Texas forensic panel to hear report on wrongful convictions in arson cases

By Yamil Berard

yberard@star-telegram.com

Texas criminal watchdogs are expected to tell the state's top forensic panel today that Texas may have falsely convicted about a half dozen people of felony arson based on outdated science.

"We're looking at four or five cases," said Jeff Blackburn, chief counsel for the Innocence Project of Texas. "Those are going to be looked at hard."

Blackburn is scheduled to appear before the Texas Forensic Science Commission in Austin to report on a records examination of hundreds of arson convictions. The effort is aimed at finding examples of junk science similar to that used to convict Cameron Todd Willingham of killing his three daughters, which resulted in a controversial review by the commission. Willingham was executed in 2004.

Blackburn says one or more of the new cases may involve inmates from North Texas.

At the request of the state's top forensic panel, the Texas Innocence Project reviewed 1,025 arson-related crimes in Texas from recent years, and concluded that most don't involve questionable evidence. A small number, maybe a half dozen, may have used scientific processes now deemed to be faulty, Blackburn said.

Blackburn's work, commission members have said, is expected to send a clear message to fire investigators on the proper protocols for handling arson-related cases.

For many months, commissioners have been calling for additional reviews of arson cases like Willingham's after methods used to analyze evidence were called into question. Willingham was convicted of setting the house fire that killed his children.

Last year, commissioners issued a report on the Willingham case that highlighted examples of outdated science and said that some methods were little more than an oral history passed down from older fire investigators to newer investigators.

Commissioners have said they don't have the jurisdiction to investigate these cases, but told the Texas Innocence Project to team up with the State Fire Marshal's Office to determine whether the state has incarcerated people for arson-murders based on outdated science.

State Fire Marshal Chris Conneally has said he will use the commission's Willingham report as a "blueprint" for change.

A panel of fire science experts also will likely be formed to review worthy cases, Blackburn said.

At today's meeting, commission members will likely want to know if any of the cases under preliminary review have issues similar to the Willingham case. For example, certain pour patterns and heat indicators prompted investigators to immediately conclude that accelerants were present.

With that, an arson finding was determined even without supporting lab results.

The commission's deliberations got national media attention in 2009 after Gov. Rick Perry replaced some commission members just as the body was preparing to hear testimony from an expert who said the cause of the Willingham fire appeared to be undetermined, and that fire investigators who handled the case had a poor understanding of fire science.

The governor expressed confidence in Willingham's guilt, and described the changes on the commission as part of a normal process.

But death-penalty opponents and others said the shakeup was politically motivated at a time when the governor was seeking re-election, and expressed concerns that Texas may have executed an innocent man.

Since 2009, Tarrant County's criminal justice officials have been well represented on the commission. Defense attorney Lance Evans and the county's Chief Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani have played important roles. Tarrant County Assistant District Attorney Richard Alpert is a current member of the commission.

Other business on the agenda includes a review of the controlled substance investigation of the Austin Police Department, a report from the Houston Department of Public Safety's investigative panel and a review of a 2009 Census of publicly funded crime labs.

Yamil Berard, 817-390-7705

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