Shout this name from the rooftops, Todd Willingham. He was innocent and Texas killed him. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in 2006, wrote that, in the modern judicial system there has not been “a single case–not one–in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an event had occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for it; the innocent’s name would be shouted from the rooftops.” Take part in our “Shout it from the Rooftops” campaign.

Sign the petition to Governor Rick Perry and the State of Texas to acknowledge that the fire in the Cameron Todd Willingham case was not arson, therefore no crime was committed and on February 17, 2004, Texas executed an innocent man.

Join the Facebook group Todd Willingham – Innocent and Executed: Shout it from the Rooftops.

Call Governor Rick Perry and leave him a message at (512) 463-1782.

The Chicago Tribune, which wrote a lengthy article about Todd Willingham in December 2004 that first brought the case to national attention, has a new article quoting the replaced chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, Samuel Bassett, saying that Governor Rick Perry pressured the committee.

Bassett told the Chicago Tribune that months earlier, he was twice called to meetings with the Republican governor’s top attorneys. At one meeting, he said, they expressed unhappiness with the course of the commission’s investigation.

“I was surprised that they were involving themselves in the commission’s decision-making,” said Bassett, an Austin attorney. “I did feel some pressure from them, yes.”

and

According to Bassett, the governor’s attorneys questioned the cost of the inquiry and asked why a fire scientist from Texas could not be hired to examine the case instead of the expert from Maryland that the panel ultimately settled on.

Following the meeting, a staffer from the general counsel’s office began to attend the commission’s meetings, Bassett said.

And although Bassett said he had hoped his work on the commission would focus solely on forensics, the meetings he described likely will add to questions about Perry’s moves.

Bassett told the Tribune the governor’s attorneys at the meetings were then-General Counsel David Cabrales and Deputy General Counsel Mary Anne Wiley, one of Perry’s top advisers on criminal justice issues. Cabrales, now in private practice, and Wiley referred questions to the governor’s press office. A Perry spokeswoman said the governor was not aware of the meetings and called them “regular, routine and expected.”

In December, Bassett’s nine-member panel voted to hire Craig Beyler of Hughes Associates Inc. to analyze the fire investigation and write a report. That report, made public in late August, contained withering criticism of the fire investigation, and added to a drumbeat of findings critical of the investigation.

Beyler was scheduled to discuss the case at an Oct. 2 commission meeting in Dallas, but three days before the meeting, Perry replaced Bassett and two other commission members, Alan Levy, a prosecutor from Fort Worth, and Aliece Watts, a forensic scientist. Perry named John Bradley, a conservative prosecutor, to replace Bassett as chairman.

Perry called the moves routine but was immediately criticized for actions that seemed aimed at reining in the commission.

Bradley’s first order of business was to cancel the public meeting early this month at which Beyler was scheduled to discuss his investigation with the commission.

The inquiry focuses on the fire investigation that led to the conviction and execution of Willingham, who was put to death in February 2004 for setting a 1991 fire that killed his three children in their Corsicana, Texas, home.

The Tribune, which learned of the case after Willingham had been executed, published a story in December 2004 that showed how the original investigation of the fire was deeply flawed, with state and local investigators relying on principles of fire behavior later disproved by advances in fire science.

After that report, the Innocence Project, a New York-based group, and national media outlets began to report on flaws in the case.

Bassett’s commission set out to conduct its own investigation.

But, Bassett said, Cabrales told him in February that the Willingham investigation was not the kind of work the legislature intended for the commission.

“I politely said that I’m not sure I agree with that but that I’m certainly willing to go back and look at the statute,” Bassett said. A week later, he sent Cabrales and Wiley a letter with a copy of the law creating the commission.

Wiley also questioned the cost of the investigation and, according to Bassett, called the pay to Beyler a waste of state money. Bassett said he defended Beyler as an independent expert. He said he also responded that the commission had unanimously voted to hire Beyler.

Another concern Bassett said he heard from Wiley was possible influence from the Innocence Project, a group that helps free innocent inmates.

