Forensic panel is blocked from Willingham case

[Beau_Ouiville]

"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 September 2005 inception…

“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.”

kansascity.com/2011/07/29/3046033/forensic-panel-is-blocked-from.html#ixzz1U5Nl3cSp

In other words, if the state executed a man not guilty of the crime charged, they don’t want to know about it.

Wasn’t Rick Perry the guy who let the execution proceed?

 

[estesbob]

"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 September 2005 inception…

“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.”

kansascity.com/2011/07/29/3046033/forensic-panel-is-blocked-from.html#ixzz1U5Nl3cSp

In other words, if the state executed a man not guilty of the crime charged, they don’t want to know about it.

Wasn’t Rick Perry the guy who let the execution proceed?

The Texas Governor does not have the power to commute a death sentence. The best he can is grant is a 30 day stay. Commutations can only be granted by the Stae board of pardons and paroles. As a long time anti-death penatly activist in the State of Texas I can not tell you how frustrating it is that people dont get this. When we write letters asking for a execution to be stopped we dont waste our time with the Governor.

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

The Texas Governor does not have the power to commute a death sentence. The best he can is grant is a 30 day stay. Commutations can only be granted by the Stae board of pardons and paroles. As a long time anti-death penatly activist in the State of Texas I can not tell you how frustrating it is that people dont get this. When we write letters asking for a execution to be stopped we dont waste our time with the Governor.

He didn’t grant a stay, did he?

 

[Orogeny]

He didn’t grant a stay, did he?

Would it have mattered?

Peace

Tim

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

Would it have mattered?

If it were you, wouldn’t you want an extra 30 days?

Does Perry admit the possibility of a wrongful execution?

 

[estesbob]

He didn’t grant a stay, did he?

No-and there is no doubt he would not have communted the sentence even if he could of. The death penalty is excercised frequently is the State of Texas becuase unfortunately that is what the people of Texas want. It has wide support on both sides of the Aisle. Many of us are fighing to overcome this but it is an uphill battle. Part of problem is the only time non-Texans want to get involved is when they feel they can use the issue to score political points I wish we saw even half as much help now from non-Texans now as we did when Bush was runnng for President.

I have moved full time to Colorado now so I will no longer be able to go to Huntsville to protest executions but I will remain as active as I can in the movement.

 

[estesbob]

If it were you, wouldn’t you want an extra 30 days?

Does Perry admit the possibility of a wrongful execution?

IMO ALL executions are wrongful. In the case of Willingham it would not have mattered as questions about the forensics came up only years after he was ececuted.

 

[Orogeny]

If it were you, wouldn’t you want an extra 30 days?

Don’t know. I’ve never really pondered what it would be like to be on death row. I understand that at least some convicts want their sentances carried out quickly. If the 30 day reprieve only puts off the inevitible, I don’t know that I would. I don’t know that what I would or wouldn’t want is even relevant, though.

Does Perry admit the possibility of a wrongful execution?

I don’t know. I guess it is possible that any prisoner has been wrongfully convicted. I don’t think that it is as common as some would want us to believe.

I don’t support the death penalty, but this state does. And not by a small margin. The governor is not likely to ever step in, be they Republican or Democrat, to stop an execution. In fact, our last Democrat governor, Ann Richards, never stopped an execution.

Peace

Tim

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

I guess it is possible that any prisoner has been wrongfully convicted. I don’t think that it is as common as some would want us to believe.

Well it is odd that some in the state do not want to examine if a man was wrongfully executed or not. Why should they worry if the state made a mistake? They can always commute the sentence, right?

 

[agnes_therese]

He’s the guy who keeps interfering with any attempted investigation. Just one of the reasons this Texan will NEVER vote for him, for any office. No integrity.

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

It appears that Rick Perry and the local district attorney have stymied the investigation:

"It has appeared that some officials – including Perry and Bradley – aren’t inclined to have the Willingham case resolved. Just days before the commission was initially set to hear testimony from fire experts two years ago, Perry removed several members of the panel, including its self-selected chair, Austin defense attorney Sam Bassett, and installed Bradley as the new chair. The investigation was then immediately halted. Eventually, in January, the commission heard testimony from several fire experts and from the State Fire Marshal’s Office, but shortly thereafter, Bradley questioned whether the commission actually had the authority to delve into the case at all. "

austinchronicle.com/news/2011-08-05/a-g-ruling-on-arson-probe-is-just-weird/

 

[Orogeny]

It appears that Rick Perry and the local district attorney have stymied the investigation:

Well, not all agree with that view.

From chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7675368.html :

The attorney general also held that while the commission can investigate cases pre-dating its Sept. 1, 2005, creation, it cannot review evidence that was tested or introduced into evidence before that time.
(snip)
Steve Saloom, policy director of the New York-based Innocence Project, whose formal complaint launched the investigation, said the ruling should not affect the commission’s investigation.

