Forums
New posts
Search forums
What's new
New posts
New media
New media comments
Latest activity
Classifieds
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Log in
Register
What's New?
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
New posts
Search forums
Menu
Log in
Register
Navigation
Install the app
Install
More Options
Advertise with us
Contact Us
Close Menu
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Forums
The Water Cooler
General Discussion
How prosecutors came to dominate the criminal-justice system
Search titles only
By:
Reply to Thread
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Message
<blockquote data-quote="_CY_" data-source="post: 2722980" data-attributes="member: 7629"><p>New Doubts Raised Over Key Witness in Willingham Case</p><p>The Marshall Project</p><p> March 10, 2015</p><p><img src="https://www.okshooters.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/s3.amazonaws.com_static.texastribune.org_media_images_TWillingham_LeadArt_2_png_312x1000_q100.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p><p></p><p>CORSICANA More than a decade after Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for the arson murder of his three young daughters, new evidence has emerged that indicates that a key prosecution witness testified in return for a secret promise to have his own criminal sentence reduced.</p><p></p><p>In a previously undisclosed letter that the witness, Johnny E. Webb, wrote from prison in 1996, he urged the lead prosecutor in Willingham's case to make good on what Webb described as an earlier promise to downgrade his conviction. Webb also hinted that he might make his complaint public.</p><p></p><p>Within days, the prosecutor, John H. Jackson, sought out the Navarro County judge who had handled Willingham's case and came away with a court order that altered the record of Webb's robbery conviction to make him immediately eligible for parole. Webb would later recant his testimony that Willingham confessed to setting his house on fire with the toddlers inside.</p><p></p><p>Jackson's handling of the case is now under investigation by the State Bar of Texas, following a formal complaint of prosecutorial misconduct last summer. That grievance asked that Jackson be sanctioned or even prosecuted for falsifying official records, withholding evidence and obstructing justice.</p><p></p><p>On Monday, an attorney for Jackson said he expected the Texas bar to notify his client soon that it will pursue formal charges of misconduct. The attorney, Joseph E. Byrne, said Jackson would seek to have any such charges heard by a jury, as the bar rules allow.</p><p></p><p>Regardless of when Jackson would have learned of a possible deal, he would have been legally bound to disclose any such favorable treatment of a witness to the defense. For Willingham who maintained his innocence until he was executed in 2004 the revelation might have been sufficient grounds for a new trial.</p><p></p><p>To death penalty opponents, Willingham's case is among those that have come closest to proving for the first time in the modern era of capital punishment that an innocent person has been put to death in the United States.</p><p></p><p>In an e-mail, Byrne said he could not comment on any of the specific allegations against Jackson, because they involved pending litigation. But he added, "We are confident that a Texas jury who hears all of the evidence in this case will find that Mr. Jackson has done nothing inappropriate."</p><p></p><p>Jackson did not personally comment in response to e-mails or telephone calls requesting he address the matter.</p><p></p><p>Jackson has long denied that the state cut any sort of deal with Webb for his testimony. But Jackson recently amended his account, telling the Texas bar that he had intervened on Webb's behalf after Webb's attorney told Jackson in 1996 that she believed her client's conviction should have been for the lesser charge. Webb's attorney said she based this belief on her negotiations with Jackson's boss, the district attorney, Jackson said.</p><p></p><p>At the time of the fire that erupted in the small frame house Willingham shared with his wife and three daughters, he was 23 years old, an out-of-work car mechanic with a volatile marriage and a local reputation as something of a troublemaker. He said he awoke from a nap to find the home so filled with smoke and flames that he could not locate his sleeping children and was barely able to stumble out of the house alive.</p><p></p><p>Webb later said that while they both were being held in the Navarro County jail, Willingham spontaneously confessed to him that he had set the fire to cover up his wife's abuse of one of the girls. Autopsies of the girls showed no signs of abuse but it was the strongest evidence the prosecution had other than the finding of arson by fire investigators. That finding has been discredited by a series of forensic experts.</p><p></p><p>In two days of interviews recently with the Marshall Project, Webb gave the most detailed account to date of how he came to testify against Willingham. He said that Jackson threatened him with a life sentence in the robbery case a possibility under Texas law because Webb had several prior convictions unless he testified.</p><p></p><p>"I did not want to see Willingham go to death row and die for something I damn well knew was a lie and something I didn't initiate," Webb said.