Willingham : The Innocent Man

The death penalty has had and will always have the danger of judicial errors. As the executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center Richard Dieter has emphasized, “every time we have an execution, there is a risk of executing an innocent person. The risk may be small, but it’s unacceptable” (Death to the Death Penalty). According to the Death Penalty Information Center, among all 7,818 people who were sentenced to death since 1977, 1412 people have been executed and 155 people have been proved innocent. Therefore, for every nine people executed, we have found one person is innocent.

One example of wrongful execution is the Cameron Todd Willingham case. Willingham was executed in February 2004 by the state of Texas for committing murder to his three daughters by setting his house on fire. Prosecutors believed that the girls were abused and killed by setting the house on fire to attempt to cover up the evidence (1). Willingham had maintained his innocence and spent 10 years appealing for his convection up until his execution in 2004 via lethal injection. However, there were multiple issues surrounding the investigation method, evidence,

Born in Hampton, Virginia, Steve Earle wrote an astounding piece of information that shocked thousands of people. The story, “A Death in Texas,” changed my views of the death penalty, and really put some things in perspective. Starting in 1608, the death penalty became present, and it is a sanctioned practice where a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime. Although people make mistakes, the death penalty should be abolished due to inhumanity, taking away precious lives, and it is an ineffective tool.

The first execution was in 1982 with Charles Brooks, Jr. Death Penalty has become a very important issue in Texas. Many disagree on the harsh punishments others are given, especially those who are executed without any evidence and whom are not guilty. Cameron Todd Willingham was one of the innocent ones. He was wrongfully charged with arson and the murder of his three children.

In Oklahoma, Greg Wilhoit serves as an inspiration to end the infamous capital punishment. His wife was viciously murdered in Tulsa, Oklahoma on the 1st of June. Greg was alleged for the death of his spouse, and was found guilty when the bite marks found on his wife’s body matched his teeth. He was then put in jail and was sentenced to death in 8 years. However it was proven wrong and he successfully won the case, but he didn’t win the nightmarish trauma that strongly affected his mentality during those forlorn 8 years of false accusation. It led him to depression and eventually his miserable demise. Greg’s case is an example of an inaccurate and flawed judgment of death penalty. Everyone deserves a second chance, less allegations which cause wrong executions, and reverence to human rights.

In 1991, a fire occurred at Cameron Willingham’s house ending the life of his 3 young daughters. He escaped safely with only minor cuts and bruises, but it only resulted in prosecutors charging him with starting the fire. It was argued that he started the fire to cover up the abuse of his girls, even though there is no evidence. His wife, who was not home at the time, testified saying that he never beat up the kids, and in fact spoiled them rotten. Laboratory tests verified, however, that there was a liquid poured all around the house from the porch to start the fire; this was enough evidence for the court to shut down their testimonies. Cameron was executed on February 17th, 2004. Later on, in June 2009 the State of Texas ordered a re-evaluation only to find that he was innocent and that the prosecutor testified against Willingham in return for a secret promise to have his own criminal sentence reduced (Possley).

In late 1992, Cameron Todd Willingham was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death for a fire that claimed the lives of his three daughters the previous December. During the trial, the prosecution cited evidence from two arson investigators, Douglass Fogg and Manuel Vasquez, listing “more than ‘twenty indicators’ of arson,” along with testimony from medical experts and other witnesses. The trial lasted only two days and resulted in a unanimous guilty verdict. However, now following Willingham’s execution, it has come to light that much of the evidence used in his conviction in no way guarantees that arson had occurred. If this is true, the state may have put an

One day Cameron Todd Willingham woke up to his house on fire and was lucky enough to escape, but sadly his three children were left behind and did not survive. After the horrific incident, Willingham was prosecuted and received the death sentence for starting a fire with the intention to kill his children. Before the prosecution, an investigation developed that involved professionals and eyewitness testimonies that concluded Willingham as guilty. Unfortunately, there were many flaws during the process of the investigation. The investigation had weak evidence with no scientific background, some prosecutors appeared bias, and the prosecution relied too much on eyewitness. The criminal justice system had many flaws when it came down to Willinghams prosecution and I blame the people involved in the system.

