Tag Archives: arson

City donates to Winter Street relief

Good to see. Nearly two months after dozens of artists saw their work and gallery spaces burnt away, the city of Houston offered a step toward recovery. Mayor Sylvester Turner on Thursday announced that the city would donate $250,000 toward … Continue reading

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More on the Winter Street Studios fire

The Chron profiles two artists that were affected by the recent fire at the Winter Street Studios. At Winter Street Studios, red caution tape draped an X pattern over an entrance to the building, a workspace for Houston area artists. … Continue reading

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The Winter Street Studios fire

This is so awful. A fire that broke out Tuesday morning at Winter Street Studios has damaged countless works of art and left many Houston artists without workspaces or gallery space. The fire, which began around 6:30 a.m., is being investigated as arson, … Continue reading

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Sonia Cacy

A long-time-coming story of actual innocence. A judge has ruled that Sonia Cacy, a West Texas woman convicted of setting her uncle on fire, is innocent of murder, basing his decision on new analysis of evidence presented at her 1993 … Continue reading

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State Bar accuses Willingham prosecutor of misconduct

Wow. In a major turn in one of the country’s most-noted death penalty cases, the State Bar of Texas has filed a formal accusation of misconduct against the county prosecutor who convicted Cameron Todd Willingham, a Texas man executed in … Continue reading

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Is there any valid evidence of Todd Willingham’s guilt left?

The Washington Post has a long piece examining the connection between the jailhouse snitch whose testimony helped send Cameron Todd Willingham to death row and the prosecutor who has long denied taking any action to influence that testimony. For more … Continue reading

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More evidence of Cameron Willingham’s innocence

The scientific evidence against Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for the arson deaths of his three children, has long been discredited. The other piece of evidence used against him at trial was the testimony of a jailhouse … Continue reading

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We need a Conviction Integrity Unit in Harris County

From the DMN: Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has gained a national reputation for spearheading prisoner exonerations. As he prepares to seek a third term, Watkins said Thursday he wants to expand on that role and add a few … Continue reading

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Arson review moving forward

Good. A long-awaited review of old Texas arson cases — an unprecedented search for wrongful convictions based on bad fire investigation science — is picking up speed and will probably produce the first results in January, participants said [last] Friday. … Continue reading

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The exoneration that wasn’t

I don’t know about you, but I’d forgotten about this. A Texas judge who reviewed the controversial 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham planned to posthumously exonerate the father who was put to death for killing his three daughters in … Continue reading

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“Beyond DNA”

The Dallas Observer has a good story about the state of the exoneration business now that most of the cases involving DNA have been handled. Since Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins took office in 2007, incidents of wrongfully convicted … Continue reading

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The science of fire

Great story about how scientists have been figuring out what really happens when a building burns, and why so much arson “evidence” is bunk: At laboratories throughout the United States—some large enough to contain a three-story house—researchers have been lighting … Continue reading

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Moving on from the Willingham case

It’s time to move to the next phase and make something good happen. A state investigation into the science used to convict and execute Cameron Todd Willingham came to a quiet close Friday, but its results might echo across the … Continue reading

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Forensic Science Commission accepts its neutering

Another victory for the forces of obstructionism. Whether they like it or not, members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission [Thursday] agreed that they will use an attorney general’s opinion that severely limits the panel’s jurisdiction as a guideline for … Continue reading

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AG rules Willingham case off limits for Forensic Science Commission

The last shovelful of dirt is thrown. The Texas Forensic Science Commission’s investigation of the science used to convict Cameron Todd Willingham — executed in 2004 for an arson that killed his three children — may be at an end … Continue reading

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Dr. Peerwani and the Willingham case

Dr. Nizam Peerwani, the newly appointed Chair of the Forensic Science Commission, gets profiled in the Trib. Most of the story is about the history of the Willingham case, which the Commission finally sort of dealt with last year. With … Continue reading

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Two forensic bills

Texas has thousands of untested rape kits in it, and a bill to try to make something happen with them. The bill, by Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, would require a police department to submit a rape kit to a … Continue reading

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The end of the Willingham case for the Forensic Science Commission

Dave Mann reads the Willingham report from the Forensic Science Commission so you don’t have to. The commission’s nearly 50-page report—the product of a high-profile, frequently stalled investigation—is an odd mix. It documents at length the flawed state of fire … Continue reading

