Innocence Project -- are they honest?

The Innocence Project, the group that attempts to exonerate convicted persons they believe to be innocent, is blinded by bias and is sometimes intellectually dishonest. I don't put much stock in anything they say. Here's one example of what I'm talking about.

Todd Willingham was convicted in 1992 of setting a fire that killed his three children. He was sentenced to death. His execution was carried out in 2004. The Innocence Project doesn't believe he was guilty. Barry Scheck, co-director of the Project says, "There can no longer be any doubt that an innocent person has been executed." Well, I'll give you a few facts of the case, and see if you have any doubt.

1) He gave contradictory stories to different people, and some of what he said was not borne out by photographs from the investigation of the scene.

2) Witnesses in the neighborhood said he would not go back to try to rescue his daughters, but he was very concerned about moving his car away from the fire.

3) He had a history of family violence.

4) The Innocence Project is relying on the work of Craig Beyler, an expert in the behavior of fire. They claim that he says the fire was not arson, and therefore, Willigham did not commit murder. But Mr. Beyler says that's not what he said. What he said was that the fire was of undetermined origin. He couldn't prove it was arson, but he couldn't prove it wasn't.

5) Todd Willingham was not a saint. He was arrested at age 17 for burglary and paint intoxication. He was arrested more than a dozen times between 1985 and 1989 for theft, assault, burglary, and providing paint to minors. He spent at least two stints in mandatory drug rehab.

6) His wife claims he beat her, at least once when she was pregnant in an attempt to cause a miscarriage.

7) Willingham claimed he was awakened by the fire, and he could not find his children. Yet 2 year-old Amber's body was found face down in his bed. The sheets were pulled up to her shoulders as if she had been "tucked in."

8) Investigators found charcoal starter on the steps of the house.

9) At the trial, the defense did not present a fire expert.

10) Willingham's own attorney thought he was guilty. "I think Willingham was a true sociopath," he said.

11) One of the jurors said she had been contacted by news organizations who wanted her to say, "I can't sleep at night." "They want me to say I did wrong [in voting to convict]," she said. "I can't say that."

12) Willingham confessed to his step-mother that he had not gone into the baby's room.

13) Willingham's ex-wife says he confessed to her in a round-about way that he had killed the children to spite her.

14) His last gestures and words were defiant. As he lay strapped to the gurney, he raised one middle finger to the mother of his dead children and said, "I hope you rot in hell, bitch." The cursing became more vile from there. His last words were obscenities.

Now, none of this proves his guilt, but you'd have to be out of your mind to say that it doesn't raise any doubt. That's why I don't trust the people of the Innocence Project.

"Dad's case has cracks." The Dallas Morning News; October 25, 2009; p. 1A.