</p><p></p><p>"I lied on the man because I was being forced by John Jackson to do so," Webb said. "I succumbed to pressure when I shouldn't have. In the end, I was told, 'You're either going to get a life sentence or you're going to testify.' He coerced me to do it."</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/10/more-questions-raised-cameron-todd-willingham-case/" target="_blank">http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/10/more-questions-raised-cameron-todd-willingham-case/</a></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="_CY_, post: 2722980, member: 7629"] New Doubts Raised Over Key Witness in Willingham Case The Marshall Project March 10, 2015 [IMG]https://www.okshooters.com/data/MetaMirrorCache/s3.amazonaws.com_static.texastribune.org_media_images_TWillingham_LeadArt_2_png_312x1000_q100.png[/IMG] CORSICANA More than a decade after Cameron Todd Willingham was executed for the arson murder of his three young daughters, new evidence has emerged that indicates that a key prosecution witness testified in return for a secret promise to have his own criminal sentence reduced. In a previously undisclosed letter that the witness, Johnny E. Webb, wrote from prison in 1996, he urged the lead prosecutor in Willingham's case to make good on what Webb described as an earlier promise to downgrade his conviction. Webb also hinted that he might make his complaint public. Within days, the prosecutor, John H. Jackson, sought out the Navarro County judge who had handled Willingham's case and came away with a court order that altered the record of Webb's robbery conviction to make him immediately eligible for parole. Webb would later recant his testimony that Willingham confessed to setting his house on fire with the toddlers inside. Jackson's handling of the case is now under investigation by the State Bar of Texas, following a formal complaint of prosecutorial misconduct last summer. That grievance asked that Jackson be sanctioned or even prosecuted for falsifying official records, withholding evidence and obstructing justice. On Monday, an attorney for Jackson said he expected the Texas bar to notify his client soon that it will pursue formal charges of misconduct. The attorney, Joseph E. Byrne, said Jackson would seek to have any such charges heard by a jury, as the bar rules allow. Regardless of when Jackson would have learned of a possible deal, he would have been legally bound to disclose any such favorable treatment of a witness to the defense. For Willingham who maintained his innocence until he was executed in 2004 the revelation might have been sufficient grounds for a new trial. To death penalty opponents, Willingham's case is among those that have come closest to proving for the first time in the modern era of capital punishment that an innocent person has been put to death in the United States. In an e-mail, Byrne said he could not comment on any of the specific allegations against Jackson, because they involved pending litigation. But he added, "We are confident that a Texas jury who hears all of the evidence in this case will find that Mr. Jackson has done nothing inappropriate." Jackson did not personally comment in response to e-mails or telephone calls requesting he address the matter. Jackson has long denied that the state cut any sort of deal with Webb for his testimony. But Jackson recently amended his account, telling the Texas bar that he had intervened on Webb's behalf after Webb's attorney told Jackson in 1996 that she believed her client's conviction should have been for the lesser charge. Webb's attorney said she based this belief on her negotiations with Jackson's boss, the district attorney, Jackson said. At the time of the fire that erupted in the small frame house Willingham shared with his wife and three daughters, he was 23 years old, an out-of-work car mechanic with a volatile marriage and a local reputation as something of a troublemaker. He said he awoke from a nap to find the home so filled with smoke and flames that he could not locate his sleeping children and was barely able to stumble out of the house alive. Webb later said that while they both were being held in the Navarro County jail, Willingham spontaneously confessed to him that he had set the fire to cover up his wife's abuse of one of the girls. Autopsies of the girls showed no signs of abuse but it was the strongest evidence the prosecution had other than the finding of arson by fire investigators. That finding has been discredited by a series of forensic experts. In two days of interviews recently with the Marshall Project, Webb gave the most detailed account to date of how he came to testify against Willingham. He said that Jackson threatened him with a life sentence in the robbery case a possibility under Texas law because Webb had several prior convictions unless he testified. "I did not want to see Willingham go to death row and die for something I damn well knew was a lie and something I didn't initiate," Webb said. "I lied on the man because I was being forced by John Jackson to do so," Webb said. "I succumbed to pressure when I shouldn't have. In the end, I was told, 'You're either going to get a life sentence or you're going to testify.' He coerced me to do it." [url]http://www.texastribune.org/2015/03/10/more-questions-raised-cameron-todd-willingham-case/[/url] [/QUOTE]
Insert Quotes…
Verification
Post Reply
Forums
The Water Cooler
General Discussion
How prosecutors came to dominate the criminal-justice system
Search titles only
By:
Top
Bottom