Perry Appoints New Chair to State Forensic Panel

Gov. Rick Perry has appointed a new head of the Texas Forensic Science Commission following the departure of embattled chairman John Bradley.

Nizam Peerwani was named the new chairman Friday. Peerwani is the chief medical examiner for Tarrant, Denton, Johnson and Parker counties.

Bradley, the William County district attorney, had his term expire in May. He was appointed in 2009 just as the panel was set to undertake a report critical of the arson evidence used to convict a father sent to death row.

Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in 2004. Critics have said new science standards suggest the blaze that killed his children was not arson and that he was wrongly executed.

Bradley slowed down the panel's work and pushed members to find no misconduct by investigators.