Davis/MacPhail Truth Committee: February 2014

WRONGFUL EXECUTION -- Cameron Todd Willingham was an innocent man who Texas executed on February 17, 2004. The Innocence Project recently uncovered evidence that Webb, the state's witness against Willingham, was promised a reduced sentence to implicate Willingham. Willingham was convicted for arson deaths of his three children by (1) faulty science and (2) Webb's testimony. Saying "DEATH to the DEATH PENALTY" is the only way to guarantee that innocent people are never executed.

Webb recanted prior to Willingham’s execution, stating that he had been forced by John Jackson, the then-district attorney, to provide false testimony in exchange for favorable treatment in the form of a reduced robbery charge in his own criminal case. Willingham’s lawyer was never told of Webb’s recantation. Willingham was murdered by Texas, and John Jackson became a judge. He has now retired.

Innocence Project reports developments in "New Evidence Emerges in Texas Wrongful Execution Case"
http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/New_Evidence_Emerges_in_Texas_Wrongful_Execution_Case.php

NY Times reported that Willingham's cousin Patricia Cox said that if an exoneration does occur, the family has no plans to press for damages. “We’re not asking compensation,” she said. “We’re asking justice.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/us/evidence-of-concealed-jailhouse-deal-raises-questions-about-a-texas-execution.html

The University of Michigan Law School Innocence Clinic says most wrongful convictions are caused by:

Eyewitness Misidentification
Junk Science
False Confessions
Government Misconduct
Lying Snitches
Bad Lawyering

Willingham was wrongfully convicted and executed because of junk science, government misconduct, and a lying snitch who later recanted his testimony, but the justice system was not interested in the truth.

Other articles by this writer about Willingham's murder by Texas:

The Wrongful Execution of Cameron Todd Willingham

http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/09/execution-of-cameron-todd-willingham.html

Cameron Todd Willingham's Wrongful Execution - and Others

http://freespeakblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/cameron-todd-willinghams-wrongful.html
Also featured by "Break All Chains" blog

http://breakallchains.blogspot.com/2009/11/cameron-todd-willinghams-wrongful.html

Help Todd Willingham Rest in Peace - Clear the Name of Wrongly Executed Texan ~ Care2 News

http://www.ddb.aspca.org/news/member/513396753/1247802

Thank you to all employees and supporters of the Innocence Project who fight wrongful executions every day.