Christ, Willingham again? Do me a favor, look at the diagram on page 35 of that report and tell me with a straight face that that doesn’t look like a deliberately-set fire. Note how the carpet in the middle of the room burned fast and furiously, yet the paper on the drywall was undamaged. Not to mention that the fire somehow started in the room, left through the door (the floor at the center of the doorway, mind you, not harming the frame), and made a sharp right to the front door, where Willingham was. Damn curious, ain’t it?
Some clouds really REALLY look like bunnies. A lot.
Ah, the inimitable “humor” of the far right. Bad for Burger King, but good for a grimace.
Please advise us of your expertise in these matters, Max. Because there are several so-called “experts” spreading a bunch of nonsense. Problem is, they’ve got these “credentials” and “experience”, but clearly lack your insight.
Take this Beyler fellow! Sure goes to great lengths to brag about his academic training, publicantions, and work experience. Pretty damn susupicious, you ask me, guy has to go on and on, page after page like that.
I’m sure you got that beat all hollow, so whip it out!
How about an experiment? Toss a match on your carpet and tell us if the resulting fire zips merrily around the floor, or if it heads for the walls and starts climbing. Or do you think you have a pretty reasonable idea of what it’ll do, without having to do the experiment or go to college for four years?
Regardless, the Beyler report does not say on any of its pages that Willingham didn’t set a fire; the farthest it goes is, “Person X’s methods do not comport with modern fire investigation.” It is in no way an exoneration. Assistant Chief Doug Fogg, one of the two main investigators, is still alive and disputes Beyler’s conclusions. To
[quote Fogg]
(http://corsicanadailysun.com/thewillinghamfiles/x46870673/-09-06-09-No-doubts), “Beyler thought we were total idiots…A lot of this stuff (in Beyler’s report) is misspoken or misinterpreted. We eliminated all accidental causes. That house was box construction. The only sheetrock that came down was what was hit with water. The paper backing wasn’t even scorched.” It’s also worth noting that Beyler’s report is based solely on trial testimony, not the examination of physical evidence of the fire.
There was never a question of “exonerating”. Beyler brings into doubt whether there was an act of arson at all, which renders the question of reponsibility totally moot.
Well, yeah. He wasn’t called in till much later. Tres duh.
And Asst. Chief may disagree, such is his perogative. But Mr. Beyler either knows this shit or he has a genius for putting together a fake resume. Did you check those pages? Guys got some major credentials. May even set up pretty good against the Asst Fire Chief of Corsicana, Texas. A daunting prospect, to be sure, but still…
I neither know nor care whether it was a deliberately set fire. In fact, I have no idea what a deliberately set fire looks like. The point is that there is evidence - expert testimony - that Willingham was innocent, while there is no evidence that aliens walk among us.
Regardless of the recently deceased’s culpability for the crime which he was charged, Coulter’s tweet was, at the very least, incredibly tacky.
Place? I expect Hell has a use for her.
And Paddy said “Oh, so you’re the Devil himself, are you? 'Tis about time we met, I’ve been your son in law for forty years, now…”
That’s it! Sentence AC to a year’s worth of listening to a grade schooler practice violin.
That’ll teach her.
[sub]Apologies to your daughter.[/sub]
I would agree with you except in this case, (according to Ann Coulter’s blog), Davis was identified by friends and acquaintances, not just strangers.
Re Willingham, it’s hard to argue with the experts, but are the experts saying he was innocent? Insufficient evidence of guilt is not the same thing as innocent. (Which is not to say that we should execute people based on insufficient evidence of guilt, but if that happened, it’s not valid to claim that an innocent person was executed.)
That expert says the fire wasn’t deliberately set, which kind of excludes the possibility of murder (since fire was definitely the cause of death).
Again, you clearly haven’t read the report. Beyler’s report contends that the fire investigation was flawed; it does not say that the fire wasn’t deliberately set. Since he only read the trial testimony and didn’t actually investigate the fire, Beyler has no way to know whether the fire was deliberately set or not.
Fotheringay-Phipps, thanks for the attempt at rationality, but that sort of thing doesn’t usually fly in the Pit, I’m afraid…
Do you have a cite for that?
According to the fire chief’s rebuttal Dr. Beylor said no such thing, media reports to the contrary notwithstanding. (See item #7.)
Which is not to say you can’t be right, but you need a cite.
[In general, the linked letter is a worthwhile read, for those interested in the case.]
This joke never gets old to me.
Uh oh. KNIFE FIGHT!
Oh dear. You knew I had the earplugs on hand didn’t you?
Fortunately she’s adorable enough to make up for it. Ironically she just came home and has her violin in hand and on her lap. The grin on her is more than enough to make up for the excruciating sounds she’s currently making.
[slight hijack]
Am I the only left-leaning Doper—or the only left-leaning American at all, for that matter—who has no problem (in principle if not in practice) with the death penalty?
I see a lot of people on my end of the political spectrum wringing their hands and bemoaning the awful, awful brutality and savagery of the death penalty (:rolleyes:), and I’m always like, “Wot? How come?” And they answer with something like kaylasdad said: “Because it’s, um…brutal and savage.” Apparently just because they say so, because when pressed, they can’t offer much in the way of non-circular philosophical, legal, moral, or practical reasons for opposing it.
So although I hate Ann Coulter—and I do mean, I HATE Ann Coulter! :mad:—I’m not weeping for the execution of a convicted killer, either. Screw 'im. Throw the switch. Pump in the juice.
And then we’ll celebrate with abortions and gay marriage for all. 
[/slight hijack]