For the 26 years David Lee Gavitt sat in a Michigan prison, he told everyone who would listen that he did not set the fire that killed his wife and two baby girls. Nearly 25 years would pass before some of the nation’s top fire experts would tell him they believed him.
“David’s case was the classic example of a bad arson case,” said John Lentini, a leading fire scientist who reviewed Gavitt’s case during the effort to get his conviction overturned. “People jumped to conclusions.”
Since Gavitt’s conviction in 1986, the field of fire investigation has been turned on its head. Scientists and investigators have discovered that features long considered signs of a fire intentionally set, in fact also occur during accidents. This has prompted the re-examination of arson convictions across the country that may have been based on bad science.
Read the entire article here http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/trial-fire-junk-science-sent-dad-prison-killing-wife-kids-n89601
Source: NBC News, “Trial by Fire: Junk Science Sent Dad to Prison for Killing Wife, Kids” Hannah Rappleye, Lisa Riordan Seville, Jeff Rossen and Kevin Monahan, June 19, 2014.