“The Willingham allegation has always been about the fire marshal’s continued failure - it continues to this day - to inform the criminal justice system that the analyses often used in Texas to determine arson were long ago proved invalid,” he said.

State Sen. Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, concurred, saying “nothing in this attorney general’s opinion prevents the Texas Forensic Science Commission from completing its report and ruling that the fire marshal was negligent when it failed in its duty to correct the flawed arson science that was used in numerous arson cases.”

Perhaps, Beau, you should attack State Sen. Ellis and Steve Saloom rather than the Governor.

The ruling appears to be legally sound and proper.

Peace

Tim

 

[estesbob]

Well, not all agree with that view.

From chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7675368.html :

Perhaps, Beau, you should attack State Sen. Ellis and Steve Saloom rather than the Governor.

The ruling appears to be legally sound and proper.

Peace

Tim

As I mentioned before as one who has been intimately involved in the anti-capital punishment moving in Texas th e only time out-of-state and “compassionate” liberals give us a time of day is when they feel they can score political points. I recall when Gary Graham was executed, a man convicted of murder , but who had become somewhat of a death row celebrity, we had a whole plethora of liberal elites show up to join our protest.- even Jesse Jackson attended and the cameras were rolling, and the execution received national coverage.All the “celebrities” gave they obligatory speeches condemning George Bush(who was running for president at the time) After the election a poor Hispanic who killed someone in a drug deal gone bad was executed and we were back to just a very few of us standing by in silent protest.

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

Perhaps, Beau, you should attack State Sen. Ellis and Steve Saloom rather than the Governor.

I think there’s enough blame to go around for several individuals and I’m not attacking anyone.

When one person is running for president, I think this type of thing in his or her past bears close examination.

 

[estesbob]

I think there’s enough blame to go around for several individuals and I’m not attacking anyone.

---

When one person is running for president, I think this type of thing in his or her past bears close examination.

Thank you for making the point I have been stating all along. Your alleged concern about the death of MR. Willingham is nothing more than a naked attempt to use his death for political purposes,

We will not end the death penalty with “help” like you are providing.

 

[Orogeny]

I think there’s enough blame to go around for several individuals and I’m not attacking anyone.

When one person is running for president, I think this type of thing in his or her past bears close examination.

Based on the article I linked to, the investigation continues. I would think that you would appreciate that Gov. Perry is not blocking the investigation and that you would give him credit for that.

For the record, I don’t think that any of those people, including the Governor or the AG, deserve any blame. Seems to me it is attorneys working out what is permitted under the law and what isn’t.

Peace

Tim

 

[Beau_Ouiville]

Based on the article I linked to, the investigation continues. I would think that you would appreciate that Gov. Perry is not blocking the investigation and that you would give him credit for that.

I believe he’s already been successful in hindering the investigation, yes.

Let’s let the chips fall where they may: Thoroughly investigate the execution. Then we can see how strong conservatives are as to personal responsibility for mistakes.

 

[agnes_therese]

As I mentioned before as one who has been intimately involved in the anti-capital punishment moving in Texas th e only time out-of-state and “compassionate” liberals give us a time of day is when they feel they can score political points. I recall when Gary Graham was executed, a man convicted of murder , but who had become somewhat of a death row celebrity, we had a whole plethora of liberal elites show up to join our protest.- even Jesse Jackson attended and the cameras were rolling, and the execution received national coverage.All the “celebrities” gave they obligatory speeches condemning George Bush(who was running for president at the time) After the election a poor Hispanic who killed someone in a drug deal gone bad was executed and we were back to just a very few of us standing by in silent protest.

I’m not familiar with the second execution you mention. But as I recall, there was question as to the eyewitness identification in Graham’s case, and even the victim’s widow was against the execution. That type of case is naturally going to draw more attention from death penalty opponents and more publicity in general, just due to the possibility that an innocent person is being killed.

 

[estesbob]

I’m not familiar with the second execution you mention. But as I recall, there was question as to the eyewitness identification in Graham’s case, and even the victim’s widow was against the execution. That type of case is naturally going to draw more attention from death penalty opponents and more publicity in general, just due to the possibility that an innocent person is being killed.

. He had become a celebrity death row inmate. another example would have been Karla Faye Tucker who nobody doubted was guilty but had become a born-again Christian and had the support of the evangelical community. Again huge crowds protesting her execution that disappeared by the next one. . I am opposed to all executions not those that people can make political hay out of.

 

[Orogeny]

I believe he’s already been successful in hindering the investigation, yes.

Let’s let the chips fall where they may: Thoroughly investigate the execution. Then we can see how strong conservatives are as to personal responsibility for mistakes.

What mistake did the Governor make?

Peace

Tim