More Delays from Texas Forensic Panel

After almost a year of meeting to review forensic issues plaguing Texas and the Cameron Todd Willingham arson case, the state’s Forensic Science Commission decided Friday to push this controversial discussion to the fall.

The commission, which has stalled on the Willingham investigation ever since Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley was named chairman in September, will once again delay presenting its findings.

The subcommittee Bradley appointed in April to review Willingham’s case urged the commission to find that no forensic negligence was involved in Willingham’s conviction, but the full commission decided not to make any official finding. The subcommittee will prepare its final report and present it at a meeting prior to the next scheduled commission meeting, which is set for October 15. It is expected that the commission will then finally decide whether to fully investigate the case or remove it from the agenda. Willingham’s cousin and his stepmother traveled from Oklahoma to be at the meeting and speak during the public comment section, along with Innocence Project’s Co-Director Barry Scheck and Policy Director Stephen Saloom.



Read Saloom’s blog post on the commission here

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Media coverage:



CNN:

Texas state board says arson investigators used flawed science

Houston Chronicle:

Science Defeats DA 8-0

Houston Chronicle:

Panel Cites ‘Flawed Science’ in Arson Case

Austin American-Statesman:

Commission: No negligence or misconduct by investigators in fatal fire