Sobering

Arson Experts Challenge Conviction of Executed Man

John J. Lentini, the former chairman of the forensic science committee of the National Institute of Arson Investigators who led the review panel, said in an interview that he was convinced that Texas had executed an innocent man.

"Arson is the only crime for which you can be executed based on the opinion of a man with a high school education," said Lentini, referring to the fact that many arson investigators are qualified by judges as experts even though they lack scientific training.

Lentini is manager of fire investigations at Applied Technical Services, a testing and consulting firm based in Marietta, Ga. that works primarily for manufacturers and insurance companies. He presented the group's findings at a press conference in Austin, Texas with attorney Barry Scheck, co-founder of the Innocence Project.

(HT: Patterico)

UPDATE: From the comments at TalkLeft:

Weldon Wayne Carr, convicted by then-prosecutor Nancy Grace in 1993 for killing his wife. The state argued that he had incapacitated his wife, then laid a trail of accelerant-soaked newspaper along the stairs and set the house on fire to cover his crime, and in the process of fleeing the scene broken his spine by jumping from the second story window. The paper they found was actually burned wallpaper, and hadn't been treated with any flammable substance (a trained dog detected an accelerant, but no forensic analysis found any to be present).

Animal testimony. Are we really that far from the Salem witch trials? 300 years of scientific progress and Cotton Mather ends up sounding like the voice of reason next to CNN's rating star.