Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina sent the Houston Chronicle an op-ed on Gov. Rick Perry’s handling of the Cameron Todd Willingham execution and the investigation into whether Willingham was innocent:
The question, Governor Perry, is NOT whether or not Cameron Todd Willingham was a “bad” man. The question sir is whether or not justice was served? Was he guilty of the crime that resulted in his execution? You are not jury and judge! You are, for the moment, our governor whose job it is to see that our laws are faithfully executed.
Your behavior is beyond reprehensible. Your action here adds to the mounting body of evidence that you give lip service to life and have repeatedly abused your office and the public trust.
From Medina’s op-ed in the Houston Chronicle:
Now we learn that you are working overtime to suppress testimony that speaks to the accuracy of a verdict that sent a man to his death in 2004. This case is not about Cameron Todd Willingham’s character, his relationship with his wife or his employment status. It is about whether or not the evidence used to convict him of arson in a fire that resulted in the death of his three children was, in fact, arson. While that evidence will not change the outcome for Mr. Willingham, it could effect evidence and testimony in future cases and could dictate that the convictions of numerous individuals currently incarcerated on similar evidence be reviewed.
Were there not many judges and a jury already reviewing this case? It appears Ms. Medina is jumping on the get Perry bandwagon.
Most govenors are reluctant to over rule the jury and the judges who reviewed the cases. You know, kind of like Bill Clinton when he did not stop the execution of a death row prisoner who was mentally retarded.
Re: Mike43
Cameron Todd Willingham did not have a competent attorney until his direct appeals were already exhausted. Attorney Reaves took over the case and was later directed to Dr. Gerald Hurst, the first of nearly a dozen fire experts to examine the case and determine there was no evidence of arson. Dr. Hurst's report was not completed until shortly before the execution was scheduled to happen.
The new information should have warranted a stay of execution until it could be adequately reviewed.
Instead, the man is dead. And he was surely innocent.