More evidence executed man may be innocent

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20140228/DAC8HJL81.html

Feb. 28, 2013

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The Innocence Project argued Friday that newly discovered documents undermine the credibility of a key witness against a Texas man executed for the deaths of his three children based in part on arson evidence that has since been deemed faulty.

The New York-based nonprofit said it has discovered a handwritten note that suggests a prosecutor gave a lesser charge to jailhouse informant Johnny Webb, who testified that Cameron Todd Willingham told Webb he killed his daughters in 1991.

That would contradict claims made at trial by Webb and prosecutor John Jackson that Webb did not receive consideration for his testimony.

"It's astonishing that 10 years after Todd Willingham was executed we are still uncovering evidence showing what a grave injustice this case represents," Barry Scheck, the Innocence Project's co-director, said in a statement.

Willingham's case has been scrutinized by advocates who argue the state may have executed a wrongfully convicted man. Fire science experts already have refuted much of the methodology used in his case.

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Jackson, a former prosecutor in Navarro County, south of Dallas, who later became a state district judge, has maintained that Webb did not receive leniency. He told The Associated Press on Friday that he had not seen the note, but believed it was likely referring to efforts he made to get Webb out of prison after Willingham's trial due to threats on Webb's safety.

"The file may certainly reflect that we tried to get sentencing shortened, but it had nothing to do with any agreement relative to the Willingham trial," Jackson said.

Jackson said imprisoned members of the Aryan Brotherhood had threatened Webb due to his role in Willingham's conviction.

"We certainly had an interest in not seeing a primary witness in the case killed while he was in prison," he said.

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A fire destroyed Willingham's home in 1991 and killed his three daughters. A state fire marshal who studied the scene testified at Willingham's 1992 trial that the fire was arson.

Scientists have since refuted much of the methodology used by arson investigators before 1992, including the techniques used by the fire marshal in the Willingham fire. Attorneys submitted new scientific findings to Gov. Rick Perry in 2004 and asked for time to reopen the case, but Perry allowed Willingham's execution to go forward that year. Willingham maintained his innocence until his death.

The Innocence Project has called for a posthumous pardon, but Perry has long declined to reconsider Willingham's guilt, calling him a "monster" who had killed his own children.

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