Cy Vance: Doubt and the Death Penalty

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Cameron Todd Willingham did not make a sympathetic defendant. He was accused of one of the worst types of crime we witness in our society (murdering his children in an intentionally-set fire). He had been on the wrong side of the law since his early teens, was behind on his bills and out of a job. The jury spent less time deliberating this case than it takes many of us to commute to work. Cameron Todd Willingham was put to death, declaring his innocence until a lethal injection silenced him.

Yesterday, is was reported by the Chicago Tribune that a prominent fire scientist has told a state commission reviewing the case that fire investigators had no basis to rule the fire an arson -- opening up the very real possibility that Willingham was an innocent man when the state executed him. Advances in forensic science have cast serious doubt upon Willingham's guilt.

Anyone who has spent real time defending the accused in criminal court knows without a shadow of a doubt that flaws in our justice system -- from human error during investigations to legal misconduct to jury prejudices -- create an imperfect system that leaves open the possibility of sending innocent men and women to prison. It can be difficult in high-profile cases like Willingham's, when the accusations shock and horrify us, to remember that in the United States defendants are innocent until they are proven guilty. And that as the state is making its case the defendant has the inalienable right to the strongest defense.

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