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Forensic commissioner: State fire marshal testimony "embarrassing"

Houston Chronicle columnist Rick Casey offered this observation, supplemented with the opinion of at least one commissioner, regarding the expert testimony from the state fire marshal before the Texas Forensic Science Commission on the Todd Willingham case:Not a single independent scientist came forth to defend the work of Texas Deputy Fire Marshal Manuel Vasquez, who died in 1994, or the Corsicana arson investigator.Instead of seeking a scientist, the State Fire Marshal's Office put forth Assistant State Fire Marshal Ed Salazar, a lawyer.Armed with a PowerPoint that included pictures of the burned house, Salazar became impassioned with his criticism of the opposing experts, but he was short on analysis."It was embarrassing," said one scientist on the commission afterward...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on January 11, 2011 (boomark / email).