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Draft Willingham report is out

Postcards: A draft report issued today by the Texas Forensic Science Commission on the evidence used to convict and execute Cameron Todd Willingham focuses on training and education initiatives for fire investigators and makes several suggestions for continued improvement for … Continue reading

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Bradley’s mission nears its completion

John Bradley won’t get confirmed by the Senate as the Chair of the Forensic Science Commission, but that’s all right. The purpose for which he was put on the Commission by Rick Perry is about to be fulfilled. Perry, who … Continue reading

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The Willingham arson investigator

The Statesman has a good story about former Deputy State Fire Marshal Manuel Vasquez, whose testimony helped convict Cameron Todd Willingham, and the status of the Willingham case with the Forensic Science Commission. Spurred by John Bradley, the Williamson County … Continue reading

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Two Republican Senators oppose Bradley’s nomination to the Forensic Science Commission

Excellent. The confirmation of Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley as chairman of the state Forensic Science Commission appears to be in deep trouble, as two Senate Republicans confirmed today that they will vote no. That would leave Bradley four … Continue reading

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Can we please get back to the basics?

The ongoing saga of the Texas Forensic Science Commission: Adding an unexpected twist to its investigation of the science used to convict and execute Cameron Todd Willingham for arson murder, the Texas Forensic Science Commission voted Friday to seek an … Continue reading

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Forensic Science Commission finally hears Willingham testimony

If you were hoping the state of Texas would be open to changing how arson investigations should be done, then the hearing was a disappointment. Still, some good things happened. Speaking at a special meeting of the Texas Forensic Science … Continue reading

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Willingham documentary

From the Trib: As you’re reading this, Steve Mims and Joe Bailey Jr. are putting the finishing touches onIncendiary, a new documentary about theCameron Todd Willingham case that focuses almost entirely on forensics — on the science behind arson investigations … Continue reading

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Appeals court suspends Willingham court inquiry

This happened late last week. An Austin appeals court has ordered Judge Charlie Baird to halt his inquiry into whether Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully executed in 2004 and whether there is probable cause that state officials committed a crime … Continue reading

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Willingham gets another day in court

Interesting. State District Judge Charlie Baird said Monday that he would hold a hearing in his Travis County courtroom next week to determine whether Texas wrongly executed Cameron Todd Willingham, convicted of murdering his three young children by setting fire … Continue reading

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Pity poor John Bradley

It’s a truly beautiful thing to see the guy who was brought in to the Texas Forensic Science Commission for the express purpose of protecting Governor Perry’s political interests wail and moan about the Commission becoming a “political football” now … Continue reading

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The scientists have rebelled

Wow. When seven [members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission] met at a hotel near Dallas’ Love Field, the ostensible goal was to finalize their report on the Willingham case. But from the start, the forensic scientists on the panel … Continue reading

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Fire marshal clings to Willingham arson report

Oh, give it up, already. The State Fire Marshal’s Office stands behind its controversial conclusion that Cameron Todd Willingham started the house fire that killed his three children in 1991, contradicting arson experts and scientists who insist the agency relied … Continue reading

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In defense of Todd Willingham

Via a comment on an older post, I came across this withering critique of Todd Willingham’s defense team. There’s an interesting comparison in there that I don’t believe I’d considered before: Apparently Willingham’s defense was judged to be technically adequate … Continue reading

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So what did the Forensic Science Commission do?

I guess I wasn’t expecting this. A majority of the Texas Forensic Science Commission has tentatively concluded that there was no professional negligence or misconduct by arson investigators whose flawed work in a fatal Corsicana fire contributed to the conviction … Continue reading

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John Bradley is a political hack: Film at 11

John Bradley, the District Attorney for Williamson County and the hand-picked-by-Rick-Perry Chair of the Forensic Science Commission, continues to be the single biggest impediment to the Commission doing the job it was specifically created to do. In an op-ed on … Continue reading

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Beyond DNA exonerations

We’re all familiar with the way the Dallas DA’s office has handled using DNA to review cases in which a defendant’s guilt may have been in question. Now that most of the cases in which DNA evidence still exists have … Continue reading

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