Cameron Todd Willingham Case Study

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In the State of Texas v. Cameron Todd Willingham case, smalltown Todd Willingham was convicted and put on death row after being unjustly convicted of setting his house with arson and murder. The police’s preconceived opinions of him played its role in this case. However, when clouded judgment is involved mistakes are made. In this case, the results may have been an innocent man's life was destroyed and he ultimately died because of it. Police took his lack of injuries and the fact that he never tried to re-enter the house to save his kids as evidence in their case against him. Yet the only thing this proves he's guilty of is being a coward.The town found evidence that at the surface helped to create a sinister image of Willingham, however, if a more in-depth investigation along with a more …show more content…

Willingham's questionable past hindered his defense and even played a part in his attorneys' ability to defend him. Todd's attorney himself was unsympathetic, and later even admitted he didn't believe in his story. Years later just before he was to be executed pen pal Elizabeth Gilbert, recognized he may not have received a fair trial she found some holes in the state's case. The original reports determined the fire as an arson based on the burn patterns in the house. However by this time improvements within forensic analysis proved there was no evidence of arson, and those burn lines were products of flashover. Moreover, his lack of injury was also validated by the fact that the floor would have been cold enough to escape with no burns. Gilbert pushed to get a stay of execution or an appeal before he was executed but obstacles prevented this from happening. Also, testimonies of the case that were made against him were later recanted and re-rented when Gibert questioned the former inmate who claimed Willingham had admitted he was

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