Thursday, August 12, 2010

Killing The Innocent

Junk science? Another inmate on death row fights to disprove arson - CNN.com:

..."The board's announcement raises a frightening question: Could the state of Texas have executed an innocent man?

Like Willingham, Dougherty has maintained his innocence from the start. He is trying to prove he isn't responsible for the flames that engulfed his house and that he is also the victim of flawed arson science.

'We have an innocent man on death row who has been languishing there, and there is absolutely no evidence that a crime occurred,' said his attorney, David Fryman. 'We've been trying our best to right that wrong.'

Todd Willingham said he was innocent but was executed in February 2004 for the arson murders of his three kids.

Dougherty and his attorneys at Ballard Spahr in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, are waiting on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to decide whether to hear his petition for post-conviction relief filed in 2006. A crucial element of the appeal is the reports of two arson investigators who have re-examined the evidence and found no conclusive indicators of arson..."

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