Judge won't recuse himself from Texas arson case

A hearing to determine whether faulty evidence led to the wrongful execution of a Texas man began Thursday with the judge declining a request by prosecutors that he should recuse himself.

Judge Charlie Baird said he was persuaded to stay on the case by arguments presented by attorneys for some surviving relatives of Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004 for setting the fire that killed his three daughters at their Corsicana home.

Several fire experts have found serious fault in the arson findings that led to Willingham's 1992 conviction. If the judge clears Willingham, it would mark the first time an official in the nation's most active death penalty state has formally declared that someone was wrongfully executed.

Navarro County District Attorney R. Lowell Thompson, whose office successfully prosecuted Willingham, had asked Baird to remove himself and questioned his impartiality. Thompson said he planned to file an emergency motion to stop the proceedings and then left the courtroom less than 10 minutes into the hearing.

Attorneys for Willingham's family, backed by the New York-based legal aid center the Innocence Project, are seeking to clear him of the 1991 fire that killed his 2-year-old daughter and 1-year-old twins.

Innocence project co-founder Barry Scheck told the judge that the arson finding was "false, misleading and totally unreliable."

Lawyers and experts for the Innocence Project and Willingham swarmed the courtroom about 30 minutes before the hearing, lining up extra chairs behind the counsel table, readying multimedia presentations and shutting window blinds to make their videos easier to see. About 10 attorneys, including former Texas Gov. Mark White, and Willingham's relatives sat on one side.

At the other counsel table, sitting alone, was Thompson, the district attorney from Navarro County. After he left, the prosecutor's table was unoccupied.

Outside the courthouse, a small group of protesters from the Texas Moratorium Network carried signs and wore T-shirts proclaiming Willingham's innocence.

Stacy Kuykendall, Willingham's ex-wife, declined an invitation from Baird to testify at the hearing. She told reporters last week that Willingham confessed his guilt to her shortly before his execution — although Innocence Project lawyers say she has gone back and forth over the years on whether he confessed. Willingham publicly maintained his innocence.

"Unfortunately, every time the anti-death penalty advocates renew their crusade against capital punishment using this case, old wounds are opened up for her," wrote Johnny Sutton, Kuykendall's attorney, in a letter to Baird. "Todd Willingham is not a victim but a convicted murderer whose case was reviewed by numerous courts, including the United States Supreme Court. The true victims are Amber, Kameron and Karmon, and we need to remember them."

A jury in Corsicana, south of Dallas, convicted Willingham of capital murder. He was executed after Gov. Rick Perry turned down his final appeal despite evidence from a renowned fire expert that there was not enough evidence to support the arson determination.

Testimony from fire investigators was the primary evidence against Willingham. The defense did not present a fire expert because the one hired by Willingham's attorney also said the fire was caused by arson.

But the investigators' conclusions have been strongly challenged by several fire experts. Craig Beyler, the chairman of the International Association of Fire Safety Science and one of the foremost experts in the field, wrote in a report last year that investigators didn't follow standards in place at the time and did not have enough evidence to make an arson finding.

The opinions of a state fire official in the case were "nothing more than a collection of personal beliefs that have nothing to do with science-based fire investigation," Beyler wrote.

The State Fire Marshal's Office continues to stand behind the arson finding.

Source: AP, October 14, 2010