I forgot to update this thread, but his execution was stayed and a new sentencing hearing has been ordered. It has been upheld by the PA Supreme Court.
(Chronology of the events reflected in the three articles below)
(Chronology of the events reflected in the three articles below)
Terrance Williams' lawyers make final stand
September 26, 2012|BY MENSAH M. DEAN, Daily News Staff Writer
ATTORNEYS for a Philadelphia man facing execution made a final stand Tuesday to save his life by presenting two boxes of 28-year-old police evidence that they claimed city prosecutors had kept from the jury that sentenced their client to death.
The federal public defenders for Terrance Williams, 46, said the evidence, which they received Monday, contain documents corroborating their contention that their then-teenage client had been ***ually abused by the middle-aged man he killed.
"We presented an extremely strong case in light of the fact that the commonwealth continued to hide evidence up until last night," defense attorney Shawn Nolan said after closing arguments in the three-day evidentiary hearing.
Assistant District Attorney Robin Godfrey told Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina that boxed evidence was the property of the Police Department, not the D.A.'s Office, and that the defense would often not receive it.
The defense team asked Sarmina to vacate Williams' 1986 death sentence and grant him a new penalty hearing, during which a jury would hear the new evidence and render a sentence of death or life in prison without parole.
A ruling will be announced Friday morning, the judge said.
Williams, once a star quarterback at Germantown High, is scheduled to be executed next week for the 1984 murder of Amos Norwood, 56, a married father and active member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.
Williams and accomplice Marc D****r, both 18 at the time, tricked Norwood into driving them to the darkened Ivy Hill Cemetery, where they beat him to death with a tire iron and wrench.
At trial, Williams testified that he had not been at the scene and that D****r and another man were the killers. D****r testified that he and Williams killed Norwood during a robbery.
But during this week's hearing, D****r, who is serving a life sentence for the murder, recanted his testimony and said Williams initiated the slaying out of rage at being in an abusive ***ual relationship with Norwood. D****r claimed that he had lied at trial after being threatened by homicide detectives and coached by the trial's prosecutor, Andrea Foulkes.
Defense attorneys say the new evidence supports their theory that prosecutors covered up the real motive to get the death sentence they sought.
Defense attorney Billy Nolas said that when Foulkes told the jury Norwood was "a kind man" who merely offered the defendant a ride home the night of the murder, she "created a false, inaccurate impression for this jury."
"It's grown men with young boys - it's awful. And the jury should have heard that it was awful," said Nolas, who added that the prosecutions's case "stinks to high heaven."
Foulkes testified last week that she never told D****r to lie. She said she lacked evidence to tell the jury of a ***ual link between Williams and Norwood.
Contact Mensah M. Dean at deanm@phillynews.com or 215-568-8278. Follow him on Twitter @MensahDean.
September 26, 2012|BY MENSAH M. DEAN, Daily News Staff Writer
ATTORNEYS for a Philadelphia man facing execution made a final stand Tuesday to save his life by presenting two boxes of 28-year-old police evidence that they claimed city prosecutors had kept from the jury that sentenced their client to death.
The federal public defenders for Terrance Williams, 46, said the evidence, which they received Monday, contain documents corroborating their contention that their then-teenage client had been ***ually abused by the middle-aged man he killed.
"We presented an extremely strong case in light of the fact that the commonwealth continued to hide evidence up until last night," defense attorney Shawn Nolan said after closing arguments in the three-day evidentiary hearing.
Assistant District Attorney Robin Godfrey told Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina that boxed evidence was the property of the Police Department, not the D.A.'s Office, and that the defense would often not receive it.
The defense team asked Sarmina to vacate Williams' 1986 death sentence and grant him a new penalty hearing, during which a jury would hear the new evidence and render a sentence of death or life in prison without parole.
A ruling will be announced Friday morning, the judge said.
Williams, once a star quarterback at Germantown High, is scheduled to be executed next week for the 1984 murder of Amos Norwood, 56, a married father and active member of St. Luke's Episcopal Church.
Williams and accomplice Marc D****r, both 18 at the time, tricked Norwood into driving them to the darkened Ivy Hill Cemetery, where they beat him to death with a tire iron and wrench.
At trial, Williams testified that he had not been at the scene and that D****r and another man were the killers. D****r testified that he and Williams killed Norwood during a robbery.
