Defending People (Free subscription) | 10/24/2009
Given how I feel about lawyers representing defendants with conflicts, I was a bit disturbed to read this piece (Lisa Falkenberg) about Richard “Racehorse” Haynes being accused of conflicted representation in a federal drug case. Richard’s client, Dong Huynh, sentenced to 22 years in prison, alleges that Richard had a conflict of interest because Dong [...]
Grits for Breakfast (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
... regrettable that debate over the Willingham case isn't more focused on the arson science , a point Lisa Falkenberg reiterated in the Houston Chronicle this morning. Even if you're a death penalty opponent, this is not a winning strategy. Meanwhile, faulty arson forensics have resulted in numerous apparent false convictions , so it'd be unfortunate if those issues go unaddressed because...
Eye on Williamson (Free subscription) | 10/15/2009
... one. It’s because the governor is wrong, and no one wants any of this taint to get on them too. Lisa Falkenberg in the HChron has a good write up today, Execution controversy about more than ‘bad man’ . Yes, by most accounts, Cameron Todd Willingham was a “bad man,” as Gov. Rick Perry declared Wednesday to reporters. But being a bad man isn’t a crime punishable by death, even in Texas....
StandDown Texas Project (Free subscription) | 10/07/2009
That's the title of Lisa Falkenberg's column in today's Houston Chronicle. LINK Shoddy crime lab work, win-at-all-cost prosecutions, overburdened court-appointed attorneys, arson reports relying on mystics rather than science. These and other problems affecting the Texas' criminal justice system have...
Off the Kuff (Free subscription) | 10/08/2009
... for himself . There’s not enough schadenfreude in the world if Perry goes down over this. Finally, Lisa Falkenberg picks up on yet another frontier for criminal justice reform: the sorry state of doing autopsies, which are shockingly error prone in this state. Yes, sadly, the world of “CSI” really is make believe.
Burnt Orange Report (Free subscription) | 10/01/2009
The Houston Chronicle 's Lisa Falkenberg asks: " Is Perry pulling a Nixon? " It would be a dangerous political liability for any candidate: The possibility that, as governor, Rick Perry presided over the execution of an innocent man Yet, that's the prospect raised in recent years by several arson experts and exhaustive national media reports in the case of Cameron Todd Willingham....
StandDown Texas Project (Free subscription) | 10/01/2009
That's the title of Lisa Falkenberg's column in today's Houston Chronicle. LINK It would be a dangerous political liability for any candidate: The possibility that, as governor, Rick Perry presided over the execution of an innocent man Yet, that's the...
