经济学人下载:卡梅伦·陶德·威廉汉姆 得克萨斯可能杀死了一名无辜者

Cameron Todd Willingham
卡梅伦·陶德·威廉汉姆

Irrevocable
无法改变

Texas may well have killed an innocent man
得克萨斯可能杀死了一名无辜者

Was the real villain a faulty wire?
真正的罪魁祸首是一根故障电线？

ON THE morning of December 23rd 1991 a fire destroyed a home in Corsicana, Texas shared by Cameron Todd Willingham, his wife and their three daughters. The fire killed the girls; Mrs Willingham was at the Salvation Army store shopping for Christmas gifts. Mr Willingham survived. The next year he was convicted of setting the fire. He was sentenced to death and executed in 2004.
1991年12月23日上午，一场火烧掉了德克萨斯州科西卡纳城的一处民居，这里住着卡梅伦·托德·威灵厄姆、他的妻子和他们的三个女儿。大火烧死了三个小姑娘，威灵厄姆夫人彼时正在救世军商店买圣诞礼物。威灵厄姆活了下来。一年后他被判有纵火罪。死刑判决于2004年宣判并执行。

His conviction rested on arson investigators'findings and the testimony of Johnny Webb, a jailhouse informant who claimed that Willingham had confessed to him. Shortly before the execution, Willingham's lawyers sent the governor and parole board a report from Gerald Hurst, another arson investigator, detailing multiple flaws in the first investigation. He concluded that the fire was caused by a space heater or faulty electrical wiring. Officials appear to have received this report before Willingham's execution, but did nothing with it. Several independent arson investigators reached similar conclusions.
其罪名是基于纵火调查人的发现和狱中报案人约翰尼·韦伯的证词——此人声称威廉汉姆曾向自己供罪——而判处的。处决前不久，威廉汉姆的律师像州长和假释委员会递送了另一位纵火调查人杰拉尔德·哈斯特的报告，报告详述了首次调查中的多项漏洞。哈斯特的结论是，这场大火是由电暖器或故障电线引发的。官员们似乎是在威廉汉姆处决前收到了这份报告，但却不了了之。独立进行纵火调查的数方得出了相似结论。

Willingham insisted on his innocence, refusing to plead guilty even to avoid execution. Mr Webb testified that, as he was passing Willingham's cell, he heard him confess to having done the deed to cover up child abuse committed by his wife. But no bruises or signs of abuse were found on the children's bodies.
威廉汉姆坚称自己清白无辜，他拒不服罪，甚至拒绝为免除死刑申诉。韦伯作证说，他在经过威廉汉姆的小房间时听到了后者供认自己为掩盖妻子虐女行为而作此举。但是孩子们的尸体上并未发现伤痕或施虐痕迹。

Mr Webb recanted his testimony in 2000. He then recanted his recantation, but admitted to a journalist that “It's very possible I misunderstood what [Willingham] said.” Mr Webb also testified that he was promised no benefit in exchange for his testimony. In February, however, lawyers working to get Willingham a posthumous pardon revealed a note discovered in Mr Webb's file with the Navarro County prosecutor promising a reduced charge “based on coop[eration] in Willingham”. On April 3rd Texas denied Willingham a pardon. His lawyers can reapply in April 2016.
2000年，韦伯宣布撤回证词。接着他又取消了撤回，但又向记者承认“很有可能是我理解错了[威廉汉姆]那番话”。韦伯还证实了自己作证不会得到任何利益。然而，在二月份，努力为威廉汉姆争取死后赦免的律师们公布了韦伯档案中发现的一则记录，在记录中，纳瓦罗县检察官允诺将“基于威廉汉姆的[配]合”减刑处理。4月3日，德克萨斯方面拒绝了赦免威廉汉姆的要求。其律师可于2016年4月重新申请。