Blog #7: Todd Willingham - Arsonist or Innocent?

    In Texas, capital punishment, or the execution of a convicted criminal (mostly imposed on murderers) (Newell),  some would say "reflects a heritage of frontier justice" (Walpin) as we continue to lead the nation in execution rates. There are many reasons why Texas has become "ground zero for capital punishment", but for legal reasons, more particularly because "there are three procedures unique to [Texas'] judicial system that enable[s] it to execute convicted murderers with astonishing frequency" (Walpin):

1. "Texas' appellate judges are elected to office and hence serve according to the pleasure of the public." While these elected judges nearly "require a record of toughness on criminals... there are many indications that elected appellate judges generally are of lesser quality than their appointed counterparts in other states" as most of these judges seem to "not carefully consider the complexities of each specific death penalty case.... [and] tend to dismiss habeas corpus appeals even in cases where there appears to be glaring unanswered questions about the defendant's guilt" (Walpin).

2. "Texas does not have a public defender system for indigent defendants, and instead relies upon court-appointed lawyers who likely do not have experiences in capital murder defenses or appeals. While "bad lawyering is hard to prove[,]... the amount the state is willing to pay lawyers for these appeals is sufficiently low" (Walpin) so, it makes "bad lawyering" seem a bit more believable in most cases.

3. "Until the early 1990's, Texas did not permit jurors to adequately consider mitigating evidence in the sentencing phase of the trial." Meaning,  "people currently on death row that may well not be there had information about their mental illness or youth been weighed" (Walpin). 

     On December 23, 1991 in small-town Corsicana, Texas, the home of Stacy and Todd Willingham went up in flames while their three little girls were still inside.  Stacy was out shopping when Todd was left at home with the children. With the Willingham's neighbors as witnesses, Todd was discovered outside, panicking for his daughters' lives, but seemed reluctant to go back inside after them, even after the neighbors advised him to attempt to save them (Wiser). By the time the fire department arrived, it was too late for the three little girls. Later, the fire department (who's job is to extinguish fire), not some sort of an arson or fire science specialist (who would be truly educated with the properties of fire) served as a kind of scene investigator, so most of the evidence that the firemen believed to be seen as proof of arson (such as "pour patterns" on the floor), were strictly observational (and later disproved)(Wiser). Unfortunately for Todd, he also had a reputation for abusing Stacy, and in addition to his questionable behavior revolving around the incident,  the initial evidence collected by the fire department was enough to suspect Todd Willingham as an arsonist and a murderer. 
     During his trial (he was twenty-three at the time), his attorney urged him to plea guilty to avoid the death penalty (bad lawyering, anyone?), but Willingham refused. As the trial went to the jury, a former prison mate testified against him (and later recanted his testimony, then, recanted his recantation). Although this prison mate was known to be untrustworthy, the jury still found Willingham guilty and received the death penalty with at least "20 indicators of arson"(Wiser).
     Gerald Hurst, a leading fire science expert and chemist, decided to further investigate Willingham's case, and found many flaws within the so-called arsonist act, and concluded that the fire, had it been properly investigated initially, would have been found to have been ignited accidentally; that there was no real proof tying Todd to actually starting the fire (Wiser). Just days before Todd's execution, Hurst sent an appeal to Governor Rick Perry in an attempt to delay the execution to prove Willingham's innocence. Unfortunately with Willingham's reputation as an alleged wife beater, in addition to the initial evidence, Governor Rick Perry decided not to jeopardize his own reputation, and "[dismissed the] habeas corpus [appeal to delay the execution]" even though there were remaining  "unanswered questions about the defendant's guilt" (Walpin). 
     As much as I would like to convince myself that Willingham was guilty, the evidence gathered proceeding his death row sentence implicate not an act of arson, but an act of cowardice and consequent guilt. This does not mean that he was an altogether innocent guy, but I believe the evidence that Hurst rebuked seemed worthy enough to reconsider this man's life. So, although I can agree that Willingham could have been at times a bad man, and at first glance the incident may seem questionable, I believe that he was not guilty. It's in cases like these that Texas' streamlined "process between conviction and execution" (Walpin) makes it too easy to wrongfully convict a person.


Citations

Newell, Charldean, David F. Prindle, and James W. Riddlesperger. Texas Politics. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.

Walpin, Ned. "Why Is Texas #1 In Executions?" PBS.com. Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 08 May 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/execution/readings/texas.html>.

Wiser, Mike, and Micheal Kirk. "Death By Fire." Frontline. Dir. Jessie Deeter. Prod. Jessie Deeter. PBS. WGBH, Boston, 19 Oct. 2010. PBS.com. Public Broadcasting Service, 19 Oct. 2010. Web. 08 May 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/death-by-fire/>.