The Willingham arson investigator

The Statesman has a good story about former Deputy State Fire Marshal Manuel Vasquez, whose testimony helped convict Cameron Todd Willingham, and the status of the Willingham case with the Forensic Science Commission.

Spurred by John Bradley, the Williamson County prosecutor who was appointed chairman by Gov. Rick Perry midway through the case, the commission has asked Attorney General Greg Abbott to determine whether it has jurisdiction to investigate the Willingham case. Legal briefs were due last week, and Abbott’s opinion is due by July 30.

If Abbott gives the green light, the commission’s next step will be to draft a final report on its Willingham findings. Commission members declined to discuss the report or its contents, but judging by their earlier statements, there are two essential questions:

• Was the arson finding based on valid science?

• Were fire officials negligent in their investigation and trial testimony?

In the spotlight is Vasquez, who had 30 years of firefighting experience, including 17 years as an investigator, when he told jurors that he had discovered numerous signs of arson at Willingham’s house.

But thanks to improved scientific understanding of fire behavior, it is now known that Vasquez was wrong about several key points.

Those two questions have always been what the Forensic Science Commission is all about. We can’t fix problems that we don’t acknowledge that we have. By now it’s clear that the answer to question 1 is no, not at all. The answer to 2 is less clear, but I for one would feel better about absolving the State Fire Marshall of any blame for their ruling at the time if they would quit defending the original ruling of arson and admit that they know more now than they did then. How can we have any faith they’re not still doing it wrong if they won’t own up to it?

Anyway. If the Bradley nomination truly is dead, then he will be off the Commission by the time AG Abbott makes his ruling. If so, and if Abbott doesn’t continue the hatchet job for Bradley, we may finally be able to put this matter to rest. It never should have taken this long, but better late than never.

Related Posts:

This entry was posted in Crime and Punishment and tagged , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.