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Gov. Perry replaces head of agency investigating Texas arson findings
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| Contributor | DFWDem |
| Last Edited | DFWDem Sep 30, 2009 02:08pm |
| Category | General |
| News Date | Sep 30, 2009 02:00pm |
| Description | AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry has replaced the head of a state commission that is investigating a questionable finding of arson in the case that led to the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, just as the commission was due to hold a public hearing examining the case.
The commission had hired a nationally known expert whose review of the Willingham case was released last month. The author, Craig Beyler, called the investigation slipshod and determined that almost all of the evidence presented was based on junk science.
Beyler was due to address the commission, review his report and take questions at a meeting Friday in Irving. He had reached the conclusion that no credible evidence existed to believe that the fire, that killed three children, was caused by arson.
This week, the governor chose not to extend the terms of Austin lawyer Sam Bassett, former chair of the commission, as well as two others on the nine-member Texas Forensic Science Commission. The new commission chair promptly cancelled Friday's meeting on the Beyler report.
The Willingham case, in which his three young children died in a 1991 Corsicana house fire, has drawn national attention. Anti-death penalty advocates consider it the likeliest case in recent decades in which an innocent man was executed. |
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