Shout this name from the rooftops, Todd Willingham. He was innocent and Texas killed him. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, in 2006, wrote that, in the modern judicial system there has not been “a single case–not one–in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an event had occurred in recent years, we would not have to hunt for it; the innocent’s name would be shouted from the rooftops.” Take part in our “Shout it from the Rooftops” campaign.

The Tenth Annual March to Abolish the Death Penalty was Saturday, October 24, in Austin at the Texas Capitol. Hundreds of people attended the march to show the Willingham family and the world that there are people in Texas convinced of his innocence. Todd said, “Don’t stop fighting to vindicate me”, so people came to the march to help fight to vindicate him.

Attend the Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break, March 15-19, 2010 in Austin, Texas. Speakers include Liz Gilbert, the friend of Todd Willingham who helped find a forensic scientist to investigate his case, plus five death row exonerees who will speak about how innocent people can end up on death row.

Sign the petition to Governor Rick Perry and the State of Texas to acknowledge that the fire in the Cameron Todd Willingham case was not arson, therefore no crime was committed and on February 17, 2004, Texas executed an innocent man.

Join the Facebook group Todd Willingham – Innocent and Executed: Shout it from the Rooftops.

Call Governor Rick Perry and leave him a message at (512) 463-1782.

Todd Willingham was executed for arson/murder on February 17, 2004. He professed his innocence from his arrest until he was strapped down on the execution gurney. Now, we know for certain that he was telling the truth. On August 25, 2009, Dr Craig Beyler, the investigator hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission to review the Willingham case, released his report in which he found that “a finding of arson could not be sustained” by a scientific analysis (Read the report here). He concluded that the fire in the Willingham case was accidental and not arson. In fact, there was no arson, so there was no crime. Texas executed an innocent person. The proven execution of an innocent person should mean the end of the death penalty in the United States.

Governor Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles had been given a report prepared by noted fire expert Gerald Hurst before the execution that cast doubt that the fire was arson, but they ignored it.

Read documents obtained from Governor Rick Perry’s office and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The Innocence Project requested all documents concerning a critical report on the Willingham case that renowned arson expert Dr. Gerald Hurst wrote and disseminated to officials in both offices in the days before Willingham’s execution in February 2004.

This document contains the full copy of the report by Dr Gerald Hurst (page 7 of PDF) before Willingham’s execution (as sent from the Attorney General’s Office to the Governor’s Office), saying that the forensic analysis that convicted Willingham was full of “many critical errors” and reaches “invalid” conclusions.

Neither office has any record of anyone acknowledging the report’s contents, taking note of its significance, responding to it, or calling particular attention to it within the government. This lack of action indicates that in the days and hours before Willingham was executed, the Governor’s Office and the Board of Pardons and Paroles ignored critical expert analysis – new scientific information – that cast serious doubt on whether the Willingham fire was arson.

In the Sept 7, 2009 edition of the New Yorker David Grann comprehensively examines the Todd Willingham case in which an innocent person was executed by Texas. The 16,000 word article examines every aspect of the case and concludes that there is no doubt that an innocent person has been executed. There is scientific evidence to prove that the fire was not arson. The New Yorker also has an audio interview with the author.

The Innocence Project obtained, through the Freedom of Information Act, all the records from the governor’s office and the board pertaining to Hurst’s report. “The documents show that they received the report, but neither office has any record of anyone acknowledging it, taking note of its significance, responding to it, or calling any attention to it within the government,” Barry Scheck said. “The only reasonable conclusion is that the governor’s office and the Board of Pardons and Paroles ignored scientific evidence.”

LaFayette Collins, who was a member of the board at the time, told me of the process, “You don’t vote guilt or innocence. You don’t retry the trial. You just make sure everything is in order and there are no glaring errors.” He noted that although the rules allowed for a hearing to consider important new evidence, “in my time there had never been one called.” When I asked him why Hurst’s report didn’t constitute evidence of “glaring errors,” he said, “We get all kinds of reports, but we don’t have the mechanisms to vet them.” Alvin Shaw, another board member at the time, said that the case didn’t “ring a bell,” adding, angrily, “Why would I want to talk about it?” Hurst calls the board’s actions “unconscionable.”

One of the people Grann interviewed was Johnny Webb, the person who claimed that Willingham gave him a jailhouse confession. Webb says:

“It’s very possible I misunderstood what he said.” Since the trial, Webb has been given an additional diagnosis, bipolar disorder.

“Being locked up in that little cell makes you kind of crazy,” he said. “My memory is in bits and pieces. I was on a lot of medication at the time. Everyone knew that.” He paused, then said, “The statute of limitations has run out on perjury, hasn’t it?”

Aside from the scientific evidence of arson, the case against Willingham did not stand up to scrutiny. Jackson, the prosecutor, said of Webb’s testimony, “You can take it or leave it.” Even the refrigerator’s placement by the back door of the house turned out to be innocuous; there were two refrigerators in the cramped kitchen, and one of them was by the back door. Jimmie Hensley, the police detective, and Douglas Fogg, the assistant fire chief, both of whom investigated the fire, told me recently that they had never believed that the fridge was part of the arson plot. “It didn’t have nothing to do with the fire,” Fogg said.

After months of investigating the case, Gilbert found that her faith in the prosecution was shaken. As she told me, “What if Todd really was innocent?”

Please read the entire article in the New Yorker.