But during this week's hearing, D****r, who is serving a life sentence for the murder, recanted his testimony and said Williams initiated the slaying out of rage at being in an abusive ***ual relationship with Norwood. D****r claimed that he had lied at trial after being threatened by homicide detectives and coached by the trial's prosecutor, Andrea Foulkes.
Defense attorneys say the new evidence supports their theory that prosecutors covered up the real motive to get the death sentence they sought.
Defense attorney Billy Nolas said that when Foulkes told the jury Norwood was "a kind man" who merely offered the defendant a ride home the night of the murder, she "created a false, inaccurate impression for this jury."
"It's grown men with young boys - it's awful. And the jury should have heard that it was awful," said Nolas, who added that the prosecutions's case "stinks to high heaven."
Foulkes testified last week that she never told D****r to lie. She said she lacked evidence to tell the jury of a ***ual link between Williams and Norwood.
Contact Mensah M. Dean at deanm@phillynews.com or 215-568-8278. Follow him on Twitter @MensahDean.
Judge stays Terrance Williams' execution
September 29, 2012 12:59 am
By Joseph A. Slobodzian / Philadelphia Inquirer
The fate of condemned killer Terrance Williams is now before the state Supreme Court after a Philadelphia judge Friday stayed the execution, citing the prosecutor's suppression of evidence that might have persuaded the jury to spare Williams' life.
District Attorney Seth Williams denounced the ruling by Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina staying the Wednesday execution, and his office immediately appealed.
But Seth Williams also acknowledged it was unlikely the state's high court would consider his petition before Terrance Williams' death warrant expires Thursday.
If Judge Sarmina's stay is reversed by the Supreme Court -- and Williams' death sentence is reaffirmed -- Gov. Tom Corbett would have to sign a new warrant setting a new execution date.
It's virtually new terrain for the Supreme Court and governor. Pennsylvania has executed three people since it reinstituted capital punishment in 1978 -- the last in 1999 -- and only after the individuals gave up appeals and asked to die.
The last contested execution in which last-minute appeals were an issue for the state Supreme Court and governor was in 1962.
Williams' lawyers called on the prosecutor to "stop trying to execute Terry Williams."
"It is deeply disconcerting that the district attorney has filed an appeal," said Shawn Nolan, a member of the defense team from the Federal Defender's death-penalty unit. "It is legally and ethically unconscionable that Seth Williams and his assistants continue to advocate for the execution of Terry Williams after hiding significant evidence for 28 years from defense counsel, jurors, the courts, the board of pardons and the citizens of Pennsylvania."
Seth Williams, in an afternoon news conference, insisted he was not an unquestioning death-penalty advocate. He said only one Philadelphian had been sentenced to death since he took office in 2010.
"This is about process, and I'll not walk away from doing my job, and that means preserving the integrity of this jury's verdict," the district attorney said.
Judge Sarmina's ruling came after two days of testimony about whether the 1986 trial prosecutor misled the jury, withholding evidence that might have made it more likely for the jury to sentence Williams to death instead of life. Judge Sarmina, 59, a former city prosecutor and a judge since 1998, has been a homicide judge for six years and presided over three trials that ended in death sentences.
In an 45-minute opinion delivered before a packed courtroom, Judge Sarmina criticized the trial prosecutor for "gamesmanship" and withholding mitigating evidence the defense attorney could have used in arguing against a death sentence.
Judge Sarmina said the prosecutor, Andrea Foulkes, now a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, withheld evidence of the ***ual proclivities of Williams' victim, Amos Norwood, and the extent of the prosecution's deal with admitted accomplice Marc D****r.
The withheld evidence, Judge Sarmina said, undermined confidence in the fairness of Williams' 1986 death sentence and made a stay of execution necessary.
Judge Sarmina did affirm the guilty verdict against Williams in Norwood's murder. She said the district attorney's office could conduct a new penalty hearing if it wished to seek execution, or could let Williams, 46, spend the rest of his life in prison without chance of parole.
Seth Williams and federal prosecutors vigorously defended Ms. Foulkes.
"She left this office after a distinguished career here and then carried on with the U.S. attorney's office, practicing before federal judges and always with an unblemished record," Williams told reporters.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Lappen called Ms. Foulkes "an outstanding prosecutor with an impeccable record for integrity, professionalism, and dedication to public service."
In testimony last week before Judge Sarmina, Ms. Foulkes insisted that she did not withhold evidence.
She said the information she had about the victim, a 56-year-old Germantown church volunteer who Terrance Williams says ***ually abused him beginning at age 13, was nothing more than "bits and pieces."
