Anti death penalty crowd hope innocent man executed

NY Times:

Questions about whether Gov. Rick Perry allowed the execution of a man some arson experts say may have been innocent, and then hindered an investigation into the evidence, continue to reverberate across Texas, where issues surrounding capital punishment have rarely stirred such controversy.

On Sunday, Mark White, who as governor himself was a strong death penalty supporter, said he believed that the state should reconsider capital punishment because, among other reasons, there was too great a risk of putting innocent people to death.

“There is a very strong case to be made for a review of our death penalty statutes and even look at the possibility of having life without parole so we don’t look up one day and determine that we as the State of Texas have executed someone who is in fact innocent,” Mr. White, a Democrat who was governor from 1983 to 1987, told The Houston Chronicle and The San Antonio Express-News.

Mr. White’s remarks came with Mr. Perry, a Republican and staunch backer of the death penalty, under criticism for not granting a 30-day reprieve to Cameron T. Willingham in 2004, when an arson expert working with Mr. Willingham’s defense concluded that the evidence that had put him on death row was seriously flawed.

Mr. White said he did not intend for his comments to be taken as criticism of Mr. Perry’s handling of the Willingham case. But, he said, the case is one example “of why I think the system is so unreliable.”

Three weeks ago Mr. Perry replaced the chairman and two other members of the State Forensic Science Commission, which was about to hold hearings on the evidence in the case. The new chairman, a close ally of the governor, promptly canceled a hearing at which a second, independent arson expert was to testify. The commission’s expert, Craig L. Beyler of Baltimore, had concluded in a lengthy report that the evidence did not prove that Mr. Willingham set the fire that killed his three daughters in 1991.

Since then, the governor has found himself on the defensive, with editorial writers, columnists and political opponents in both parties accusing him of trying to protect his future at the expense of determining the truth.

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They will never admit it but there is nothing that would please some death penalty opponents more than seeing an innocent man executed. They view that as a political opportunity they would love to exploit.

They have done other things to stir the pot recently by attacking a judge they claim did not keep her office open for a late appeal of an obviously guilty man. One of the other tactics of the anti death penalty opponents is to drive up the cost by pushing frivolous appeals.

In this particular case, opponents are trying to construct a CIS type appeal on the speculation of people not involved in the investigation. They are frustrated by Gov. Perry's unwillingness to play along. At this point they are still complaining about the process as they were with the judge they were critical of.

While they may have the attention of some liberal editorial boards, I don't think they have the voters of Texas who believe that some people deserve to die. I don't see many current politicians in a rush to ban the death penalty at this point.