You know, I don’t blame any of the jurors in the Cameron Todd Willingham trial for the verdict they rendered. Based on the evidence that was presented to them, a guilty verdict was to be expected. They had no way of knowing that the “science” used to “prove” arson was bogus. If they want to keep believing now that they did the right thing then, I completely understand. They’re not the problem.
We know about the problems with the “science” that was used to convict Willingham and who knows how many others. (Among them, Ernest Willis, who was eventually freed. Find a copy of this month’s Texas Monthly and read about him.) And we know about the problems with the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which is supposed to be examining these procedures and coming up with standards and recommendations to ensure we do a better job going forward. That can be summed up as John Bradley and his coverup crusade. But I don’t think I fully appreciated the problem of Willingham’s attorney, David Martin, and his inability to respect his client’s privilege until I read this story. I have to ask: The next time someone writes this story again – it’s been written before, it will surely be written again – will he or she take the time to wonder whether it is appropriate for Martin to be running his mouth like this? Seems to me that might be the even bigger story here.
This is a pretty old post to be commenting on, but I came across it while I was trying to “write this story again,” so I thought I might as well weigh in.
What I’ve concluded is that David Martin and the miserable defense he put up for Willingham are indeed an important and under-appreciated part of the story. I think it’s even fair to say that he was killed as much by bad representation as he was by “junk science” (though of course it’s not either/or). If he’d had the kind of representation that got David Medina and his wife off the hook, I doubt that he’d have been convicted.
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