Gov. Rick Perry: Cameron Todd Willingham "Was A Monster"

Texas Governor Rick Perry insisted again on Wednesday that the execution of Cameron Todd Willingham was appropriate and that Texas did not, contrary to growing opinion, execute an innocent man. Critics allege that Perry used his political power to stymie an investigation into the case.

Perry stifled a panel reviewing Willingham's execution by abruptly removing three people from the group 48 hours before the review, forcing its cancellation. A fire expert who challenged the arson investigation and one of the ousted commission members are speaking out.

"Sadly, the political influence which has been exercised with respect to the commission has compromised the integrity of the enterprise," Baltimore fire expert Craig Beyler said in an e-mail to commission coordinator Leigh Tomlin and ousted Chairman Sam Bassett. "He had a personal role in the Willingham case," Beyler wrote. "Under these circumstances, he should have recused himself from making appointments. His failure to recuse himself is both unethical and injurious to the cause of justice."

The ousted head of the review panel says he felt pressured by Gov. Perry's aides to shut down the probe. The Houston Chronicle reports:

Lawyers representing Gov. Rick Perry on two occasions grilled Austin lawyer Sam Bassett on the activities of his Texas Forensic Science Commission, telling him its probe into a controversial Corsicana arson case was inappropriate and opining that the hiring of a nationally known fire expert was a "waste of state money," the ousted commission chairman said Tuesday.

Bassett, who served two two-year terms as commission chairman before Perry replaced him on Sept. 30, said he was so concerned about what he considered "pressure" from the lawyers that he conferred with an aide to state Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, who reassured him "the commission was doing what it's supposed to do."

Basset added that he was told by aides that the group "should be more forward-looking, more current rather than examining older cases."

Perry stood his ground. "Willingham was a monster. He was a guy who murdered his three children, who tried to beat his wife into an abortion so that he wouldn't have those kids. Person after person has stood up and testified to facts of this case that quite frankly you all aren't covering," the governor told the Associated Press on Wednesday.

The Daily Beast takes a look at how Perry's handling of the Willigham affair could be impacting the Governor's chances for reelection -- money quote from Bob Stein of Rice University: "I don't think it's extreme to say it's a fight for the hearts and minds of the Republican Party."

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Comments

[MIVOTE]

That's awful!

[elucify]

I heard that more than 70% of Texans approve of the death penalty.

They're building that wall along the wrong border.

[ender2188]

First off, this is coming from a Texan, born and raised.

I despise this evil hearted man. I am against the death penalty to begin with but to attempt to delay and ruin an investigation into a questionable execution. I had a bit of pride in my state for going through old cases on death row and getting the facts straight with DNA evidence, but it disgusts me that my state's governor would trash an investigation into potential wrongdoing in a case where the potentially innocent convict is already dead. It's a truly embarrassing act, to himself, the Texas Republican Party, and the state in it's entirety.

[Wendy Johnson]

Rule 1. Perry's right.

Rule 2. If other evidence suggests to the contrary, see rule 1.

[Timothy2700]

Perry wanted to secede..THE TIME IS NOW!!!
Their OFF THE WALL IN TEXAS!!

[skipling]

I agree. Perry should secede and take all the teabaggers with him. No one else will follow, as Texas is going to turn Blue. Or I will, in frustration.

They can go to Oklahoma or rent a bus and head towards South Carolina, Alabama or Georgia, who ever will have them.

He may have trouble, though. Some people draw the line at dudes with pompadours, black turtlenecks and cowboy jackets-- he wears them, but not in a positive, Elvisy way.

[bones1955]

The death penalty is outlawed by most sane civilizations of the world, and we continue to kill human beings under the flag of the United States which we vow to be one nation under God! The hypocrisy that exist in this country is unbelievable. Were next to China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Malawi, Sudan......need I say more!

[mendelcrosses]

The Irony is that you are pro-life.

[gumbo1049]

I certainly dont want to live in texas
Maybe Texas should leave the Union

[MBryant]

Perry was elected on a platform of being a consistent successor to George W. and the two represent the most lethal governors of the last century in any state, Texas is now the capital punishment capital of the world. Bush went on to lead us into an unecessary war in Iraq which resulted in the unecessary deaths of ttens of thousands of Iraquis and thousands of Americans. It isn't just that he belives the deaths of others are a reasonable way to solve problems: the Iraq war and the death penalty don't solve anything. It's that Bush and Perry like the power of being able to control the deaths of others. "I'm the one who is strong enough to do what needs to be done (even if it doesn't need doing)" ... Chuck Norris nation...

[DoctorABC]

Texas governors are some of the politically weakest in the country. However, examinations into executions before they happen is one venue of power the Texas governor has, and Perry misused it. As Texan bred MSNBC Contessa Brewer mentioned, it's cases like this that makes a thinking person question the death penalty.

I'd also like to point out that a South Carolina DJ just got a posthumous pardon for two of his uncles who were executed for a murder they were no where near.

States make mistakes on who gets executed, despite forensics, especially when a politician rushes to justice. Then we, as citizens of that government, will be guilty of killing innocent people.

[steve-annie]

Irreversible mistake is enough of a reason to end the death penalty nationally. You don't even need to get into the ideological reasons for it. One innocent person executed impacts many innocent lives. How do we make that up to his/her family, friends, neighbors? Money damages cannot replace a son, husband, father, friend, etc.

[tploomis]

Don't confuse Perry with facts. He's already made up his mind.

[skipling]

Governor Perry is really a fringe candidate, and I'm not talking about his Western wear. He only got 39% of the vote during the last election and he's running to the hard, hard right to stir up the base. He is an embarrassment to me and millions of other in Texas who are democrats and working for Obama, and to turn Texas Blue.

To me, Kay Bailey Hutchison could be a more formidable candidate in the general election, even though she is a Bushie. She seems more measured and I think is popular across the state amongst those who aren 't paying attention.

Since Houston, Dallas, Austin and the Valley voted blue in the last election, I think we could take back the governor's race if we had a good candidate, particularly one with some deep pockets.
Democratic Houston Mayor Bill While is running for Kay Bailey's senate seat-- and he won the mayoral race by 91% -- that's even better than Gavin Newsom did in San Franciso.

We need a strong candidate to get the Republicans to "secede" from office. I hope it's not Kinky, though I like him, I think he is only out for himself, and didn't have enough concrete solutions to take seriously.

Anybody out there have any great ideas of how to get Governor Perry out of the Governor's mansion without calling in the Texas Rangers (again)?

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080721/moser

[SueInCA]

the only thing i can tell you would be illegal
We can send you Ahnold if that would help

[skipling]

How I wish the Terminator would enforce retroactive term limits.

[Rescisco]

Ah, the politics of death. A real portrait of the American soul.

[texfly]

Don't take him too seriously ... he's an Aggie! Gig im!

[MoreDimensions]

Here is the 17 page article detailing the case as posted in the New Yorker.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann?currentPage=1

[MoreDimensions]

Approximately 170 de@th penalty cases have been overturned due to DNA evidences. Only about 20% of De@th penalty cases have DNA evidence.

Via simple extrapolation the number of innocents executed would be about 680.