Texas governor tries to cover up execution of innocent man

Texas Gov. Rick Perry not only executed an innocent Cameron Todd Willingham in 2004, Perry is now scrambling to cover it up until after his bid for reelection.

Cameron Todd Willingham and daughter Amber.

This scenario is now being put forth in the media, on blogs, in editorials and by lawyers, politicians and death penalty activists. The case has drawn national attention since the release of expert testimony solicited by the Texas Forensic Science Commission, followed by the September publication of a widely cited New Yorker article. The author of the TFSC report found no arson and therefore no murder.

“There can no longer be any doubt that an innocent person has been executed,” stated Barry Scheck, co-director of the Innocence Project, on Aug. 31.

But two days before the report by noted arson expert Dr. Craig Beyler was to be discussed at a meeting of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, Perry replaced the commission’s chair and two of its members.

The chair was replaced with Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, who the Oct 1. Dallas Morning News calls “one of the most conservative, hard-line prosecutors in Texas.” The Sept. 30 Austin American Statesman called Bradley “a tough-on-crime, politically connected conservative.”

The new chair’s first action was to cancel the hearing scheduled for Oct. 2. There is no indication if the hearing will ever be held, after it commissioned Beyler and spent tens of thousands of dollars on the report.

The timing, according to the Oct. 1 Dallas Morning News, disturbed the replaced

chair, Austin lawyer Sam Bassett. “In my

view, we should not fail to investigate important forensic issues in cases simply because there might be political ramifications.”

Willingham’s case was detailed in the Sept. 7 New Yorker article “Trial by Fire.” Reporter David Grann leads readers through the case to the conclusion that an innocent man was executed for a crime he did not commit.

Willingham’s execution took place under Perry’s watch. It is now likely that this will be the first posthumous exoneration of a person put to death in the United States.

Todd Willingham was sent to death row for the murder of his 2-year-old daughter Amber and his 1-year-old twin daughters Kameron and Karmon, who died in a house fire two days before Christmas in 1991 in Corsicana, Texas. He and his daughters were asleep that morning when his wife left to pick up holiday presents for the girls from the Salvation Army.

Before Willingham went to trial, he was offered a plea deal, which he refused. His lawyer, who thought he was guilty, was shocked and pleaded with family members to persuade him to change his mind. Willingham refused: “I ain’t gonna plead to something I didn’t do, especially killing my own kids.” He went on trial in August 1992 and was sent to death row.

For 12 years Willingham tried to figure out how to prove his innocence and find out who had set the fire.

Months before his execution, Willingham’s case came to the attention of acclaimed scientist and fire investigator Dr. Gerald Hurst. Dr. Hurst, who is widely credited with setting the scientific standard in forensic arson investigations, reviewed the evidence and determined that the conclusions reached by prosecution experts about the fire’s origin were not supported by science.

This renowned scientist shredded the so-called scientific evidence and made it clear that Willingham was innocent. Hurst’s report was on Gov. Perry’s desk when Perry refused to stop the execution in 2004.

From CNN to the New York Times to the Houston Chronicle, Perry is being roundly criticized. But when his office was contacted about the removal of three people from the science commission, his spokesperson said it was “business as usual.”

“Executions in Texas are also business as usual, but that doesn’t make them acceptable,” said Njeri Shakur, an organizer with the Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement. “Perry’s cover-up of the truth in Todd’s case is chilling.

“But the cover-up is also bringing more attention to the wrongs of the death penalty so the governor is inadvertently aiding the fight to abolish the death penalty. We have a slogan that says the death penalty system is broken and should be shut down. He is proving our slogan to be so true!”

Todd Willingham’s step-mother, Eugenia, and other family members will attend the 10th Annual March to Stop Executions on Oct. 24 at the state capitol in Austin, Texas.

For further information on Willingham’s case and the fight against the death penalty, visit www.camerontoddwillingham.com and www.marchforabolition.org.