On April 15, the Texas Forensic Science Commission rec­om­mend­ed more edu­ca­tion and train­ing for fire inves­ti­ga­tors fol­low­ing its review of the con­tro­ver­sial case of Cameron Todd Willingham (pic­tured), who was exe­cut­ed in 2004 for set­ting the fire that killed his three daugh­ters. The Commission made 16 rec­om­men­da­tions for inves­ti­ga­tors, lawyers and law­mak­ers. It did not, how­ev­er, decide whether arson inves­ti­ga­tors in Willingham’s case were neg­li­gent or guilty of pro­fes­sion­al mis­con­duct, and was not empow­ered to decide whether Willingham was like­ly inno­cent of the crime. The pan­el rec­om­mend­ed estab­lish­ing a code of ethics for inves­ti­ga­tors and pro­ce­dures for involv­ing the state fire mar­shal’s office in fatal home fires. Another rec­om­men­da­tion urged the fire mar­shal to adhere to stan­dards estab­lished by the National Fire Protection Association and to become a mod­el for local fire inves­ti­ga­tors in Texas. Willingham main­tained his inno­cence until his exe­cu­tion, claim­ing that the fire could have been acci­den­tal­ly start­ed by his two-year-old daugh­ter who died in the fire. Since the orig­i­nal 1991 inves­ti­ga­tion, sev­er­al arson experts have reviewed the evi­dence in the case and con­clud­ed that the fire was of unde­ter­mined cause or acci­den­tal, but like­ly not arson. 

The Commission urged inves­ti­ga­tors to keep orig­i­nal files of cas­es and for­ward copies of doc­u­men­ta­tion to pros­e­cu­tors and defense attor­neys. They are await­ing a rul­ing from the Texas Attorney General about whether they can pur­sue the Willingham case fur­ther. Stephen Saloom, pol­i­cy direc­tor for the Innocence Project, which first raised ques­tions about the case, praised parts of the report, ​“In gen­er­al, I’m sat­is­fied,” he said . ​“They were con­strained by the AG’s opin­ion and have had to over­come the chair­man’s relent­less efforts to keep a lot of issues down. In the areas they’re per­mit­ted to address, they’ve made some sig­nif­i­cant progress and deserve cred­it for that.” 

(“Texas Science Panel Adopts Arson Recommendations,” Associated Press, April 16, 2011). Read more about Cameron Todd Willingham. See Executed But Possibly Innocent and Innocence.

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