In David Grann’s “Trial by Fire: Did Texas Execute an Innocent Man?”, published on September 7, 2009, the overall question addressed is whether we should keep the death penalty legal. Grann begins his argument with his account of the events that occurred on the morning of December 23, 1991 in Corsicana, Texas. Cameron Todd Willingham, the husband and father of three children awakes to a blaze of fire in his one-story house (I). Willingham exits out the front door and distraughtly tells a nearby neighbor to call 911. By the time the fire is extinguished, Willingham’s children are dead and arson investigators come to the house to inspect four days later (I). The two investigators conclude that the fire is arson and it is considered a triple murder committed by Willingham so they bring him in for questioning. This along with neighborhood witness testimony leads to an arrest, which is punishable by death under Texas law. Before the trial, the state gives Willingham a plea deal that if he pleads guilty he will get life in prison avoiding the death penalty (I). Willingham rejects the plea deal and is found guilty. From there, Grann uses sections II through V to pick holes in the original case of the prosecution. Findings of Dr. Gerald Hurst give Willingham some sense of hope that his name might be cleared as an experiment on Lime street is conducted. The intention is to recreate the scene of a previous arson case similar to Willingham’s (IV). In the original findings of the arson investigators, the only way flashover can occur is by the presence of some sort of accelerant; however, the experiment shows that flashover can still occur in a wood structured house and these signs of flashover are similar to the signs of arson

An innocent man is wrongly executed whilst a man who raped and murdered a mother and her thirteen year old daughter spends the rest of his life with three meals a day and cable television. Which of these is the bigger injustice? The use of the death penalty to punish serious crimes is a very controversial topic and there is much debate surrounding the issue. This paper will briefly discuss arguments supporting and against the use of the death penalty.

In 1992, Cameron Todd Willingham was accused of intentionally lighting all three of his children on fire. In 2004, he was executed. Shortly after, the Texas Forensic Science Commission found evidence against this statement, proving Willingham’s innocence. As it turns out, the evidence used against him was invalid, ruling it an accident. (Eric, “8 People Who Were Executed And Later Found Innocent”) But no good came from it, he was already dead.

After reviewing the case of Cameron Todd Willingham and the suspected murder of his three children, Mr. Willingham was beyond a doubt innocent. There are multiple articles and facts that point to the wrongful conviction and execution of Mr. Willingham on Feb. 17, 2004.

Willingham was convicted and sentenced to death for the killing of his three children. Todd lived in prison for thirteen years before he was executed. I do not believe that his outcome was fair because there was not enough evidence to convict him, let alone sentence him to death. I would have understood if they would have convicted him and put him in jail for a couple years. But, to execute someone on the amount of evidence they had is wrong. I do not believe that he set the fire and I do not believe he deserved to be executed.

Have you ever be accused of something you didn 't do? What if you were sentenced to death for a crime you didn 't commit? How can you prove your innocence if you’re found guilty? Unfortunately Cameron Todd Willingham fell victim to this irreversible verdict. According to David Grann in his 2009 article, Trial by Fire, in The New Yorker magazine, Willingham was executed in Texas in 2004 for allegedly setting a fire to his home in hopes to murder his three young daughters 13 years prior. From arrest to conviction, he had always declared his innocence, and the arson investigation used to convict Willingham was questioned by leading experts before he was executed. Since 2004, arson experts hired by the Texas Forensic Science Commission have reviewed further evidence in the case and have led to the inevitable conclusion that Willingham did not set the fire for which he was executed. Regardless, if Willingham did in fact set the fire to kill his daughters he should never have been sentenced to death. Human beings make mistakes and all the death penalty system does is bury its worst mistakes. (Grann.2009)