評論
打印
Cameron Todd Willingham
卡梅倫·陶德·威廉漢姆
Irrevocable
無法改變
Texas may well have killed an innocent man
得克薩斯可能殺死了一名無辜者
Was the real villain a faulty wire?
真正的罪魁禍首是一根故障電線？
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，一場火燒掉了德克薩斯州科西卡納城的一處民居，這里住著卡梅倫·托德·威靈厄姆、他的妻子和他們的三個女兒。大火燒死了三個小姑娘，威靈厄姆夫人彼時正在救世軍商店買圣誕禮物。威靈厄姆活了下來。一年后他被判有縱火罪。死刑判決于2004年宣判并執行。
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.
其罪名是基于縱火調查人的發現和獄中報案人約翰尼·韋伯的證詞——此人聲稱威廉漢姆曾向自己供罪——而判處的。處決前不久，威廉漢姆的律師像州長和假釋委員會遞送了另一位縱火調查人杰拉爾德·哈斯特的報告，報告詳述了首次調查中的多項漏洞。哈斯特的結論是，這場大火是由電暖器或故障電線引發的。官員們似乎是在威廉漢姆處決前收到了這份報告，但卻不了了之。獨立進行縱火調查的數方得出了相似結論。
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.
威廉漢姆堅稱自己清白無辜，他拒不服罪，甚至拒絕為免除死刑申訴。韋伯作證說，他在經過威廉漢姆的小房間時聽到了后者供認自己為掩蓋妻子虐女行為而作此舉。但是孩子們的尸體上并未發現傷痕或施虐痕跡。
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，韋伯宣布撤回證詞。接著他又取消了撤回，但又向記者承認“很有可能是我理解錯了[威廉漢姆]那番話”。韋伯還證實了自己作證不會得到任何利益。然而，在二月份，努力為威廉漢姆爭取死后赦免的律師們公布了韋伯檔案中發現的一則記錄，在記錄中，納瓦羅縣檢察官允諾將“基于威廉漢姆的[配]合”減刑處理。4月3日，德克薩斯方面拒絕了赦免威廉漢姆的要求。其律師可于2016年4月重新申請。譯者：王卓 校對：靳方方
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