Is Perry in trouble?

... 200th Execution Under Texas Governor Rick Perry ... http://www.protest200executions.com/

Cameron Todd Willingham case: Expert says fire for which father was executed was not arson
Texas panel reviewing execution of father for setting deadly blaze
By Steve Mills
August 25, 2009
In a withering critique, a nationally known fire scientist has told a state commission on forensics that Texas fire investigators had no basis to rule a deadly house fire was an arson – a finding that led to the murder conviction and execution of Cameron Todd Willingham. The finding comes in the first state-sanctioned review of an execution in Texas, home to the country’s busiest death chamber. If the commission reaches the same conclusion, it could lead to the first-ever declaration by an official state body that an inmate was wrongly executed. Indeed, the report concludes there was no evidence to determine that the December 1991 fire was even set, and it leaves open the possibility the blaze that killed three children was an accident and there was no crime at all – the same findings found in a Chicago Tribune investigation of the case published in December 2004. Willingham, the father of those children, was executed in February 2004. He protested his innocence to the end ... http://archives.chicagotribune.com/2009/aug/25/science/chi-tc-nw-texas-execute-0824-082aug25

Trial by Fire
Did Texas execute an innocent man?
by David Grann September 7, 2009
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann?printable=true

Perry defends disputed '04 execution of Corsicana man
12:00 AM CDT on Saturday, September 19, 2009
... Perry, in Washington for a campaign fundraiser Friday and a speech Saturday to conservative activists, said during an hourlong session with reporters that he does not believe the state executed an innocent man ... "We go through a substantial amount of oversight" ... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/texassouthwest/stories/DN-perry_19tex.ART.State.Edition2.4bf3d78.html

Is Perry pulling a Nixon?
By LISA FALKENBERG Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Sept. 30, 2009, 11:50PM
... It would be a dangerous political liability for any candidate: The possibility that, as governor, Rick Perry presided over the execution of an innocent man ... Media reports by outlets such as the Chicago Tribune and the The New Yorker may have been easy for Perry to dismiss, or ignore. And likewise, perhaps, was last year's investigation by five experts commissioned by the New York-based Innocence Project, which found arson testimony at Willingham's trial to be based on outdated and invalid investigative criteria. But brushing off the bruising findings of Craig Beyler proved more difficult. Beyler, a nationally known fire science expert, was commissioned not by a newspaper or an advocacy group, but by a state commission chaired by Perry's own political appointee. So, when Beyler concluded recently there was no credible scientific evidence to support the finding that the Willingham fire was arson, and likened the investigative methods used to folklore and mysticism rather than science, it appears that the governor had to find a way to silence him ... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/falkenberg/6645910.html

October 1, 2009
David Grann: A Sudden Dismissal
... Beyler, who had been hired by the commission to review the original arson investigation, had determined that there was no scientific evidence that Willingham had set the fire that killed his three children, in 1991, and that the original investigators had relied on folklore and methods that defied rational reasoning. Several of the country’s other top fire scientists have reached a similar conclusion. Perry .. had been governor at the time of Willingham’s execution. Before the execution, Willingham’s lawyer had asked Perry to grant a stay based on a report from Dr. Gerald Hurst, a leading fire expert, who had concluded that “there is not a single item of physical evidence in this case which supports a finding of arson.” Willingham’s request, however, was denied ... http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2009/10/david-grann-a-sudden-dismissal.html

Editorial: Perry's Willingham delay
05:36 PM CDT on Thursday, October 1, 2009
... This has the stink of avoidance for political reasons. It sends the message – intentional or not – that the governor was displeased with the speed and direction of the inquiry ... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/editorials/stories/DN-death_02edi.State.Edition1.2b45746.html

Hearing on controversial Texas execution canceled
Thu Oct 1, 2009 4:11pm EDT
By Ed Stoddard
DALLAS (Reuters) - A state hearing into a scathing report about evidence used to convict a Texas man executed in 2004 has been canceled after Governor Rick Perry removed three members of the panel, raising concerns among activists who believe an innocent man was put to death ... http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE5906EB20091001

Conspiracy hypothesis to be tested
By RICK CASEY
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 1, 2009, 7:35PM
The politico-scientific hypothesis is simple: Gov. Rick Perry scuttled today's scheduled meeting in Dallas of the Texas Forensic Science Commission because it was sure to produce headlines claiming that in 2004 he authorized the execution of an innocent man ... One likely question, said Whitmire: Will Bradley reschedule the Willingham arson matter before the March primary? That likely will a laboratory test of the hypothesis that Perry appointed him as a political puppet ... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/casey/6647931.html

Perry defends removal of 3 before arson hearing
12:00 AM CDT on Friday, October 2, 2009
By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News
choppe@dallasnews.com
... On Wednesday, Perry decided to replace three members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, including its chairman, just two days before it conducted a hearing to examine the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. The new chairman canceled the meeting ... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/crime/stories/DN-perry_02tex.ART.State.Edition1.4be70be.html

Texas Governor Stymieing Panel Probing Flawed Death Penalty Case?
Zachary Roth | October 2, 2009, 12:35PM
... The panel, the Texas Forensic Science Commission, was scheduled to hear today from a nationally recognized arson expert it had hired, Craig Beyler, who had last month released a report which called the original probe slipshod. But on Wednesday, Texas governor Rick Perry abruptly removed three members of the commission. In their place, he appointed a new chair with a reputation as a hardline conservative prosecutor, who promptly canceled the hearing at which Beyler was to testify. Perry, a Republican, said that the terms of the ousted members were expiring, and called the move "pretty standard business as usual." But the ousted chair, Sam Bassett, told a reporter that he had heard from Perry's staffers that they were "concerned about the investigations we were conducting." And Bassett left no doubt that he had been willing to let the chips fall where they may, declaring: "In my view, we should not fail to investigate important forensic issues in cases simply because there might be political ramifications" ... http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/texas_governor_stymieing_panel_probing_flawed_deat.php?ref=mp

