By Janet Jacobs
The Corsicana Daily Sun
AUSTIN — By appointing a new slate of commissioners to the Texas Forensic Science Commission Wednesday Gov. Rick Perry wasn’t interfering with the commission, he was just doing “business as usual,” said a spokesman Friday.
Perry replaced two members, and still has a third to name to the board that deals with errors in forensics investigations. The changes came two days before the commission was to undertake its first case, which is that of Cameron Todd Willingham, tried and convicted 17 years ago for murdering his three children in a house fire. Willingham was executed five years ago, but anti-death-penalty advocates have taken up his cause, claiming Texas killed an innocent man and calling for the end to the ultimate punishment.
The board had contracted with Craig Beyler, an arson specialist from Baltimore to review the case, and on Aug. 17 he issued a very critical report saying that the investigation was poorly done. Questioning Beyler was the first significant item on the commission’s agenda for Friday, but the meeting was canceled when the board members were replaced.
The three commissioners’ two-year terms had expired on Sept. 1, and although the governor originally appointed the three members, and reappointed them two years ago, Perry chose not to return them to the board.
“It’s a routine matter,” said Chris Cutrone, deputy press secretary to the governor. “We don’t always just reappoint people. The governor has to make thousands of appointments every year, and some people get reappointed and some don’t. It’s just business as usual.”
Cutrone said the issue wasn’t related to the Willingham case, but added that the governor has confidence in the fire marshal’s original investigation.
“Governor Perry has reviewed the totality of the facts of the case, and has stood by the conclusions reached by the courts and the Texas Supreme Court that Mr. Willingham was guilty and no further review was necessary,” Cutrone said. “To suggest the arson testimony was the only evidence presented to the jury is grossly inaccurate. The jury also heard testimony of inaccuracies in Willingham’s statements.”
He added that under state law the governor cannot pardon or commute a sentence without a recommendation from the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.
“The parole board never recommended clemency for Willingham,” Cutrone said.
On Wednesday, Perry appointed Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley as the new chairman of the board. His first action was to cancel the Friday meeting, to give the new members a chance to catch up.
Norma Jean Farley, a Harlingen pathologist was named to the seat held by Aliece Watts, quality director at Integrated Forensics Laboratories in Euless. A third position remains open, since Perry declined to reappoint defense attorney Samuel Bassett, the former chairman of the board.
The nine-member board was created in 2005, but only got start-up money two years ago. They spent the first years setting up the forensics office, establishing protocol and then contracting with the experts, such as Beyler, according to Watts.
Copyright 2009