Report: Faulty Fire Investigation Led to Execution

[Ptah]

Source: ABC News

A fire investigation that led to the execution of a man in the deaths of
his three young children was so seriously flawed that its conclusion of
arson can't be supported, a fire expert hired by the state said in a new report.

In a report to the Texas Forensic Science Commission released Tuesday,
Craig Beyler said the fire investigation in Cameron Todd Willingham's case
didn't adhere to the standards of care in place at the time, nor to current standards.

Beyler, chairman of the London-based International Association for Fire Safety Science,
said in the report that the opinions of a state fire official in the case were
"nothing more than a collection of personal beliefs that have nothing to do
with science-based fire investigation."

<snip>

He told The Associated Press before his execution that he was innocent,
calling his 1992 trial "a joke." "The most distressing thing is the state of
Texas will kill an innocent man and doesn't care they're making a mistake," he said.



Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=8421911

[Orrex]

1. But I read here on DU that child-murderers should be killed, no questions asked.

Don't tell me that this execute-first-and-ask-questions-never mindset was wrong?!?!?

What kind of world are we living in, if the kneejerk instinct for vengeance and bloodlust isn't the best response!?!?!

[Ptah]

4. Twelve years from the death of his children to his death

Hell on earth.

:cry:

[Tunkamerica]

14. But the difference is he was innocent.

Only the guilty should be executed no questions asked. You can usually tell by how bad the crimes he's accused of sound or how bad his mugshot looks. If he's ever done anything illegal in the past he's definitely guilty. Also, if he's already been executed then he was guilty.

Some will probably say..."Well, it's Texas so what do you expect?" And if it happened in Georgia :"Well, it's the south so what do you expect?" And so on till it happens where they live and people start judging where they're from.

[Ptah]

15. I disagree. The guilty should not be executed.

[Tunkamerica]

17. i was being sarcastic

do you really think I would be for killing someone based on how their mugshot looks?

[gopiscrap]

25. THANK YOU!!!!!

[hlthe2b]

2. Looses 3 kids to fire, faces farcical trial for their deaths, and

put to death in 2004 under Bushies* successor, who, undoubtedly followed his mentor's lead in disdainfully taking the death appeals so lightly.

I really wonder how many innocents Texas has killed... So very tragic...

[Ptah]

13. "Looses 3 kids to fire, faces farcical trial for their deaths, and put to death in 2004"

When will it be stopped?

[targetpractice]

3. It's not unconsitutional to execute innocent people, according to Scalia

Maybe this case (and the case of Troy Davis) will highlight the problem, and we can amend the Constitution.

[elleng]

7. There's no need to amend the Constitution,

but to change Court's interpretation: Cruel and Unusual Punishment.

[No Elephants]

28. Scalia feels that way bc he knows mistakes happen, After all, he participated in

Bush v. Gore. And when asked about that mistake years later, his thoughtful, scholarly response was "Get over it!"

If I were a cartoonist, I'd draw Scalia as a pig, roasting on a spit, wearing that hat he likes to affect, er, I mean, wear, on formal occasions.

[saigon68]

31. Hilarious

Scalia as a pig, roasting on a spit

[MannyGoldstein]

5. Can The Blue States Secede From The Red States?

How utterly horrible.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

8. American crazed blood lust is non-partisan

It isn't difficult to find "progressives" and "liberals" who are clearly dripping wet from just thinking about capital punishment

[sasquatch]

10. But only for those that truly deserve it

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

11. like a guy who burns three kids alive? ooops!

[caseymoz]

18. The issue was whether the criminal justice system functioned as it should have,

no matter what the sentence. I think the death penalty may be justified in some cases, but to execute anybody after so many examples of egregiously wrong verdicts would constitute negligent homicide. Unless our criminal justice system begins to function better, I say forget it.

I was shocked as DNA evidence began to show how many people were being wrongly executed, but the fact that it hasn't led to any real, widespread drive to reform the judiciary and police and prosecutorial procedures is just numbing. You know also, that if there have been that many wrong verdicts in capital cases, there have perhaps been many scandals in lower level cases.

[MannyGoldstein]

12. But Statistically It's Utterly Different

If someone tried to re-introduce capitol punishment in Massachusetts, they'd be treated like the village idiot. In Texas, it's those against the death penalty who are seen as the odd ducks.

[Name removed]

9. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[caseymoz]

16. Before that happens, maybe we should offer Texas back to Mexico. nt

[No Elephants]

29. That would not do any good. There are idjits in all states. I favor something like India

did with Pakistan under Ghandi. Create one section of the country for them and require them all to immigrate there, no matter which state they live in now.

Okay, that sounds more than a tad totalitarian, and ain't gonna happen, but I can daydream, can't I?

[sasquatch]

32. Good idea, we'll call it Jacobiteland

[hmorehead]

6. Well, like "Justice"(I snicker everytime I see that) Scalia sez

1.Innocence is no reason to appeal a death sentence.
2.Being wrongly executed does not infringe on constitutional rights.

