Take a look into this case especially after a recent debate in which Texas Governor Rick Perry answered sharp pointed questions in regards to the use of the death penalty. Gov. Perry as his time as governor has presided over 200 death penalty cases in which he lost no sleep at all in which the State of Texas applied absolute justice over. This case obviously was forgotten in the midst of the debate in which his character and integrity could be question in regards to executions and the review of facts that are applied in allowing for a stay, go ahead of the death sentence, or even actual innocence in a case.
Cameron Todd Willingham, was scheduled to be executed in Texas, Patricia Cox had good reason to believe he was innocent.
Willingham was convicted of murder for killing his three daughters in a late 1991 house fire after a prosecution based almost entirely on a forensic fire analysis performed by an assistant fire chief and a state deputy fire marshal in the days after the blaze. Two weeks before Willingham's execution date in 2004, though, Cox had managed to get famed arson analyst Gerald Hurst to take a fresh look at the case.
Working pro bono, Hurst reviewed the evidence and drafted a study that devastated the original findings. Hurst's conclusions were based on his own skills, but arson forensics had also become far more advanced and standardized in the previous 13 years. "A contemporary fire origin and cause analyst might well wonder how anyone could make so many critical errors in interpreting the evidence," Hurst's report began.
An article written by Mark Benjamin, a reporter from the Times, called The Controversial Willingham Case: What Rick Perry Knew and When based off the 2004 execution of Willingham. Cameron Todd Willingham, was scheduled to be executed in Texas, Patricia Cox had good reason to believe he was innocent. Willingham was convicted of murder for killing his three daughters in a late 1991 house fire after a prosecution based almost entirely on a forensic fire analysis performed by an assistant fire chief and a state deputy fire marshal in the days after the blaze. Two weeks before Willingham's execution date in 2004, though, Cox had managed to get famed arson analyst Gerald Hurst to take a fresh look at the case.
Working pro bono, Hurst reviewed the evidence and drafted a study that devastated the original findings. Hurst's conclusions were based on his own skills, but arson forensics had also become far more advanced and standardized in the previous 13 years. "A contemporary fire origin and cause analyst might well wonder how anyone could make so many critical errors in interpreting the evidence," Hurst's report began.
Recently, the State of Georgia has been in the middle of a heat storm on the possibility of killing Troy Davis, a convicted murderer only recognized by that title by the State of Georgia, but not by citizens all across America, was put to death last week based off eye witness testimony. There was no D.N.A or physical evidence linking Troy Davis to the crime, as well as 7 out of the 9 witnesses that testified against Troy Davis has recanted their story and citing police misconduct as the reason for their statements in the case. However, At the Republican presidential debate Sept. 7, NBC's Brian Williams brought up the subject of executions in Texas, noting that Perry had presided over the execution of 234 people as governor. "Have you struggled to sleep at night with the idea that any one of those might have been innocent?" Williams asked.
Perry didn't hesitate. "No, sir. I've never struggled with that at all," he said, reiterating his faith in the judicial and appeals process in Texas. Then he stared hard at Williams and added in a Texas drawl, "But in the state of Texas, if you come into our state and you kill one of our children, you kill a police officer, you're involved with another crime and you kill one of our citizens, you will face the ultimate justice in the state of Texas, and that is, you will be executed." The audience broke into a round of applause.
Willingham Case: What Rick Perry Knew and When
