Texas Judge orders inquiry into Todd Willingham conviction and execution

Judge Charlie Baird of Travis County in Texas today ordered a court inquiry to determine if Cameron Todd Willingham (pictured left) was wrongfully convicted and executed for committing the arson which killed his three daughters in their Corsicana home in 1991.

Willingham was executed in Huntsville, Texas in 2004, despite always insisting that he was innocent. Since then, numerous arson experts have said that there was no reason to suspect arson and that Texas executed an innocent man. But the matter has yet to be resolved and Willingham has still not recieved justice (even if it is too little, too late). This inquiry could be a big step in the right direction.

Judge Baird told the Star-Telegram that he has decided to move forward with the court inquiry into the Willingham case after reviewing a petition filed Friday by lawyers representing Willingham's relatives. In a telephone interview, Baird said: "I have decided that the petition warrants a hearing". The inquiry will be held in his courtroom on October 6th and 7th, but may be longer if necessary.

"Obviously the most troubling aspect of this - and it just dwarfs everything else - is whether or not to believe that an innocent person has been executed by the State of Texas," the judge said. He also said that the inquiry could lead to Willingham's posthumous exoneration. He stated that he has no preconceived view of Willingham's guilt or innocence but felt that the questions raised by Willingham's case justified further examination.
"I agree with them that they're entitled to a hearing but I wouldn't say at any level that he's innocent," Baird said. "A lot of this stuff has either been done piecemeal or in secret and this will bring it all to light."

Due to appear at the trial is a jail trusy who testified that Willingham admitted the crime while in jail awaiting trial. Gov. Rick Perry's chief counsel, the Texas Fire Marshal, the Navarro County district attorney and the state prosecuting attorney may also attend but are not required to do so.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, completely ignoring all the new opinions from experts, of course, is continuing to avidly defend the execution, and happily describes possibly-innocent Willingham as a 'monster'. Those of us who believe Willingham was in fact innocent have accused Perry of interfering with the commission's inquiry by ordering a shakeup of the membership during a crucial phase of the inquiry (he did and it was a blatant way of sweeping the matter under the rug - guilty conscience Perry???). He disagrees. Well, he would. Remember Perry, when you point one finger and say 'monster', there are always three fingers pointing right back at you.

This inquiry can't be a bad thing, but I'm worried that if the findings are significant, the powers that be (the powers that just love the death penalty) will find another way to sweep this under the rug. I think they need to remember that a human life may well have been cut short for no good reason at all, and nothing in the world can change that - further more, it might happen again and we cannot let that happen. Willingham is dead and finding out the truth won't bring him back to life. But it will give his family some peace of mind. And if he becomes a martyr for the death penalty, as terrible as it is, at least his death might prevent further innocent deaths. That all depends on whether the powers that be down in Texas have the balls to admit they made a terrible mistake.
One way or another, Baird says he can make a ruling within 2 weeks of the conclusion of the inquiry.

Our plans for World Day Against the Death Penalty (10/10/10) - First pics

So... It's 20 days until World Day Against the Death Penalty so it's time to act people!

Myself and ScofieldBurrows have finally (and I'm sorry they're quite late in comming) uploaded our pictures. Left are the front and back of the rather wonderful t-shirt ScofieldBurrows is going to wear in our video march for abolition, and on the right is the photo I took - I made a placard out of a cardboard box and some paint, very easy, very quick and something which I know every one of you could do so no excuses! :)

If you don't already know, we're holding a 'metaphorical march for abolition' on World Day Against the Death Penalty (10th October) and we want everybody to get involved. Basically, we want everyone to send in a photo or quick video clip of themself protesting the death penalty (like in my photo top right). We're also hoping to make a video for the One Day on Earth project (onedayonearth.org) because it also happens to be on 10.10.10! To see more info about both of these ideas, see the two posts previous to this, but please send your photos/video clips for the video to deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk as quickly as possible - we need as many as we can get before October 10th! This is our chance to make a mark on the world... please get involved. It can be anonymous - as you can see from my pic, you don't need to show your face at all.

Thank you - start taking those pictures!

Important and exciting update for the 10/10/10...

Hi everyone. I would like to apoligize for the fact that neither myself nor ScofieldBurrows has put an example picture up for the Metaphorical March for Abolition on the 10/10/10. My excuse is that my mother has my camera and is out of town, but she's coming back Friday morning. ScofieldBurrows emailed me to inform me she's made a t-shirt on CafePress especially for the event and is waiting on its arrival to wear in her photo. We hope to both put our pictures up for the weekend.

We haven't recieved any photos from you yet but I'll put that down to myself and Scofield having yet to upload. But we really want to start seeing photos coming in as soon as possible. October 10th may seem far away but it's actually only 24 days from now so please get invovled, we want this to be BIG especially now that we're going to be making the project even BIGGER!!!

ScofieldBurrows got an email earlier telling her about an event which is coincidently also happening on the 10/10/10! It's called 'One Day on Earth'. This is what she forwarded me:

If you haven't heard of the One Day on Earth project, it's time you did. On October 10th (10.10.10), people in every nation of the world will be documenting a topic that matters most to them over a 1 day period to contribute to a unique film and archive. Participants that contribute 1 minute or more will receive the film for free and access to the non-commercial downloadable archive. If you're game for a cool, easy and history-making project to participate in, this is the one for you.


