at this point nobody is relying necessarily on what johnny webb has to say. >> reporter: do you believe what webb has to say that not only did they have this deal but jackson told him to tell this lie on the stand? >> i believe it. because it's not just confirmed by what webb said, it's corroborated by the other letters and correspondence that he had where he obviously had a very close relationship with judge jackson. >> following the exoneration hearing in 2010 baird concluded willingham was denied a fair trial and would likely have been cleared but even as baird was hearing the case willingham's prosecutors were working against the proceedings. >> the navarro county district attorney left the courtroom and he went to a higher court and asked the higher court to stop the hearing. >> he went in person to the higher court? >> yes. >> he left your court -- >> literally as the hearing was beginning he walked out and went to a higher court and filed paperwork and asked me to stop the hearing. >> the appeals court was blocks away and agreed otemporarily halt the proceeds and ruled that baird

>>reporter: no reason because johnny webb now says willing hamwas innocent. 22 years after his trial, webb claims there was no confession. had you ever talked to willing hambefore? >> no. >>reporter: did you even know who willing hamwas? in 1992 webb had been convicted of aggravated robbery and was housed in the same jail where willing hamawaited trial. the lead prosecutor in willing ham's case was assistant d.a. john jackson, a friend of his father. >> i was just one of the boys. >>reporter: so let's be very clear. willing ham's supposed confession to you, who came up with that story, you or jackson? >> jackson. >>reporter: and what did he tell you to say? >> he showed me the pictures of the baby and stuff. i mean he convinced me of his guilt. this is not, like, something that was just hatched on the fly. i mean it took days. i went to his office two or three days and it was a period of grooming of coaching. >>reporter: webb says jackson also promised him something in return for his testimony. webb's own robbery sentence would be reduced. webb says he took the deal. >> if you're in m

in his mind there was no reason for them not to. >> reporter: no reason because johnny webb says cameron todd willingham was innocent. 22 years after his trial. webb claims there was no confession. had you talked to cameron todd willingham before? did you know who he was? in 1992 webb had been convicted of aggravated robbery and was housed in the same gaol where cameron todd willingham awaited trial. the lead prosecutor in cameron todd willingham's case was assistant da john jackson, a friend of webb's father. >> he was one of boys they take tare of each other. >> reporter: cameron todd willingham's confession to you, who came up with the story, you or jackson? >> jackson. >> reporter: what did he tell you to sigh? >> he showed me the pictures of babies. he convinced me of his will. it wasn't hatched on the fly. it took days. i went to the office 2-3 times. it was a period of coaching. >> reporter: webb says jackson promised him something in return for his testimony. webb's robbery sentence was reduced. webb took the deal. >> if you are in my position you are 22 years old, and the da the

prosecutor john jackson is now under investigation by the texas bar association and the informant johnny webbpoke exclusively with al jazeera. >> you see everybody says i was a snitch. i didn't snitch on anybody. i lied like john jackson told me to. >> reporter: had you ever talked to willingham before? >> uh-uh. >> reporter: did you know who willingham was? you know, johnny, you lied under oath. you are a liar. why should we believe you are telling the truth now? >> you don't got to believe me. believe their words. they are right this. >> reporter: as evidence, he speaks to 20 years of correspondences between himself, jackson and jackson's surrogates in which a deal is implied. a recently discovered note on the d.a.'s file on webb said that his sentence was supposed to be based on his cooperation in willingham. jackson now a retired district judge denies that he coached webb to lie on the stand. he also denies a deal between him and webb ever existed. jackson will face those charges, leveled by the texas bar association later this year in a jury trial. if found guilty, the punishment ranges

. >> baird's court also considered the recantation of johnny webb, the jailhouse informant who told al jazeera in an exclusive interview that his stories about willingham's confessham's confession was a lie. >> did you talk to willingham before? >> no. >> did you know who willingham was? >> he said a prosecutor offered him a secret deal, sovereigning his own sentence in exchange for his own lightning of sentence. >> i straight up told what he told me to do. >> do you believe that jackson told him to tell the lie on the stand? >> i believe it because it's not just confirmed by what webb said. it's corroborated by the other letters and correspondence that he had where he obviously had a very close relationship with judge jackson. >> reporter: funneling the exoneration hearing in 2010, baird concluded that willingham was denied a fair trial. but even as he was ruling, willingham's attorneys were enengaged in another hearing. >> he went to a higher court. >> he went to a higher court. >> he walked out and went to the higher court and filed paperwork over there and asked me to stop the hear

>> well, i did just speak with johnny webb, the jailhouse informant, who testified against willingham in 2002, and he said that he never knew willingham. he said that he was fed the story to be told on the stand by prosecutor, john jackson. >> see everybody says that i'm a snitch. i didn't snitch on nobody. i lied like he told me to. >> jackson denies all of this. but webb points to documentation that he saved of letters that he saved between himself and jackson and associates that seem to support webb's current story. and on top of this, now an independent group of firefighters said that they debunked the evidence from the scene, saying that it was junk science. >> and what has come out as well the statements by prosecute webb and what is next in all of this. >> well, now the attention is on the prosecutor, john jackson, and the bar association filed a formal accusation against him last month. so jackson will face those charges next month before a jury trial. and that has not been set yet but may next year. >> much more ahead in the next hour here on aljazeera america. >>> up next in