Prosecutor in Texas execution case accused of misconduct
Source: Associated Press
Prosecutor in Texas execution case accused of misconduct
By EVA RUTH MORAVEC and PAUL J. WEBER, Associated Press | March 18, 2015 | Updated: March 18, 2015 8:55pm
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Photo By W. Gardner Selby/AP
FILE - In this Oct. 13, 2009, file photo, John Jackson, the prosecutor in the 1992 trial of
Cameron Todd Willingham, poses for a photo in Austin, Texas. Jackson, who handled the
case of Willingham who was executed for the fire deaths of his three daughters has been
formally accused of misconduct over allegations that he concealed evidence during the
murder trial. He declined comment Wednesday, March 18, 2015, on the accusations
against him and referred questions to an attorney.
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AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A prosecutor who handled the case of a Texas man executed for the fire deaths of his three daughters has been formally accused of misconduct over allegations that he concealed evidence during the 1992 murder trial.
The State Bar of Texas has asked a Navarro County court to discipline John H. Jackson following questions raised by the New York-based Innocence Project and Cameron Todd Willingham's relatives, which investigates potential wrongful convictions. A spokeswoman for the bar said the punishments for Jackson could range from a reprimand to revoking his law license.
Jackson was the lead prosecutor against Willingham, whose case has become a flashpoint for death penalty opponents who contend that he was wrongly executed. Jackson, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, declined to comment Wednesday on the state bar's action. His attorney disputed the accusations.
Willingham maintained his innocence up until being executed in 2004.
Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/texas/article/Prosecutor-in-Texas-execution-case-accused-of-6143416.php
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Justice Deferred
What happens in Texas when you get a man executed on the basis of bad testimony?
By Jeremy Stahl
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Cameron Todd Willingham Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of murdering his three children in 1991. It
turned out the forensic evidence was completely bogus, but he was executed anyway.
Photo courtesy Todd Willingham family
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W hat happens when a corrupt prosecutor gets an innocent man executed? The state of Texas may soon answer: very little.
On Wednesday it was reported that John H. Jackson has been formally accused of misconduct by the State Bar of Texas in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. You may remember the Willingham story from David Grann’s epic and groundbreaking 2009 New Yorker article on the Corsicana father who was convicted in 1991 of murdering his three children by setting his home on fire. It turned out that the forensic evidence used to convict Willingham was completely bogus, but when this exculpatory information was presented to then-Gov. Rick Perry, he went ahead with the execution anyways. Willingham died at 6:20 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2004.
What’s perhaps more sickening than the neglected forensic evidence in this case is the other work that Jackson, the prosecuting attorney, did to win a conviction and see that Willingham’s every appeal was denied. These efforts include allegedly coercing and paying off a jailhouse informant to testify that Willingham had confessed to him, lying to the jury about whether the informant had been offered any benefits in exchange for his testimony, and withholding the informant’s recantation while Willingham sat on death row. Or, as the Marshall Project, which has been reporting on Jackson’s alleged misdeeds for the past year, described the state bar’s accusations: “obstruction of justice, making false statements and concealing evidence favorable to Willingham's defense.”
“Before, during, and after the 1992 trial, [Jackson] knew of the existence of evidence that tended to negate the guilt of Willingham and failed to disclose that evidence to defense counsel,” the state bar alleged in its formal complaint.
Jackson has disputed the accusations through his attorneys, but as the Marshall Project and the Washington Post reported in August and further demonstrated earlier this month, there’s a rich paper trail that points to Jackson’s guilt. Starting shortly after the Willingham trial, the jailhouse informant Johnny Webb appears to have received both legal and financial support from Jackson. Two months after the Willingham trial, during which Jackson repeatedly made it a point to say there had been no deal with Webb, a note was placed in Webb’s file that said “per John Jackson” the Texas prison system was to be informed that Webb should be given a lesser robbery charge than the one he had already pled guilty to earlier that year.
More:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2015/03/cameron_todd_willingham_prosecutor_john_jackson_charges_corrupt_prosecution.html