[opihimoimoi]

19. are there steps in place to avoid sim mistakes? should be...

[sasquatch]

22. In Texas? Are you kidding me?

The only thing they understand in that hellhole is kill, hurt and steal.

[opihimoimoi]

26. No wonder the likes of DeLay, Bush, et al

[Tansy_Gold]

33. And Molly Ivins and Jim Hightower and Ann Richards. . . . n/t

[sasquatch]

37. Who were always voted out of power and threatened

[Tansy_Gold]

40. I was pointing out that there were and are some very very good people in Texas

Like the Texas Dems who went awol rather than meekly consent to what the pukes were doing.

If any one of us were to write off an entire population on the basis of some arbitrary designation -- say country of birth or color of skin or gender or economic status -- we'd be called bigots. We'd be compared to the Nazis who wanted to eliminate people based on their religion.

But it's okay, in some opinions apparently, to write off an entire population because the officials elected by some members of that population have promulgated bad policies and exercised poor judgment.

I didn't think that kind of bigotry was tolerated on DU. It certainly isn't tolerated by




Tansy Gold

[sasquatch]

41. Unfortunatly the good people in Texas are like Oasises in the desert, they're surrounded

If they want any hope in this world they need to leave and go somewhere where most of the people know of a character in a book other than the bible.

[WriteDown]

42. Like Ohio where they give bathroom breaks during lethal injection?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18850231/

What is wrong with that state?

[The Animator]

44. In Texas' defense, Bush was from Conneticuit ...

He just moved there to play cowboy, and imagine the rampant stupidity, and contempt for human life made him feel right at home...

[WriteDown]

34. Unlike Ohio where they understand the true use of a noose...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31421664

[sasquatch]

36. That's an individual, not an overwhelming majority of the state like it is in Anos Del Diablo

[WriteDown]

38. You sure about that?

Here's some logs from Ohio's death row. Chilling.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15065949/

[Th1onein]

20. This is why we need to abolish the death penalty.

It serves no purpose whatsoever. It is not a deterrent. It costs more to execute a prisoner than it does to keep him in prison for the rest of his life. The only purpose it serves is to our lowest instincts -- to blame and to kill. Neither of which serve any purpose.

[katkat]

21. costs?

I am against the death penalty precisely and only because of the possibility of a mistaken verdict, but I am interested in your claim that "It costs more to execute a prisoner than it does to keep him in prison for the rest of his life."

Where is the data supporting that? On the face of it, I would think the costs would be the same for a long period of time, since it takes forever to go through appeals and presumably those are happening for both death penalty cases and long term sentences. Then after a decade or two the appeals run out and the person is executed, and costs drop to zero in that case.

Not that costs should be the determining factor.

[diane in sf]

24. look it up

[Th1onein]

27. This is a well known fact.

No offense, but you need to do just a tiny bit of research. If you factor in the cost of the appeals, it costs a lot more to execute a person than it does to just take care of them in prison for the rest of their lives.

Of course, some idiots would say to take away their appeals, but that's even more stupid than the death penalty, itself.

[prolesunited]

35. Take a look here

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/costs-death-penalty

[Ignis]

39. Here's the data you're seeking:

Link: http://lmgtfy.com/?q=costs+of+capital+punishment

[countmyvote4real]

23. Ironic and odd...

How can opponents of healthcare reform based on the myth of "death panels" still support state execution? How can anyone be so certain under these dire circumstances? I'm just saying.

[depakid]

30. It's the lust for a pound of flesh that we need to take into account

It runs very strong in America- and probably more in Texas than in any other state.

[Ptah]

43. And the beat goes on: Tucson man sentenced to death — again — in killing of 2

Arizona Daily Star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.27.2009

A second jury has decided that a 41-year-old Tucson man should be
executed for killing two local residents in separate 1996 robberies.

It took the jury less than three hours to decide Scott Nordstrom
should die by lethal injection for shooting Thomas Hardman, 28,
and Carol Lynn Noel, 50, to death.

Nordstrom smiled as the first verdict was read and wrote notes
throughout the rest of the proceedings.

Hardman and Noel died two weeks apart from each other during robberies
at the Moon Smoke Shop and the Tucson Firefighters Association Union Hall
in the summer of 1996. Authorities believe Nordstrom shot Hardman and
Noel and that Robert G. Jones Jr. killed four other victims, although
both men were convicted of six counts of first-degree murder.

http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/hourlyupdate/306655.php

[Scott Cobb]

45. Petition to Rick Perry Regarding Todd Willingham

http://camerontoddwillingham.com/?page_id=6

A petition to Governor Rick Perry and the State of Texas to acknowledge that the fire in the Cameron Todd Willingham case was not arson, therefore no crime was committed and on February 17, 2004, Texas executed an innocent man.