Corsicana questions state commission's jurisdiction in 1991 arson case

By DAVE MONTGOMERY

dmontgomery@star-telegram.com

AUSTIN — Corsicana officials are questioning the Texas Forensic Science Commission’s inquiry into the arson investigation that led to the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham, saying the 4-year-old panel lacks the jurisdiction to delve into the 1991 house fire that killed Willingham’s three children.

In another development Tuesday, Willingham’s stepmother challenged statements from his ex-wife, who said in a lengthy written account to the Star-Telegram that her former husband was guilty of setting the fire.

"I think she is not being truthful," said his stepmother, Eugenia Willingham of Ardmore, Okla. "I know Todd never confessed to her.  . . . Those were the only grandkids I had, and he would not take them from me."

But ex-wife Stacy Kuykendall said Tuesday in an e-mail that she stands by her statements over the weekend: "I wrote nothing but the truth. This man murdered my daughters and I am sick of people defending him."

In a previously unpublicized Oct. 5 letter to the forensic science commission, Corsicana City Attorney Terry Jacobson said the 2005 statute that created the agency "does not appear to give the Commission the authority to retroactively investigate forensic evidence" that is 18 years old.

However, Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, a leading sponsor of the legislation, said it gives the agency broad latitude to investigate forensic issues and does not preclude the inquiry into the Willingham case.

"I don’t think they’re prohibited from doing anything they want to do," said Whitmire, chairman of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. The commission’s former chairman, Sam Bassett of Austin, also defended its jurisdictional authority in the case.

Nov. 10 hearing

Whitmire’s committee has scheduled a Nov. 10 hearing to review the forensic science commission. Whitmire ordered the hearing after Gov. Rick Perry shook up the panel’s membership, stirring accusations that he was attempting to gut it to slow its inquiry into the Willingham case.

Perry replaced three members two days before the panel was to hear testimony from Baltimore fire expert Craig Beyler, who wrote a report concluding that the fire investigation in the Willingham case used outdated investigative techniques and did not sustain a finding of arson.

Perry has defended his actions and contends that the state was justified in executing Willingham, whom Perry has portrayed as a "monster." But Willingham’s defenders, including his family and groups opposing the death penalty, say that experts’ doubts about the arson investigation raise the possibility that the state executed an innocent man.

On Tuesday, as Texas carried out its latest execution in Huntsville, death penalty opponents presented Perry with petitions bearing 6,000 signatures and calling for a moratorium on capital punishment in Texas. The petitions were filed by Curtis McCarty and Shujaa Graham, who had been on Death Row in Oklahoma and California, respectively, before being cleared.

Reginald Blanton, convicted in a robbery-slaying in San Antonio nine years ago, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday night.

Jurisdiction issues

Jacobson said that Corisicana officials plan to cooperate with the commission "as much as humanly possible" but that they sought to point out possible jurisdictional problems after reviewing the statute. The city raised its concerns in letters to incoming Chairman John Bradley and commission coordinator Leigh Tomlin.

In addition to questions about the commission’s powers to retroactively investigate cases, Jacobson also noted that its authority is limited to forensic analysis conducted by an accredited laboratory, facility or entity.

"The Corsicana Fire Department is not an accredited laboratory, facility or entity," Jacobson said.

Bradley, the Williamson County district attorney, declined to respond to Jacobson’s concerns. The hearing, he said, "is probably the best place for me to speak about what I have learned about the commission, the work it does, and how we can resume our mission to improve the use of forensic science in the courtrooms of Texas."

But Bassett, Bradley’s predecessor, said he disagrees with Jacobson’s suggestions that the commission lacks jurisdiction in the Willingham case. "There is nothing in the statute that states that the investigations must be 'current’ or 'recent,’ " he said.

DAVE MONTGOMERY IS THE STAR-TELEGRAM’S AUSTIN BUREAU CHIEF. 512-476-4294

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