buylotrogold

 Texas used faulty forensic evidence to convict and execute Todd Willingham. Dear supporter of Texas Moratorium Network, We have learned about some shocking misbehavior by John Bradley, who was appointed chair last October of the Texas Forensic Science Commission by Rick Perry. Bradley's appointment was an effort by Rick Perry to cover up and delay the investigation into whether Texas used faulty forensic evidence to convict and execute Todd Willingham. We have learned that Bradley tried to interfere with a legislative hearing held Jan 11 by the Chair of the Texas House Committee on Criminal Jurisprudence. Also, at the meeting of the Commission held last Friday in Harlingen, Bradley violated the Texas Open Meetings Act by refusing to allow a documentary film crew to attend until an assistant Texas Attorney General told Bradley to stop violating the law. John Bradley should be removed as chair of the Texas Commission on Forensic Science. He has proven by his handling of the first meeting that his main goal was to cover-up and impede the investigation into whether Texas relied on faulty arson evidence to execute a person who did not kill anyone. As reported by Gary Scharrer in The Houston Chronicle: Gallego had a committee hearing on Jan. 11 to focus on rules of evidence. He invited Beyler totestify. In a Jan. 26 letter, Beyler told Gallego: Mr. Bradley.... asked me not to appear before your committee. He was apparently concerned about your motives in inviting me and was very concerned that you wished to do the Commission harm. I was not at all convinced by his concerns and decided to come to Austin. As it turns out, his fears were wholly without merit. I very much appreciated that the committee members did not ask questions about the pending TFSC work, Beyler wrote in the letter to Gallego. The veteran lawmaker said it's its improper to tell witnesses not to show up for a hearing. I'm really disappointed that he (John Bradley) would attempt to interfere in a legislative hearing in that fashion, Gallego said. But Bradley, the district attorney in Williamson County, say he simply told Beyler that his status as an expert in a case pending before the Forensic Science Commission made it potentially a conflict to serve as a witness in a hearing related to such matters before the conclusion of an investigation. Mr. Beyler had already damaged his reputation for impartiality by publicly commenting on the recent appointment of new commissioners. By entering the political arena, he gave ammunition to those people who might question his impartiality, Bradley said. Having heard Mr. Beyler's presentation to the House Committee, it appears that he wisely edited his remarks to avoid further damaging his reputation. No one prevented him from testifying. It is naive to think that his invitation was unrelated to his work for the commission. But Gallego said: Our hearing was about the rules of evidence, and we told everybody that up front. There was no effort on my part to talk about anything else. If those cases came up by name, they came up peripherally. Rick Casey of the Houston Chronicle wrote a column this week about how Rick Perry's handpicked puppet/chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission violated the Texas Open Meetings Act (PDF) at Friday's meeting, which was held in Harlingen. From Rick Casey: Friday started badly for John Bradley, the Williamson County district attorney selected last fall by Gov. Rick Perry to ride herd over the troublesome scientists on the Texas Forensic Science Commission. His first official act of the morning was to violate the state's open meetings law. Then his day got worse. This was the first meeting of the commission under Bradley, who was appointed last September. His first official act was to cancel a meeting three days later at which the commission was scheduled to receive a report from a nationally renowned arson expert hired by the commission in its first high-profile case. The meeting had drawn national attention because the expert found that the arson investigation that helped lead to the 2004 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham for the murder of his children was badly flawed. It was especially controversial because Perry had rejected a request to delay Willingham's execution _base_d on similar expert analysis. Bradley unilaterally wrote the agenda for Friday's meeting to focus on new policies and procedures, omitting the Willingham report. He also unilaterally chose Harlingen (which is as close to Mexico City as to Fort Worth, where three of the nine uncompensated and busy commission members live), making wrong my snide prediction that he would hold the meeting in Presidio to discourage reporters. The session took place in a modest meeting room at a Marriott Courtyard Hotel. A few area reporters were seated around the walls, as well as a handful of protesters carrying signs. A camera crew from the national Innocence Project streamed the meeting live on the group's Web site. But Bradley evicted an Austin-_base_d documentary crew before the meeting started. One of its members called the attorney general's office in Austin, which sent a message to Barbara Dean, the assistant district attorney who has attended all of the commission's meetings, providing legal guidance since its inception. Film crew admitted An hour and a half into the meeting, Dean, seated behind Bradley, tapped him on the shoulder and quietly spoke into his ear. He announced a 10-minute break, and when the meeting resumed the film crew was in the room. When I asked Bradley about the matter, he curtly told me to talk to the film crew. I said I had and he replied with annoyance: “Then you know.” His defensiveness was understandable. Enforcement of the Open Meetings Act is the responsibility of local district attorneys such as himself. Join the Facebook group Todd Willingham - Innocent and Executed: Shout it from the Rooftops. Register Now for the 2010 Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break March 15-19 http://springbreakalternative.org/deathpenalty