Bassett, an attorney who practices criminal defense and family law in Austin, said he agreed about the potential for the Innocence Project to push its own agenda, but he defended the commission’s ability to act independently.

Bassett said he was called back to the general counsel’s office March 19. At that meeting, Wiley was more cordial, Bassett said, but she also talked about legislators’ concerns about the commission’s role and hinted the commission’s funding might be in jeopardy.

Wiley told Bassett the Willingham investigation should be a lower priority, he said. Other issues, including those directly dealing with crime labs, could be given more attention.

Beyler’s report was made public Aug. 24, and questions about how Perry had handled the case grew more intense. The commission planned to study Beyler’s report and write a report to be delivered after the new year.

Bassett had told reporters the commission’s report would focus on forensics and not decide Willingham’s guilt or innocence. He said he had not made up his mind about the case; it was possible, he said, that both sides in the death penalty debate could be dissatisfied with the commission’s final report.

He said he is reluctant to tie political motives to what happened. But he said it is a “reasonable conclusion” that the meetings, the commission’s push on Willingham and the dismissal of the three commission members are connected. Mostly, though, he said he is worried the commission will not be allowed to finish its work.

Sign the petition to Governor Rick Perry and the State of Texas to acknowledge that the fire in the Cameron Todd Willingham case was not arson, therefore no crime was committed and on February 17, 2004, Texas executed an innocent man.

According to a Sunday report from CNN:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has removed a fourth member of a state commission charged with investigating claims that an innocent man may have been executed, his office said.

The Texas governor has now replaced all of the four members that, under law, he is allowed to appoint to the commission. The remaining five members are appointed by the state’s lieutenant governor and attorney general.

Perry’s critics say his actions are politically motivated, a charge he denies.

According to an article in today’s Houston Chronicle, Texas Governor Rick Perry is refusing to release documents that could show whether or not he considered or even read the information sent to him on the day of the execution of Todd Willingham informing him that there was new evidence casting doubt on Willingham’s guilt and raising the question of whether Texas was about to execute an innocent man.

We must put pressure on Perry to release all information dealing with the Willingham execution. Rick Perry is continuing to hide information and cover up whether Texas executed an innocent person. The same information that Perry is now refusing to release has been released before. In 2003, there was an article by Alan Berlow in The Atlantic (“Texas Clemency Memos”) that discussed and contained copies of execution day memos sent to Governor George W Bush from his staff, including many written by his legal counsel Alberto Gonzales. According to Berlow:

Gonzales never intended his summaries to be made public. Almost all are marked CONFIDENTIAL and state, “The privileges claimed include, but are not limited to, claims of Attorney-Client Privilege, Attorney Work-Product Privilege, and the Internal Memorandum exception to the Texas Public Information Act.” I obtained the summaries and related documents, which have never been published, after the Texas attorney general ruled that they were not exempt from the disclosure requirements of the Public Information Act.

Call Perry’s office at 512 463 1782 and demand that he release all information.

Send him an email through his website here.

Sign the petition to Governor Rick Perry and the State of Texas to acknowledge that the fire in the Cameron Todd Willingham case was not arson, therefore no crime was committed and on February 17, 2004, Texas executed an innocent man.

Excerpt from the Chronicle:

In a letter sent Feb. 14, three days before Willingham was scheduled to die, Perry had been asked to postpone the execution. The condemned man’s attorney argued that the newly obtained expert evidence showed Willingham had not set the house fire that killed his daughters, 2-year-old Amber and 1-year-old twins Karmon and Kameron, two days before Christmas in 1991.

On Feb. 17, the day of the execution, Perry’s office got the five-page faxed report at 4:52 p.m., according to documents the Houston Chronicle obtained in response to a public records request.

But it’s unclear from the records whether he read it that day. Perry’s office has declined to release any of his or his staff’s comments or analysis of the reprieve request.

