The heat on Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) continues to mount over questions that Texas executed an innocent man. Texas Monthly’s Michael Hall and former Texas Forensic Science Commission chairman Samuel Bassett discuss the questionable arson evidence used to execute Cameron Todd Willingham and the subsequent actions taken by Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) to derail the investigation.
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Texas Forensic Science Commission
Chicago Tribune: Just months before the controversial removal of three members of a state commission investigating the forensics that led to a Texas man’s 2004 execution, top aides to Gov. Rick Perry tried to pressure the chairman of the panel over the direction of the inquiry, the chairman has told the Tribune.
Samuel Bassett, whom Perry replaced on the Texas Forensic Science Commission two weeks ago, said he twice was called to meetings with Perry’s top attorneys. At one of those meetings, Bassett said he was told they were unhappy with the course of the commission’s investigation.
“I was surprised that they were involving themselves in the commission’s decision-making,” Bassett said. “I did feel some pressure from them, yes. There’s no question about that.”
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