Tag Archives: death penalty

Mercy is a rare quality

Posted on October 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve never doubted that Rick Perry isn’t particularly interested in looking for opportunities to grant clemency to death row inmates. But there’s a big question that needs to be answered by this story and isn’t. Texas has executed 200 convicts … Continue reading →

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Willingham’s supposed confession

Posted on October 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’m sure we’ll be hearing a lot about this in the coming weeks. A newly released affidavit has a relative of the then-wife of Cameron Todd Willingham saying the condemned inmate confessed to her that he set the fire that … Continue reading →

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Perry goes on the attack as evidence of a coverup mounts

Posted on October 14, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The evidence keeps coming in. Lawyers representing Gov. Rick Perry on two occasions grilled Austin lawyer Sam Bassett on the activities of his Texas Forensic Science Commission, telling him its probe into a controversial Corsicana arson case was inappropriate and … Continue reading →

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More heat on Perry over the Forensic Science Commission

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Chicago Tribune provides further evidence that gutting of the Texas Forensic Science Commission was all about politics. Just months before the controversial removal of three members of a state commission investigating the forensics that led to a Texas man’s … Continue reading →

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Perry fills out rest of Forensic Science commission

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Sam Bassett, the now-former Chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission whom Rick Perry abruptly replaced with Williamson County DA John Bradley, wasn’t the only member of the Commission that got the ax, but his was the only slot that … Continue reading →

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Some criminal justice quick hits

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Some short commentary on a few articles that have appeared lately and were worth mentioning. Murray Newman disputes the need for a public defender’s office in Harris County. I’m perfectly willing to accept the idea that there’s a better way … Continue reading →

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Bradley dithers on Forensic Commission

Posted on October 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is an incredibly frustrating article about John Bradley, the handpicked new chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission. Bradley told The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday that he doesn’t know when the board will take up its investigations again. … Continue reading →

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It’s not too early to reschedule that meeting

Posted on October 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Rick Casey talks to State Sen. John Whitmire about Rick Perry’s choice of Williamson County DA John Bradley as the replacement chair of the Texas Forensic Sciences Commission, and how we can tell if the intent was as sinister as … Continue reading →

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Reschedule the meeting

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ve read a bunch of coverage of Governor Perry’s conveniently-timed decision to replace members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission just before they were scheduled to review the Beyler report on the Cameron Todd Willingham arson investigation, and one thing … Continue reading →

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Perry attempts to gut Forensic Science Commission

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is an outrage. Gov. Rick Perry today replaced the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which is conducting a politically sensitive investigation into whether the state executed a man based on a fatally flawed arson investigation. The commission’s … Continue reading →

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It’s hard to get a conviction when there’s no evidence of a crime

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The main bit of news in this AP story about the Todd Willingham case review is that the Texas Forensic Science Commission will be reviewing the Beyler report about the shoddy investigation of the fire on Friday. I hope, though … Continue reading →

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Perry sneers at Willingham evidence

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is exactly what I expect from Rick Perry. Governor Rick Perry today strenuously defended the execution of a Corsicana man whose conviction for killing his daughters in a house fire hinged on an arson finding that top experts call … Continue reading →

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CCA gives its approval to hot judge-on-prosecutor action

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I don’t know how else to characterize this latest atrocity from the biggest joke in Texas, the Court of Criminal Appeals. The question of whether a romantic relationship between a judge and prosecutor is unfair won’t be decided by the … Continue reading →

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Link roundup on Todd Willingham

Posted on September 12, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Grits finds a bunch of links about Cameron Todd Willingham and the reaction that his case and the New Yorker article about it have generated, to which I added this Dahlia Lithwick article in the comments. Three things: 1. As … Continue reading →

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The New Yorker on Todd Willingham

Posted on September 7, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

If you haven’t done so already, you really need to read this in-depth story, as well as the brief followup, on the Cameron Todd Willingham case. Author David Grann gives a thorough overview of the case, and gets into why … Continue reading →

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More on the Willingham report

Posted on September 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Now that the Texas Commission on Forensic Sciences has received its report on the botched investigation of Cameron Todd Willingham and the likelihood that he was convicted and executed for a non-crime, will that help improve forensic standards so that … Continue reading →

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Forensic Science Commission gets its report on Willingham case

Posted on August 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It’s going to be a lot harder for anyone to claim with a straight face that the state of Texas has never executed an innocent man. Key testimony that sent a Corsicana auto mechanic to the execution chamber for setting … Continue reading →

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That’s a wrap for the Keller trial

