tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post5254507325005875621..comments2024-03-15T05:45:01.402-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Will review of junk science in old arson cases go forward?Gritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-12994911697635413152012-01-09T10:44:12.786-06:002012-01-09T10:44:12.786-06:00I must be naive, but I just never look for a cost/...I must be naive, but I just never look for a cost/benefit study when the subject is real people doing real time yet innocent. I'm been around long enough to have seen govt claim not to have resources for this or that worthy cause, alas (always social spending)- and then suddenly "find" a way to fund some special interest project. If govt is committed to justice, it will find a way to look into those arson cases. But as we all know, that is a very big "if".Phillip Bakernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-29957662625891964352012-01-08T21:53:54.269-06:002012-01-08T21:53:54.269-06:00In 1994 I was involved in an arson investigation w...In 1994 I was involved in an arson investigation with the Harris County DA's Office. The fire was allegedly set by a Houston police officer & a guy he hired to help, in River Oaks. The Houston Arson Investigator declared the case unsolvable, but the DA's office wanted it reopened after the APD office was charged with sexual assault while on duty on Feb. 10, 94.<br /><br />I caught the torch hire by the officer driving a stolen Mercedes that turned out to belong to a former Houston Mayor White and had him arrested. The morning after the torch was arrested by auto-theft; the arson detective who originally worked the case went to the jail and offered him a deal. The deal was, if he would give false testimony in the HPD Officer's sexual assault case, they would drop the auto-theft charge & if the torch named someone else, as the torch who set the fire with the officer, they would give him $5,000 from crime stoppers.<br /><br />I caught all this on tape and confronted the Harris Co. Assistant DA and the DA's investigator, who told me they had just caught the Houston Arson Departments Detectives torturing a suspect to get a confession and this had been going on for decades. It was for this reason they had asked for my assistance in solving this case.<br /><br />The case was later resolved with the torch serving 7 yrs. for auto-theft and the HPD Officer pleading guilty to the sexual assault that he did not commit, in exchange for the DA dropping the arson that he did commit. As an added inducement to plead guilty to the sexual assault, the HPD officer was allowed to keep the money he got from the insurance company for the arson.<br /><br />Fast forward to Sept. 9, 2007, the Houston Chronicle did a follow-up story on the HPD DNA Crime Lab where they disclosed the DNA obtained in the officer's sexual assault case from 1994 failed to support the allegations against the officer. <br /><br />The moral of this story is, until Texas has some honest investigating agency to pursue those giving false evidence, submitting false evidence, or Soliciting false testimony, nothing will change.dfishernoreply@blogger.com