Experts puzzled over panel change



Perry defends removal of three on commission probing fire that led to 
a man's execution

By JEANNIE KEVER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 2, 2009, 12:03AM

For Democrats, it was an ah-ha moment, a suggestion that by abruptly 
removing three members of a forensic science commission Gov. Rick 
Perry was trying to derail an investigation into a case raising the 
disturbing possibility Texas may have executed an innocent man.

For other people, not so much.

“Unless there's real solid evidence that the guy didn't do it and 
Rick Perry's people screwed up a review, I can't see it becoming an 
issue,” GOP analyst Royal Masset said.

Political junkies spent Thursday trying to decode Perry's decision a 
day earlier to remove three political appointees from a once-obscure 
commission looking into the investigation of a 1991 fire that killed 
three children, for which their father was executed.
Talking to reporters at a campaign appearance in Austin on Thursday, 
Perry described the new appointments as “pretty normal protocol” 
prompted by the fact that the former members' terms expired three 
weeks ago.

“If you've got a whole new investigation going forward, it makes a 
lot more sense to put the new people in now and let them start the 
full process, rather than having people in there for a short period 
of time and then replacing them,” he said.

That didn't stop people from speculating on his motives and what 
impact, if any, the action might have on the gubernatorial campaign 
in a state where surveys show most voters support the death penalty.

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, running against Perry in the Republican 
primary, called the action “both disappointing and disturbing” in a 
statement released by her campaign late Thursday.

“The governor's actions have cast a cloud over the entire process,” 
she said.

Democratic gubernatorial candidates were less restrained.

“Wholly unacceptable,” Tyler rancher Hank Gilbert trumpeted in a 
statement. “This was a political decision by a governor who wanted 
(to) avoid criticism of the horrendous record Texas has regarding the 
execution of the innocent.”

“Very disturbing,” Fort Worth attorney Tom Schieffer agreed.
Effect on election?

But what, if anything, voters will make of the brouhaha, both in the 
March primary and in November, remains to be seen.

“I think for most Texans, this is an opportunity to sit back and milk 
the entertainment value as it goes forward,” said Cal Jillson, a 
political scientist at Southern Methodist University.

The case against Cameron Todd Willingham, sentenced to death for 
setting the fire in Corsicana that killed his three children, gained 
national attention after several respected fire experts criticized 
the initial investigation, which found the fire was deliberately set 
and pointed to Willingham as the culprit.

Willingham was executed in 2004 after Perry denied a stay of execution.
Effect on findings?

On Wednesday, two days before the Texas Forensic Science Commission 
was to hear from one of the experts, Perry removed three members and 
named replacements for two of them.

The new chairman, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley, 
canceled the hearing, saying he needed time to prepare.
Perry said he expects the investigation to continue but would not 
tell Bradley or other commissioners how to proceed. But critics — 
including some Republicans — suggested the new appointments will 
inevitably taint the commission's findings.

They aren't charged with determining whether Willingham was guilty, 
but whether the original fire investigation was reliable.
“If it turns out we executed an innocent man, that's bad and the 
state ought to be held accountable,” said Gary Polland, former 
chairman of the Harris County Republican Party and an attorney. But 
new evidence, and new interpretations of evidence, routinely come to 
light as scientific methods advance, he said.

The bigger issue, he said, is whether Perry was attempting to 
manipulate the process.

“The idea that we should change commissioners to avoid an outcome 
smacks of a cover up,” Polland said. “Why do that? If I advised the 
governor, I would have told him, ‘Let the commission finish their 
investigation and, whatever they come up with, they come up with.' ”

Still, he and other political observers said Perry is unlikely to be 
hurt by concerns Willingham was wrongly executed unless additional 
convincing evidence arises.

Texans still generally support the death penalty, Jillson said. “It's 
unlikely to become a cause celebre.”

Austin bureau chief Peggy Fikac contributed to this report.
jeannie.kever@chron.com

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6648024.html