed to be charcoal lighter fluid, was used to ignite the floors, a front threshold to the house and on a concrete porch. A fire marshal testified the placement of the accelerant was designed to impede any rescue efforts by firefighters. Willingham suggested a lantern lamp dumped fluid when a shelf collapsed inside the house and caught fire or his oldest daughter, who was ''fascinated with everything,'' accidentally set off the blaze.
Trial testimony showed he expressed no grief over the loss of the children. Willingham, who did not testify in his own defense, disputed the comments. After the trial, Willingham was quoted as saying...''They were great kids,'' He went on to say later about trying to save the kids...''The only way for me to get back into the house was to jump back into the flames,'' he said. ''I wouldn't do that.''. No, but he would risk the threat of the flames to save his car. What priorities.
Willingham, a 10th grade dropout, had a history of violence and a record of felony and misdemeanor convictions both as an adult and juvenile. He said he got hooked on inhalants as a young teenager and was in and out of treatment centers beginning at age 14. He also spent time at a boot camp in Oklahoma. Evidence at his trial showed he was abusive to his family and once beat his pregnant wife with a telephone to try to force a miscarriage.
He was a turd who didn't want the kids. He waited for his wife to leave home, he started a fire, then went outside to save his car. He cared more for his car, than his 2 year old daughter, and 1 year old twins. At his execution, He told his wife repeatedly in obscenity-laced language that he hoped she would ''rot in hell'' and attempted to maneuver his hand, strapped at the wrist, into an obscene gesture. He was a great guy. He got what he deserved.
The case was appealed all the way to the US Supreme Court, and this so called exculpatory evidence was part of the package, and the Supremes denied a stay.
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