tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post5853362005195174199..comments2024-03-25T20:06:39.794-05:00Comments on Grits for Breakfast: Willingham court of inquiry postponed: Culture War shouting down scientific debates on arsonGritsforbreakfasthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-42105236984092602472010-10-07T09:25:53.600-05:002010-10-07T09:25:53.600-05:008:10, I didn't say Willingham is a "perfe...8:10, I didn't say Willingham is a "perfectly credible witness." In fact, he did not testify at his trial. The main evidence against him was the flawed forensics, which is where my comments have been focused.<br /><br />8:24, Perry's appointment of John Bradley to the Forensic Science Commission and Bradley's subsequent stalling and interference into examining the case belies your notion that he doesn't care. That said, I don't believe, as 10:41 said last night, that Stacy K received any sort of payoff. She's in an incredibly difficult situation, and has been for 20 years. Memory is a tricky thing - often we remember what we want to - and I don't consider her dishonest, but her various statements cannot be reconciled for the reasons stated by the prosecutor in the case.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-70128592403410181532010-10-07T08:38:38.792-05:002010-10-07T08:38:38.792-05:00Anon 8:24: I also am both against the death penalt...Anon 8:24: I also am both against the death penalty and for Bill White. But I think I can separate those convictions/prejudices from what this hearing about. It is or should be about forensic, specifically arson science. But there is a story in AGN this morning that headlines it as a death penalty hearing. Which it is, but only indirectly. It is politically advantageous to Perry et. al. to focus on the death penalty, since pro-death penalty folks still outpoll anti-death penalty advocates.<br /><br />My two bits worth.<br />Rev. Charles tuliaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-43094624609419997632010-10-07T08:24:48.177-05:002010-10-07T08:24:48.177-05:00I doubt Perry gives a rats ass about this case, th...I doubt Perry gives a rats ass about this case, then or now. Even if Willingham were somehow found to be innocent, Perry would just say he made the call based on the information he had at the time, just as judge Baird is saying now. No opponent of Perry is going to side with anti-death penalty crusaders. Maybe the campaign would be slightly embarrassed, but less so than "adios mofo" or "let's get on down the road". So they had the 4 page Hurst report for a couple of hours? Perry would just say the crime scene evidence was overwhelming. And I say this as a person who is both against the death penalty and for Bill White.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-75279894748238434672010-10-07T08:10:57.667-05:002010-10-07T08:10:57.667-05:00Nice work on the wife, Grits. BTW, this works just...Nice work on the wife, Grits. BTW, this works just as well: "I don't know which time Willingham was telling the truth or what was his motive when he didn't, but I know for sure it can't all be accurate"... either he went out the front door or the back door... either he kicked the door down with his bare feet against the hinge or he opened it... either he left Amber in her bed behind the child gate or she was in bed with him (where her body was found)... either he set the fire or he didn't... Why is Willingham a perfectly credible witness but Stacy isn't?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-52001282932564600802010-10-07T07:05:43.332-05:002010-10-07T07:05:43.332-05:00Go get em Lowell! Way to stand up for justice.Go get em Lowell! Way to stand up for justice.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-5956897584719862272010-10-06T22:41:36.124-05:002010-10-06T22:41:36.124-05:00Here's the thing. Someone who knows someone ne...Here's the thing. Someone who knows someone needs to do an inquiry into his ex-wife's bank account as of late. Just sayin. Something wicked this way comes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-64234598843616815222010-10-06T18:27:00.639-05:002010-10-06T18:27:00.639-05:00I'll bet somebody from Perry's campaign se...I'll bet somebody from Perry's campaign set her up with Johnny Sutton. Or maybe she just happened to have a former US Attorney on her speed dial. :^)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-45871933141936359472010-10-06T17:58:52.297-05:002010-10-06T17:58:52.297-05:00@4:43, you may be right. But then why did she not ...@4:43, you may be right. But then why did she not tell the same story she's telling now to the reporter from the Corsicana Sun on the day she actually talked to Willingham? That was AFTER she'd flip flopped and decided she believed he was guilty (she said so to the reporter), so according to your thesis, by then she would have no reason to protect him if he'd confessed to her just hours before.<br /><br />I don't know what to believe and honestly, given that Willingham is dead, I don't think it matters much. That's one of the reasons I wish we were discussing a case that would allow us to focus on the arson science instead of the death penalty.Gritsforbreakfasthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10152152869466958902noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-4438868406695764812010-10-06T17:57:42.657-05:002010-10-06T17:57:42.657-05:00She wouldn't be the first woman to lie under o...She wouldn't be the first woman to lie under oath to protect her husband or boyfriend. Just saw today where Baylor basketball star LaceDarius Dunn's girlfriend was requesting that assault charges against him be dropped after he broke her jaw in two places. What do you want to be that she conveniently "forgets" what happened? <br /><br />In any event, Ms. Kuykendall has at least as much credibility in my book as Charlie Baird, Barry Scheck and another of those other "bleeding heart" anti-death penalty folks who have nothing better to do than try to abolish the death penalty in Texas.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-19575628476706865642010-10-06T17:22:04.296-05:002010-10-06T17:22:04.296-05:004:43, if you're right then she lied under oath...4:43, if you're right then she lied under oath. Either way she's not a very credible source at this point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-36019028994436780862010-10-06T16:43:31.672-05:002010-10-06T16:43:31.672-05:00For those of us who routinely deal with domestic v...For those of us who routinely deal with domestic violence and child abuse cases, Grits, the conflicting statements by Stacy Kuykendall are hardly surprising. It is not uncommon at all for those women to lie to protect their abuser out of loyalty, fear, love, desperation, or all of the above. There is also this weird psychological dynamic in child homicide cases where mothers will go out of their way to deny to themselves that they did anything wrong by leaving their child in the care of an abuser. I've seen numerous cases where women will take the side of their husband or boyfriend over their own kids. Sometimes it takes months or years for them to acknowledge that they left their child at risk by leaving them alone with an abuser. Whatever Stacy's motivations are for changing her story, I certainly wouldn't be so quick to discount the possibility that she's telling the truth about Willingham's confession.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8597101.post-50164950185427733152010-10-06T16:28:03.818-05:002010-10-06T16:28:03.818-05:00I imagine the Willingham case keeps coming up as t...I imagine the Willingham case keeps coming up as the poster child because other exonerations haven't changed any minds regarding fire science.<br /><br />Apparently people like Ernest Willis aren't a big enough story to get anything changed.Ryan Paigehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12171317748419259984noreply@blogger.com