Posted on August 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

So the judicial misconduct trial of Sharon Keller is now over, and we will await the ruling from District Judge David Berchelmann Jr., who will compile “findings of fact” for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct; the Commission will then … Continue reading →

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Same old Sharon

Posted on August 20, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll say this for Sharon Keller. She is steadfast in her beliefs, and there is nothing you can say to her to make her waver from them. The presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals who refused to … Continue reading →

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Keller testifies

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Day Two of the trial of Judge Sharon Keller had Keller herself testifying. Rapid-fire questions from Austin lawyer Mike McKetta, acting as the prosecution, drilled into the heart of the charges against Keller — that by violating the court’s established … Continue reading →

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The Keller trial, Day One

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

If you want a detailed blow-by-blow description of the trial of Court of Criminal Appeals Justice Sharon Keller, go to the Statesman’s Focal Point blog, which has been liveblogging the procedure. Here are links to various entries: Opening statement by … Continue reading →

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A preview of the Keller case

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Lawyer has an in depth look at some of the facts that are in dispute in the judicial conduct hearing for Court of Criminal Appeals Presiding Judge Sharon Keller, which begins today. It is, as the story’s headline suggests, … Continue reading →

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Keller goes on the offensive

Posted on August 5, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

We’re less than two weeks out from the judicial conduct hearing on Court of Criminal Appeals Chief Justice Sharon Keller, and it’s clear that her defense strategy will be to attack her accusers. Keller, facing potentially career-ending charges that she … Continue reading →

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Texas Monthly on Sharon Keller

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Texas Monthly gives the long-form magazine article treatment to Sharon Keller and her upcoming trial before the Commission on Judicial Conduct. It’s well worth reading, and they try their best to humanize her, but I can’t bring myself to care … Continue reading →

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Another appeals court case to be proud of

Posted on June 29, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

By “proud”, I mean “deeply embarrassed”. Here’s Rick Casey discussing a decision by the 1st Court of Appeals in which the infamous case of death row inmate Calvin Burdine and his sleeping lawyer, Joe Cannon is referenced, and not in … Continue reading →

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More questionable arson convictions

Posted on June 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Observer has published the second of its stories on questionable arson convictions (the first, from April, is here). It’s a compelling series, and really gives a good picture of why these two cases should not have resulted in charges, … Continue reading →

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Keller hearing moved to San Antonio

Posted on June 18, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

It had been scheduled to be in Austin, but now it’s been moved to San Antonio. State District Judge David Berchelmann Jr., who was chosen by the Texas Supreme Court to preside over Keller’s trial, will use his downtown San … Continue reading →

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Juvenile justice in Harris County

Posted on June 8, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Is rather an oxymoron, it seems. Apparently, the process for certifying juveniles to be tried as adults, which according to the DA’s office is supposed to be only done on “the worst of the worst”, is a mere formality. In … Continue reading →

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Burnam drops impeachment resolution

Posted on June 1, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

I had wondered what would happen with Rep. Lon Burnam’s resolution to impeach Sharon Keller, given that we were coming down to the wire and there was a lot of pressing business that needed to be taken care of in … Continue reading →

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Burnam makes his case in the papers

Posted on May 3, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

State Rep. Lon Burnam writes an op-ed about his resolution to impeach Judge Sharon Keller. Last week, a group of 24 national experts on judicial ethics issued a statement that Judge Keller has consistently demonstrated a lack of impartiality in … Continue reading →

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The Keller impeachment resolution

Posted on April 28, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Rep. Lon Burnam’s resolution to impeach Judge Sharon Keller was scheduled to get a hearing Monday. Burnam vowed that it would come to a vote on the House floor. If that resolution does not move in committee, Burnam said he … Continue reading →

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Sanctions sought for deadline-missing attorney

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

This is a necessary step, but it is not a sufficient one. Texas’ highest criminal court has asked the State Bar of Texas to investigate a San Antonio attorney who missed critical deadlines in four recent death row appeals — … Continue reading →

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House hearing set on Keller impeachment resolution

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

Mark your calendars for Monday, April 27, for that’s when HR480, the resolution filed by State Rep. Lon Burnam back in February that called for the House to begin the impeachment process against Judge Sharon Keller, gets a hearing. From … Continue reading →

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Either way, they still get paid

Posted on April 21, 2009 by Charles Kuffner

The Chron returns to the theme of inadequate representation of death row inmates. Texas lawyers have repeatedly missed deadlines for appeals on behalf of more than a dozen death row inmates in the last two years — yet judges continue … Continue reading →

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