Perry’s Crime
... But Perry may have also committed a crime against the U.S., and I’m not talking about his secession threats. He may have violated federal law, U.S.C. 18.1001. This is no trivial matter. An innocent man was executed. Federal laws and guidelines are in place to keep that from happening. Perry may well have violated those laws and guidelines, for which there are criminal penalties ... http://www.dogcanyon.org/2009/10/02/perrys-crime/

Perry replaces 4th forensics board member
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 11 (UPI) --
Texas Gov. Rick Perry says he has replaced another member of the state board investigating allegations an innocent man was executed. Perry's office said Sunday he has named the fourth replacement member of the nine-member Forensic Science Commission since Sept. 30, the most he is constitutionally allowed to replace, CNN reported. Perry's critics charge the forensics board replacements are politically motivated as it is examines the case of Cameron Todd Willingham, executed in 2004 after being convicted of killing his three daughters in a 1991 house fire. Willingham's attorneys and supporters say Perry ignored late-emerging evidence that forensic evidence used to convict him was botched ... http://www.timesoftheinternet.com/118227.html

Perry's office won't release expert's report
10/11/2009
Associated Press
Gov. Rick Perry's office says its comments or analyses of an attorney's attempt to stop an execution based on an arson expert's opinion are not public records and is refusing to release the documents, a newspaper reported Sunday ... http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/APStories/stories/D9B92QUO0.html

Perry's office quiet on expert's arson report
By LISE OLSEN Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 11, 2009, 12:14AM
Just 88 minutes before the February 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, Gov. Rick Perry's office received by fax a crucial arson expert's opinion that later ignited a political firestorm over whether Texas, on Perry's watch, used botched forensic evidence to send a man to his death. In a letter sent Feb. 14, three days before Willingham was scheduled to die, Perry had been asked to postpone the execution. The condemned man's attorney argued that the newly obtained expert evidence showed Willingham had not set the house fire that killed his daughters, 2-year-old Amber and 1-year-old twins Karmon and Kameron, two days before Christmas in 1991. On Feb. 17, the day of the execution, Perry's office got the five-page faxed report at 4:52 p.m., according to documents the Houston Chronicle obtained in response to a public records request. But it's unclear from the records whether he read it that day. Perry's office has declined to release any of his or his staff's comments or analysis of the reprieve request ... http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6662113.html


Archiving Rick Perry's Cover-Up of Investigation into Execution of Todd Willingham
by: Phillip Martin
Tue Oct 06, 2009 at 06:05 PM CDT
... As the story grows bigger and bigger, it can become essential to find the most important news stories covering it - to archive the main points. Therefore, as a little lunch-time help for BOR readers, I present these must-read stories about Rick Perry's cover-up of the investigation into the exeuction of Todd Willingham ... http://www.burntorangereport.com/diary/9421/txgov-archiving-rick-perrys-coverup-of-investigation-into-execution-of-todd-willingham

Thanks for this diary.

Neither side is going to give this up. And with Perry trying to cover it up, it makes more important to the news services.

:kick:

Sonia

I think that the more media coverage this story gets, the more it will hurt Perry and the repubs. I just don't know to what extent.

Thanks for the great listing. We need to paste it and get it out to all.

Another day and another agency where Perry is micro-managing and using politics for rewarding/punishing people or groups. Surprised? No, I didn't think so.
:eyes:

Sonia

Texas GOP primary voters are the worst of the worst. They are the standard-setters for knuckle-dragging, mouth-breathing, tea-bagging, Obama-is-a-Socialist-who-was-born-Kenya conservative FREAKS. And they cannot stand Kay Bailey. They think Kay Bailey is a RINO. They don't even think, in fact, that Perry has been strong enough against immigration.

My prediction is that Rick Perry turns these people out to vote against Washington, bailouts, and KBH in a relative landslide, something on the order of 55-45. The ONLY way he loses is if the two candidates running to his right -- both favor secession, among other popular topics among that subgroup -- actually manage to pull 5 or 10% themselves, providing Hutchinson with an upset.

yes, they're capable of doing anything. That's very true.

But KBH could eat him up and spit him out on so many levels.

'course you can't discount the constituency for 'stupid'.

... a fair percentage -- 10% at least -- of the extremists vote for Medina and Kilgore, and enough conservative Dems abandon our candidates in the March primary and cross over to vote for her. If the two freaks total something like 5% then the crossover isn't enough to get her there.

Of worthy interest: Kilgore got 7.58% in the 2006 GOP gubernatorial primary. (Perry got 84.20.)

http://www.dkosopedia.com/wiki/Texas_gubernatorial_election,_2006

The "not-Perry" vote four years ago being nearly 16%, we're looking at a primary run-off if KBH gets to 40% -- which I think she can do. But I just don't think she can win a run-off against him. Short of another scandal that actually tars the governor -- amazingly, this cover-up of Willingham's innocence doesn't seem to be enough -- he's going to squeak back in as the GOP's nominee. Just my humble O.

And I believe this is a good thing for the Democratic nominee, whomever that may be.