Zeigler gets a new DNA hearing! The Orlando Sentinel reports that an Orange Circuit Judge has granted long-time death row inmate Tommy Zeigler an evidentiary hearing more than a year after the man convicted of killing his in-laws, his wife, and another man on Christmas Eve 1975 filed a Petition_and_Proposed_Order[1] in his case. The order granting […]
Actual Innocence
Stephen Saloom: Texas science panel chairman John Bradley is biased
Stephen Saloom, the policy director of the New York-based Innocence Project, said prosecutor John Bradley shows “a critically important lack of objectivity” in his approach to the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. Bradley has publicly called Willingham a “guilty monster.” Bradley is the chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, which is investigating whether fire […]
Willingham court of inquiry postponed until Oct 14, 2010
The district attorney of Navarro County sought the recusal of state District Judge Charlie Baird in a high-profile court of inquiry that was set to start today to determine whether Cameron Todd Willingham was wrongfully executed by the state of Texas for the deaths of his three daughters. The motion raised the possibility that the two-day hearing […]
“The petition warrants a hearing,” Judge Baird
The inquiry into the Willingham case will be held in his courtroom on Oct. 6-7, but Judge Baird said that it could be extended if necessary. Supporters of Cameron Todd Willingham hailed the Austin district judge’s decision last Monday to open a two-day court of inquiry next month. He will determine whether Willingham was wrongfully convicted and […]
Zeigler, Part XIV
After speaking with William Thomas Zeigler’s relatives, more information came out that shows that people have been tampering with the crime scene. When Mr. Zeigler arrived in the hospital for emergency surgery, law enforcement officers contacted the Zeigler family to let them know that he was shot. At that time, nobody yet knew where his wife […]
Florida moves to protect innocent people from wrongful convictions
Some of the most important movers and shakers in Florida’s criminal justice system huddled in Tallahassee today with a simple, yet critical mission: protect innocent people from wrongful conviction. The Florida Innocence Commission held its first meeting in what will be a two-year examination of how the state administers justice. There are clear problems. A […]
Why deny DNA testing?
“I can think of no good argument why anyone would be denied DNA testing” Prosecutors have opposed testing, and judges have refused it, but Ohio Governor Ted Strickland and Attorney General Richard Cordray wrote today to prosecutors in seven criminal cases urging them to allow DNA testing that could confirm guilt or prove innocence. The […]
Allen Porter free after 19 years
He spent half of his life in prison for a rape and robbery he did not commit. But last Friday, at the age of 39, Allen Porter is finally a free man. Porter’s case stemmed from a robbery and sexual assault at an apartment in southwest Houston on June 18, 1990. Three masked robbers burst […]
Political meddling and apathy in Willingham case
Political meddling and apathy in Willingham case has me despondent. A Texas state board said last Friday that arson investigators in the Willingham case used flawed science but were not negligent in an investigation that led to a controversial 2004 execution. The panel also said that investigators did not commit misconduct. Cameron Todd Willingham was […]
The 2004 Willingham execution
Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004 for a fire that killed his three daughters. Prosecutors argued that Willingham deliberately set the 1991 blaze — but three reviews of the evidence by outside experts have found the fire should not have been ruled arson. The last of those reports was ordered by the Texas Forensic […]