Houston Chronicle: Chronicle sues Perry over clemency report

[Heidi]

Oct. 27, 2009, 7:41PM

AUSTIN — The Houston Chronicle and Hearst Newspapers LLC are suing Gov. Rick Perry in an effort to force the release of a clemency report Perry received before denying a stay of execution to Cameron Todd Willingham.

The report is a summary and status of the case against Willingham that was given to Perry at 11:30 a.m. on the day of Willingham's 2004 execution in the fire deaths of his three daughters. Anti-death penalty advocates say modern fire forensics show the blaze cannot be proven as arson.

Perry's office has refused to release the report, claiming it is a privileged document. The clemency document was used by Perry in the process of deciding whether to give Willingham a 30-day stay of execution.

“When it comes to human life, there is no place the governor should be more transparent in his decision-making,” said Jonathan Donnellan, an attorney for Hearst and the Chronicle.

“It should raise eyebrows that the governor is seeking to shield communications with his advisers as ‘legal advice,' when the very idea of executive clemency power is to make a policy decision after the legal process has run its course,” Donnellan said.

Willingham was put to death shortly after 6 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2004, just 88 minutes after the Governor's Office received an expert's report that the fire that killed Willingham's children could not be positively attributed to arson. It is unknown whether the report by Perry's general counsel included any mention of the arson controversy in the Willingham case.

<snip>

A renewed controversy over the Willingham case erupted recently when Perry replaced members of the Texas Forensics Commission who were looking into the case to see whether standards for arson investigations could be improved. But their removal halted the investigation, sparking accusations the governor was trying to cover up an investigation into whether Willingham was innocent.

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[Solly Mack]

1. k/r

[TexasObserver]

2. "Perry's office has refused to release the report, claiming it is a privileged document."

This should be good.

[kalli007]

3. Perry's going down........

that is all :)

[Heidi]

4. Belated welcome to DU, kalli007!

:hi:

[Javaman]

8. Let's hope. I'm so tired of our state being represented by that moron.

but then again, we still have kay baily moron and john cornhole.

It's a long road.

[sonias]

5. Hopeful that the Chronicle can prevail

The scary part of this is that the Texas courts are not known for doing the right thing. We already know that our practically worthless Texas A.G. is simply going to cover for Perry. I hope the Chronicle is prepared to take this to the highest courts - outside of Texas.

This is a related story on the blood thirsty Perry and the broken capital system in Texas:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/metro/6673053.html">Houston Chronicle 10/18/09
Perry uses clemency sparingly on death row
Governor has never called off an execution on a claim of innocence

(snip)
Texas has executed 200 convicts under Perry's watch, but he has spared just one condemned man's life in a case in which he was not compelled to do so by the U.S. Supreme Court. In that case, the inmate Perry saved in 2007 was not a killer but the admitted driver of a getaway car, condemned alongside the triggerman in a joint trial under Texas' tough “law of parties.”

(snip)
In Texas, alone among the states that use parole boards for execution cases, the board never meets to review applications from the condemned. Instead, its members vote via fax. Efforts to reform the process have been unsuccessful.

(snip)
Only rarely has the Texas parole board recommended commutation of a death sentence without a high court mandate. But it did so in May 2004.

Kelsey Patterson shot and killed two people in Palestine in 1992 and then returned home, laid down his gun, removed everything but his socks and began walking up and down the street. Though found competent, Patterson, a paranoid schizophrenic, ranted at trial about devices planted inside him. As his execution approached, Patterson failed to recognize his lawyers. The board voted to spare his life.

Perry sent him to his death.

Perry listens to no one but himself. He's more arrogant than even bush was.

Sonia

[Hepburn]

6. Maybe try a feddie court instead?

On a theory of deprivation of civil rights? If the state courts don't work, hopefully a feddie court would. Or...how about going to a relative and getting a release?

This needs to come out and I sure as hell hope Perry gets his ass burned for the immoral conduct he did and he is trying to hide.

[sonias]

7. One would hope

I'm not sure where the lawsuit goes first. I'm guessing a state court since this is a public information request. Then it probably goes all the way to our Texas Supreme Court, if appealed. Our TX Supreme Court is also worthless, but very pro-business. Maybe they rule for the corporation Hearst over Perry?

“When it comes to human life, there is no place the governor should be more transparent in his decision-making,” said Jonathan Donnellan, an attorney for Hearst and the Chronicle.

“It should raise eyebrows that the governor is seeking to shield communications with his advisers as ‘legal advice,' when the very idea of executive clemency power is to make a policy decision after the legal process has run its course,” Donnellan said.

Perry's arrogance is amazing. He's on Dick Cheney's level on that one. He says the clemency report contains nothing that isn't already in the public record, but refuses to release it. He's claiming some kind of executive privilege and that G.W. and even Ann Richards did the same. I don't care if that's true. We've probably never been at this point - when everything about a capital punishment case has gotten this much media attention.


I agree with the Chronicle's lawyer on this one. These documents should not be private. This is too important a decision and should be completely transparent.

Sonia

[myrna minx]

9. K&R n/t