Word: willingham
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...apparent cusp of the forensics board's re-examination of the evidence in the Willingham case, Perry has not only dropped forensics chairman Bassett but two other members of the body, Fort Worth prosecutor Alan Levy and forensics expert Aliece Watts, both of whom had written letters to Perry in support of Bassett continuing as commission head so their work could continue without interruption. Scheck compared Perry's failure to reappoint the three to the infamous Saturday Night Massacre of 1973 when President Nixon fired the special prosecutor investigating the Watergate scandal. But Perry's office said the changes were...
Much of the case for Willingham's innocence rests on the conclusions of two prominent forensic arson experts including Craig Beyler, who was scheduled to testify before the commission last week. But Perry's new forensics chairman, Williamson County district attorney John Bradley, a well-known, tough-on-crime prosecutor, cancelled last week's meeting on Willingham, saying he needed time to get up to speed on the commission's work. Beyler's testimony in the Willingham case has now been put off until Bradley sets a hearing, and he has not indicated when, or if, he will, saying...
Kerrigan says the members believe it is important for continuity to keep Bassett on board in order to wrap up not only the Willingham report, but also preside over several important roundtables aimed at improving forensics standards - part of a nationwide initiative prompted by a report on forensic shortcomings by the National Academy of Sciences. Bassett told TIME he was dismayed and puzzled by Perry's decision. "I certainly hope this change is not about political concerns," Bassett says...
...Perry stands by the decision to execute Willingham. "I am familiar with the latter-day supposed experts on the arson side of it," Perry told the Dallas Morning News last month. Over the weekend, his office told the Corsicana Daily Sun: "Governor Perry has reviewed the totality of the facts of the case, and has stood by the conclusions reached by the courts ... To suggest the arson testimony was the only evidence presented to the jury is grossly inaccurate. The jury also heard testimony of inaccuracies in Willingham's statements...
Still, last week's decision has prompted head-scratching by political observers, even those with ties to the Republican Party. The commission's final report on the Willingham case would not have been issued until late spring or summer of 2010, after the State Fire Marshal's Office would have responded to Beyler's report. The political reality is that the death penalty is unlikely to be an issue in the March Republican primary, says Bill Miller, an Austin political consultant, and it has never had much traction in fall contests, given the wide support for the penalty among both...