Senators Question Commission Chair in Texas

The new chairman of the Texas Forensic Science Commission told members of the a Texas Senate Committee today that he intends to continue the commission’s investigation of the Cameron Todd Willingham case, but refused to give a timeline for the work.

John Bradley, who was appointed last month by Gov. Rick Perry to chair the commission, said he had not been directed to any course of action by the governor, and said he would work to maintain a tight focus on forensics in the panel’s work.

"The commission has to be very careful about the process that it develops so that we keep the focus … on forensic science and not on the criminal case," Bradley said.

At a press conference after the hearing, Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck urged Bradley and the commission to return quickly to the critical questions surrounding the forensics used to convict Willingham and to forensic practices still being used in Texas courtrooms.

"We want to find out if anybody else is in prison based on junk science," he said. "It's that simple."

Read more

. (Dallas Morning News, 11/10/09)

Watch video of the complete hearing and press conference

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