From: African-Americans in Higher Education
[mailto:afam...@listserv.muohio.edu] On Behalf Of John Lindsay
Sent: Monday, August 31, 2009 11:03 AM
To: afam...@listserv.muohio.edu
Subject: [AFAMHED] Texas Executed an Innocent Man
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:42:46 -0500
From: i...@innocenceproject.org
To: jcli...@msn.com
Subject: Texas Executed an Innocent Man
Innocence Project News August 31, 2009
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New Reports Show that Texas Executed an Innocent Man in 2004
Cameron Todd Willingham
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A new investigation shows that Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in
Texas in 2004 after spending 12 years on death row, was innocent. An
exhaustive report published today in the New Yorker deconstructs the case
against Willingham and finds that all evidence used against him was false.
"There can no longer be any doubt that an innocent person has been
executed," Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck said today. "The
question now turns to how we can stop it from happening again."
Read <http://ip.convio.net/site/R?i=btUKZpvJNIB3LN3Dgb9qXA..> the full New
Yorker story here.
Willingham was convicted in 1992 of setting a fire that killed his three
children (including two-year-old Amber, pictured on Willingham's shoulders).
He proclaimed his innocence throughout his trial and refused an offer to
plead guilty in exchange for a life sentence, saying "I ain't gonna plead to
something I didn't do, especially killing my own kids."
The new report comes three years after the Innocence Project released
analysis from the nation's leading arson experts that the evidence against
Willingham was invalid. Documents obtained by the Innocence Project also
show that Texas officials ignored convincing evidence of Willingham's
innocence in the days leading up to his execution. The Innocence Project
submitted this evidence of forensic error to the Texas Forensic Science
Commission, which agreed to investigate the case in 2007.
Last week, an independent arson expert contracted by the commission
submitted his report, finding that the arson evidence in Willingham's case
was wrong. The commission is reviewing the report and will release its
findings next year.
For <http://ip.convio.net/site/R?i=B_serkI_X44a_l-tygTiLA..> background on
the case and links to media coverage, video and more, visit the Innocence
Project website.
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