Prosecutor under fire in contested Texas execution

[DonViejo]

Source: ASSOCIATED PRESS

DALLAS (AP) — The prosecutor in the case of a Texas man executed for the fire deaths of his three daughters faces new scrutiny from a New York-based nonprofit group accusing him of misconduct.

The Innocence Project announced Monday that it’s filed a state bar grievance against John H. Jackson, a former judge who prosecuted Cameron Todd Willingham.

Willingham was executed in 2004 for killing his three daughters in a house fire in Corsicana. But fire science experts have long said the original investigators were wrong in calling that fire arson. And a jailhouse informant who provided key testimony against Willingham tried to recant years before the execution.

The Innocence Project says Jackson and a local wealthy rancher tried to keep the informant from changing his story publicly. Jackson has denied wrongdoing.

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Read more: http://www.salon.com/2014/08/04/prosecutor_under_fire_in_contested_texas_execution/

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Informant Lied in Death Penalty Case

A blockbuster report Monday from The Washington Post reveals prosecutors got a jailhouse informant to lie about a capital murder case in exchange for a lighter sentence. In 1992, Cameron Todd Willingham of Texas was convicted of killing his three daughters by lighting their house on fire. Key to the prosecution’s case was testimony from Johnny E. Webb, who testified in court that Willingham told him how he started the fires. In 2004, Willingham was executed despite serious doubts about forensic evidence. Now, Webb says his testimony was coerced by prosecutor John H. Jackson, who arranged for Webb’s sentence to be lightened and to secure funds for him from a wealthy rancher. If this behavior had been exposed before Willingham’s execution, he may have been entitled to a new trial. The Innocence Project, a New York-based advocacy group, called for an investigation into Jackson’s conduct, charging he “violated core principles of the legal profession, and did so with terrible consequences ... the execution of an innocent man.”

Read it at The Washington Post

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http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2014/08/04/innocent-man-may-have-been-executed.html#sthash.flr0MiJO.dpuf

[Eric J in MN]

1. Jailhouse informant testimony should be banned.

A prisoner shouldn't be allowed to testify in court that another prisoner confessed to him while they were behind bars.

That testimony is usually false, motivated by an attempt at leniency.

[Nye Bevan]

2. +1. People will say anything to get their sentences reduced. (nt)

[msanthrope]

4. As a criminal defense attorney, I can't agree with that. But I do think a limiting jury instruction

that details the 'benefit' received by the prisoner should be included, I think the witness should be automatically regarded as hostile, and I think the prosecutor should have to detail the help promised in the future to prisoner. It should be grounds for appeal if the prosecutor provides a later benefit.

[Eric J in MN]

10. Lie detector testimony is banned. Jailhouse informant testimony is less reliable.

Why shouldn't jailhouse informant testimony be banned?

[msanthrope]

12. Because someone is a prisoner, it does not mean they are a liar. In fact, what you are arguing

could be used against the defendant themselves--after all, they are most likely a prisoner, too.

Lie detector testimony is banned on the basis of scientific reliability. There should be limiting instructions presented to the jury. And it should be an appeal point if it shown the prosecutor gives a later benefit to the informant.

[leftyohiolib]

15. Because someone is a prisoner, it does not mean they are a liar. maybe not but doesnt it call into

question any integrity they might have? if I hear prisoner testimony first thing I think is what is he getting in return for this.

[msanthrope]

16. Indeed..and that's why a limiting instruction by the judge, along with full disclosure, is so

important.

[4b5f940728b232b034e4]

27. They might not be a liar...

but the guards certainly could compel them to tell whatever story they want. It's the same reason torture is not reliable.

[1StrongBlackMan]

13. Absolutely ...

If the jail-house witness got something in exchange for the testimony, it should be known, and therefore weighed, by the trier of fact. And even in cases where the prosecutor is uninvolved, there are any number of reason the witness might give false testimony and where the convicted might falsely claim the crime. All of this should be explored.

[msanthrope]

14. Exactly--and I think "later benefit" should be an appeal point. nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

18. Many years ago ...

I encountered an inmate (6 weeks from going home) that everyone knew he committed a particularly qruesome assault (attempted murder) ... How? ... It was in all the papers and because he told anyone that would lesson about how he beat the victim practically to death "because the victim kept messing with (him)."

Turns out the reason he admitted to the crime was because he had no real alibi and the over-worked PD, offered no real defense. His thinking was he wanted to do his time as "someone that would snap and do something insane ... if pushed too far." That "admission" created a reputation that made for much better time than having to walk in the door and establish a reputation.

[msanthrope]

19. Beats having to kick the shit out of someone on the first day. nt

[1StrongBlackMan]

20. Or trying ...

in this particular case, I doubt the inmate upon entry could've kicked the sh!t out of an open paper sack! ... 12 years (and 4o lbs. of muscle) later, well, that's a different matter.

[davidpdx]

25. Good point

It provides transparency.

[DeSwiss]

3. NATIONOFLAWS.

- K&R

[Shrike47]

5. It's good that they are going after the former prosecutor. If he did what's alleged, he should

be disbarred.

Remember, however, this fellow inmate who now says he was bribed is an admitted liar.

There were other hinky things in this prosecution. It is the sum of all of them that makes it likely an innocent man was executed and the DA caused it to happen.

[iandhr]

6. Texas executed an innocent person?

I am shocked.

[hamsterjill]

7. The Innocence Project - something positive out of the O.J. Simpson trial

Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld worked on the O.J. trial and became well known!

They've done a lot of good since that time!

[christx30]

8. If true, that jailhouse

informant that lied should spend the rest of his life in jail. He helped kill an innocent man. He's just as liable as the crooked prosecutor.

[DhhD]

9. Another motive for not stopping the execution could be the release of a mildly abusive husband.

I believe paternal family members of the children were outspoken and insisted that the new evidence not be brought forward by officials. I believe that the governor was swayed by the types of people that did not want Willingham released and did not allow justice. That is my opinion.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/26/cameron-todd-willingham-t_n_300940.html

snip

At trial, Willingham's wife, Stacy, testified for him during the punishment phase, denying he ever hurt her. Acquaintances, however, said she told them he'd beaten her several times, even while she was pregnant.

more at site source

[jmowreader]

26. Wife beating is now an offense worthy of execution? WOW!

[DFW]

11. "Misconduct" ??

Usually, in Texas, the proper expression is conspiracy to commit murder.

The prosecutor needs to be tried for it. Perry is involved, as well, as he was very enthusiastic about getting Willingham killed ASAP.

[DhhD]

17. I believe that the brother-in-law wanted it done as soon as possible-ASAP.

Was the wife involved with the, ASAP others, also?

[El Shaman]

21. Perry

Delay 2016

[ColesCountyDem]

22. This is why we must join the rest of the civilized world and abandon capital punishment! n/t

[LarryNM]

23. There Needs to be a Public Defendant Equivalent to all Prosecutors

with the Same Resources and Authority. If the info is correct, the Prosecutor should be sent to Prison
for Life; No Immunity. Of course, these things can only happen in a Just and Humane World.

[McCamy Taylor]

24. Lighter sentence is one thing, but it sounds like he was paid money to testify and that has got to

be illegal.

[SkyDaddy7]

28. Maybe we should consider executing...

The prosecutor, the rancher & Rick Perry...ALL 3 were in on the cover up & simply wanted a dead body for political reasons...I remember it very well!!

I am normally against the death penalty but I am tired of these disgusting bastards murdering innocent people & never having their lives ruined...Or ended!!