A statement from Perry spokesman Chris Cutrone, sent to the Chronicle late Friday, said that “given the brevity of (the) report and the general counsel’s familiarity with all the other facts in the case, there was ample time for the general counsel to read and analyze the report and to brief the governor on its content.”

A few minutes after 5 p.m., defense lawyer Walter M. Reaves Jr. said he received word that the governor would not intervene. At 6:20 p.m. Willingham was executed after declaring: “I am an innocent man, convicted of a crime I did not commit.”

Summaries of gubernatorial reviews of execution cases previously were released as public records in Texas, most recently under former Gov. George W. Bush. Yet Perry’s office has taken the position that any documents showing his own review and staff discussion of the Willingham case are not public — a claim the Chronicle disputes.

Plan to attend the 10th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty on October 24 in Austin at the Texas Capitol. We plan to deliver the petition that day. Members of Todd Willingham’s family are expected to attend the march and rally.

Todd Willingham was executed for arson/murder on February 17, 2004. He professed his innocence from his arrest until he was strapped down on the execution gurney. Now, we know for certain that he was telling the truth. On August 25, 2009, Dr Craig Beyler, the investigator hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission to review the Willingham case, released his report in which he found that “a finding of arson could not be sustained” by a scientific analysis (Read the report here). He concluded that the fire in the Willingham case was accidental and not arson. In fact, there was no arson, so there was no crime. Texas executed an innocent person. The proven execution of an innocent person should mean the end of the death penalty in the United States.

Send Perry an email by filling out the email form on his website.

You can also send Perry a letter in the postal mail to the mailing address:

Office of the Governor
P.O. Box 12428
Austin, Texas 78711-2428

You can also call him on the phone and leave him a message:

Information and Referral Hotline [for Texas callers] :
(800) 843-5789

Citizen’s Opinion Hotline [for Texas callers] :
(800) 252-9600

Information and Referral and Opinion Hotline [for Austin, Texas and out-of-state callers] :
(512) 463-1782

Office of the Governor Main Switchboard [office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CST] :
(512) 463-2000

Citizen’s Assistance Telecommunications Device
If you are using a telecommunication device for the deaf (TDD),
call 711 to reach Relay Texas

Office of the Governor Fax:
(512) 463-1849

More background information from CNN:

From the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:

AUSTIN — More than a week after announcing a shake-up on the Texas Forensic Science Commission, Gov. Rick Perry on Friday removed another member and named two appointees to the oversight panel, including Fort Worth criminal defense attorney Lance Evans.

Evans, 45, was named to replace Sam Bassett, an Austin criminal defense attorney who had served as chairman of the nine-member commission. Perry also removed Sridhar Natarajan, a Lubbock medical examiner, and named Bexar County Medical Examiner Randall Frost of Boerne as his replacement.

The latest reshuffling comes nine days after Perry removed Bassett and two other commissioners — Alan Levy, a prosecutor in the Tarrant County District Attorney’s office, and Aliece Watts, a forensic scientist who lives in Burleson.

The first wave of dismissals was announced as the commission was preparing to review expert findings challenging an arson investigation that led to the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham of Corsicana, who was convicted of capital murder for setting a house fire that killed his three daughters.

Perry has defended the commission changes, saying he is replacing members whose terms have expired. But critics have accused the Republican governor of attempting to gut the panel to avoid potentially embarrassing findings if the commission inquiry concludes that the state executed an innocent man.

We extend our congratulations to President Barack Obama for winning the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. By the end of President Obama’s term in office, we expect great changes that will benefit the entire world.

We urge President Obama to support a moratorium on executions in the United States in order to protect innocent people from being executed. We all recently learned that a person Texas executed in 2004 was innocent. Todd Willingham was an innocent person killed by Texas. Now, Texas Governor Rick Perry is trying to cover up the fact that an innocent person was executed.

We urge President Obama to initiate an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice into the execution of Todd Willingham and the role of Rick Perry in attempting to cover up the execution to benefit Perry’s own re-election.