Death Penalty is

The Texas Forensic Science Commission is meeting tomorrow for the first time
in six months. This is the commission's first meeting since Gov. Rick Perry
suddenly replaced its chair and several of its members while it was in the
middle of an investigation into the case of Cameron Todd Willingham.

The Innocence Project will stream live video of the meeting on our website at:
http://www.innocenceproject.org/tfsc.

The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. (CST) on Friday, January 29, and is expected
to run several hours. Newly appointed commission chairman John Bradley decided
to hold the meeting in Harlingen, which makes it difficult for many interested
parties in the state to attend. Those who cannot be in Harlingen can watch the
meeting live online starting at 9:30 a.m. (CST).

The agenda for the meeting is at:
http://www.fsc.state.tx.us/documents/D_012910MeetingAgenda_000.pdf.

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David Brooks of the New York Times says that David Grann's article on Todd Willingham was the "most powerful essay" he read all year and worthy of a Sidney Award. Read his entire article "The Sidney Awards".

Every year, I give out Sidney Awards to the best magazine essays of the year. In an age of zipless, electronic media, the idea is to celebrate (and provide online links to) long-form articles that have narrative drive and social impact.

and

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"Postponed Justice" is the title of Jillian Sheridan's editorial in the Daily Texan.

The Texas Senate Committee on Criminal Justice held a hearing yesterday to talk with the Texas Forensic Science Commission’s new chairman, John Bradley. They discussed, among other things, whether or not Bradley is serving as a political pawn for Gov. Rick Perry and whether Bradley plans to resurrect the commission’s controversial investigation into the science used to convict and execute Cameron Todd Willingham.

Perry appointed Bradley to the commission this fall, abruptly replacing his former appointees two days before the commission was set to hear a report from nationally recognized arson expert Craig Beyler. Austin criminal defense attorney Sam Bassett, the forensic science commission’s former chairman, says the commission has paid Beyler approximately $30,000 to review the science used in Willingham’s case, according to the publication Texas Lawyer. Beyler had determined that science was used inappropriately to reach a conviction.

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In Austin tomorrow morning, the Texas Senate Criminal Justice Committee will question John Bradley, the newly appointed chairman of the state Forensic Science Commission, about the panel’s ongoing work. Before Gov. Rick Perry replaced four commission members, the panel was in the process of reviewing forensic evidence used against Cameron Todd Willingham, who was executed in 2004.

Click here to watch the hearing live Nov. 10 at 10 a.m. CST (11 a.m. EST)

Click here to watch the press conference live Nov. 10 at approximately 10:30 a.m. CST (11:30 p.m. EST)

(You will need Real Player to watch the events above online. Download it for free here).

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