How cool is that? The website is http://www.onedayonearth.org/ if you want to know more but I think this is the PERFECT opportunity for us to 1. Promote awareness of death penalty abolition and 2. Promote our organization. The fact that it falls on World Day Against the Death Penalty is just the icing on the cake! So we thought we could make another version of the video we're making for YouTube about our Metaphorical March for Abolition, possibly even with an introduction from myself and/or ScofieldBurrows? I think this is a fantastic opportunity. What do you think?

If you like this idea, show it! Send your photos or short video clips of you protesting the death penalty (by holding up a poster, banner, etc - can cover your face if you want) to deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk. Or you can put them somewhere on the internet and send me the link if you want. I don't care how you get involved, just please do! We're aiming high here... We'd like 50 people to have participated by October 9 when we make the video up... Get your friends involved, your family, your robot... GET INVOLVED!

You are Death Watch; Stardoll and this is your chance to showcase how great you are!

Our plans for World Day Against the Death Penalty (10/10/10)

M'kay then people, let's get to work. Here are our preliminary plans for probably the most important date in our calender this year, World Day Against the Death Penalty on October 10th, one month from now.

Obiously we're a comparitively small organization with zero funding, so we can't do anything major. But we can still make a difference. As they say, every little helps!

The Plan:

First of all, we plan to hold our first ever 'Metaphorical March for Abolition'. We can't literally have a march because we're scattered all over the globe, but we can 'march' symbolically.

To do this, we're asking all our members who want to get involved (we'd hope that's all of you!) to take a photo or even a quick video clip of you 'marching'. The pictures to the left are of former protests, I think they're both from last years 10th Annual March Against the Death Penalty in Austin. We want to make up a video for our YouTube channel of us 'marching'. You can represent your feelings in any way - a placard or a banner, doesn't have to be much, even just a sheet of paper with your message on it. Your message doesn't have to be Shakespeare - 'end the death penalty' is fine. Stop executions. Etc. Whatever you want. If you're uncomfortable about showing your face, cover it with the sheet of paper, or just cut it out of the photo. Be as creative as you want. Why not show where you hail from? We're not talking about writing your zip code on the sheet (that'd be creepy), but you could stand next to a sign or famous landmark. For instance, ScofieldBurrows has told me she's trying to find a Scottish flag to wear. Anything. We don't care as long as you're getting involved!

We'll put up the pictures we take as soon as we've taken them to show you an example. And to show you we're not asking for much.

By the way, we're currently scouting for new managers for the Stardoll club, and this would be a perfect opportunity to show you get involved! Hint hint :)

Send your pictures (or questions, if you have them) to our email address: deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk

Tell your friends. Why not get them in the photo too? Remember, we don't need to see your faces! We just wanna see your support. And we need as many photos as we can get by October 9th when we'll make up the video ready for presentation on October 10th! What are you waiting for?

Tomorrow...

Just a heads up, tomorrow we will be unveiling our plans for World Day Against the Death Penalty (Oct 10th - 10/10/10 cool huh?) since it will be exactly one month tomorrow.

The 11th Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty is this year being held on Saturday October 30th at 2pm in Ausin, Texas and starts outside the Texas State Capitol Building South Side (11th and Congress) I think. The details are all at:
http://marchforabolition.org/
This year, special guests include a number of exonerated former death row inmates, such as Curtis McCarty who spent 21 years in prison - 19 of which were on death row - in Oklahoma for a crime he didn't commit.
It promises to be a great event but I can't go because I'm stuck in Scotland, and Tiffany regrettably can't attend either this year but she's gonna try to get some pictures for us from her friends. If any of you are from the area and will be attending, we'd be really interested in hearing from you, seeing pictures, etc. Please email us at: deathwatchstardoll@hotmail.co.uk

Obviously, our organisation is from all over the world and we're young, so we can't do anything on that sort of scale, but we have a few plans which we hope will be really successful in raising awareness. Heads up; we'll be making good use of our YouTube channel we hope.

We want to do something special because this is the big day of the year for death penalty abolition, so we want to make our voices heard! We'll need your cooperation, but we won't be asking for too much so relax!

So check back tomorrow for us to begin preparations...
- ScofieldBurrows

Ohio Gov. commutes Kevin Keith's sentence

Breaking News...

Very quick article from me because it's late here in Scotland but I just saw this on Facebook and am delighted!

Ohio death row inmate Kevin Keith has been spared the death penalty by the Governor of Ohio, Ted Strickland. Kevin Keith was scheduled to be executed on September 15th and we've been working hard to prevent it. His sentence has now been commuted to life without parole.

Keith has maintained his innocence since his 1994 conviction. Strickland had previously stated he found the case 'troubling', and cited an absense of full investigation, a failure to investigate other possible suspects, and an over-reliance on eyewitness testimony.

I've always thought Keith's conviction was dodgy, and now that he's not facing imminent death they can pursue his claim of innocence more carefully and, should he be found innocent, he'll probably still be breathing when it happens.

This is a tremendous victory. The board of paroles advised Strickland 8-0 not to commute the sentence, but Strickland thought the case was troubling and did what he thought was right. Not like in Texas, where an entire board can advise the governor against an execution and he'll still go through with it...

But we'll take small victories where we can get them.