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Arson Science Rewritten
An anonymous reader handed us a link to an AP story about advances in the science of arson investigation. Many assumptions about fire, long held by investigators, have been overturned in recent years as scientists have come to understand concepts like 'flashover'. The repercussions of these findings is having an effect not unlike the use of DNA in crime-solving; people are being set free, and old cases are being re-examined. From the article: "Significantly, flashover can create very hot and very fast-moving fires. And it can occur within just a few minutes, dashing the concept that only arson fires fueled by accelerants can quickly rage out of control. The studies began to chip away at the old beliefs -- critics call them myths -- but it took years. Through the 1980s, texts at the National Fire Academy in Emmitsburg, Md., still taught the traditional techniques. It wasn't until 1992, when a guide to fire investigations by the National Fire Protection Association -- 'NFPA921: Guide for Fire and Explosion Investigations' -- clearly laid out, in a document relied upon by authorities nationwide, that the earlier beliefs were wrong."
Really, though, what did you expect from Texas?
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The only people in the case with a conscience are the jurors, the prosecutor and the judge had no qualms. That's not really a surprise though, not too many defense attorneys become judges. In fact, the more people you imprison as a prosecutor, the better your chance to become a judge or hold public office - this combined with prosecutorial immunity - and the fact that charges are rarely filed against prosecutors who engage in clearly illegal behavior such as destroying evidence - is why the legal system in the USA is so fucked up.
And, as you can clearly see, the idiots on the juries on each and every single one of these cases ate the bullshit the prosecution's expert witness threw at them. The lack of funding to defense attorneys by the state ensures that the prosecution's witness is the only one your average jury will see. And because most juries are composed of people who have barely completed what passes for a "high school education" in this country, the will smile and nod their head and convict you.
USA! USA! USA!
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Since the death penalty was reinstated in the US, there hasn't been a single case where an executed man has later been proven innocent. Even the most fervent anti-death penalty advocates don't dispute that simple fact. All claims that suggest so, are based on pure speculation.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
I'm reminded of that old racist saying about Asian countries--they just don't value life the same way we do. Only rather than some unspecified Asian country, it's Texas, and unlike the racist generalization, this one happens to be true. They just don't value life the way civilized places do. If the executed is black, they don't care at all. If the executed is white, then they care a little bit, but nothing more vehement than "it's a damned shame." You could have 10 consecutive executions that turned out to be innocent and if the Supreme Court stopped capital punishment, they'd still hate the courts for interfering, and they'd think you threw out the baby with the bathwater. Even adjusting for my latent misanthropy, there is something rotten in the culture of that state.
Now obviously, being cleared 15 years after your first conviction doesn't count. Nor does having the chief witness recanting their testimony.
I don't know the first thing about the case, and, given that your source of "information" seems to be the American Communist Liberties Union, I wouldn't trust a single aspect of your recounting of the facts of the case, but, if we assume for the sake of argument that "the chief witness" recanted her [or his] testimony, then the fault here lies not with The People of the State of Florida [i.e. the prosecution], BUT RATHER WITH "THE CHIEF WITNESS" WHO PERJURED HER- [OR HIM-] SELF!!!
Human courts are only as good as the human witnesses who choose to honor [or dishonor] their oaths to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
If we are a nation of liars, who dishonor our sacred [well, really secular] oaths, then we will get the court systems we deserve.