Judge Sarmina, however, cited Ms. Foulkes' testimony that she suspected Norwood had *** with teenage boys and had a ***ual relationship with the then-18-year-old Williams, a Cheyney University freshman and football player.
"She was able to connect all the dots," Judge Sarmina said. "Had a reasonable defense counsel been given all the dots, he also could have connected them."
In Williams' plea for clemency, defense lawyers presented statements from five trial jurors saying they would have sentenced Williams to life had they known about evidence of Norwood's ***ual proclivities and abuse of Williams.
Judge Sarmina said Ms. Foulkes gave Williams' 1986 defense lawyer statements from Norwood's widow and minister that portrayed him as a kindly, religious man with a reputation for helping poor youths.
"They were sanitized statements," Judge Sarmina said, adding that Williams' attorney could have used the information to portray Norwood as an "unsympathetic victim."
September 29, 2012 12:59 am
By Joseph A. Slobodzian / Philadelphia Inquirer
The fate of condemned killer Terrance Williams is now before the state Supreme Court after a Philadelphia judge Friday stayed the execution, citing the prosecutor's suppression of evidence that might have persuaded the jury to spare Williams' life.
District Attorney Seth Williams denounced the ruling by Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina staying the Wednesday execution, and his office immediately appealed.
But Seth Williams also acknowledged it was unlikely the state's high court would consider his petition before Terrance Williams' death warrant expires Thursday.
If Judge Sarmina's stay is reversed by the Supreme Court -- and Williams' death sentence is reaffirmed -- Gov. Tom Corbett would have to sign a new warrant setting a new execution date.
It's virtually new terrain for the Supreme Court and governor. Pennsylvania has executed three people since it reinstituted capital punishment in 1978 -- the last in 1999 -- and only after the individuals gave up appeals and asked to die.
The last contested execution in which last-minute appeals were an issue for the state Supreme Court and governor was in 1962.
Williams' lawyers called on the prosecutor to "stop trying to execute Terry Williams."
"It is deeply disconcerting that the district attorney has filed an appeal," said Shawn Nolan, a member of the defense team from the Federal Defender's death-penalty unit. "It is legally and ethically unconscionable that Seth Williams and his assistants continue to advocate for the execution of Terry Williams after hiding significant evidence for 28 years from defense counsel, jurors, the courts, the board of pardons and the citizens of Pennsylvania."
Seth Williams, in an afternoon news conference, insisted he was not an unquestioning death-penalty advocate. He said only one Philadelphian had been sentenced to death since he took office in 2010.
"This is about process, and I'll not walk away from doing my job, and that means preserving the integrity of this jury's verdict," the district attorney said.
Judge Sarmina's ruling came after two days of testimony about whether the 1986 trial prosecutor misled the jury, withholding evidence that might have made it more likely for the jury to sentence Williams to death instead of life. Judge Sarmina, 59, a former city prosecutor and a judge since 1998, has been a homicide judge for six years and presided over three trials that ended in death sentences.
In an 45-minute opinion delivered before a packed courtroom, Judge Sarmina criticized the trial prosecutor for "gamesmanship" and withholding mitigating evidence the defense attorney could have used in arguing against a death sentence.
Judge Sarmina said the prosecutor, Andrea Foulkes, now a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, withheld evidence of the ***ual proclivities of Williams' victim, Amos Norwood, and the extent of the prosecution's deal with admitted accomplice Marc D****r.
The withheld evidence, Judge Sarmina said, undermined confidence in the fairness of Williams' 1986 death sentence and made a stay of execution necessary.
Judge Sarmina did affirm the guilty verdict against Williams in Norwood's murder. She said the district attorney's office could conduct a new penalty hearing if it wished to seek execution, or could let Williams, 46, spend the rest of his life in prison without chance of parole.
Seth Williams and federal prosecutors vigorously defended Ms. Foulkes.
"She left this office after a distinguished career here and then carried on with the U.S. attorney's office, practicing before federal judges and always with an unblemished record," Williams told reporters.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Lappen called Ms. Foulkes "an outstanding prosecutor with an impeccable record for integrity, professionalism, and dedication to public service."
In testimony last week before Judge Sarmina, Ms. Foulkes insisted that she did not withhold evidence.
She said the information she had about the victim, a 56-year-old Germantown church volunteer who Terrance Williams says ***ually abused him beginning at age 13, was nothing more than "bits and pieces."
Judge Sarmina, however, cited Ms. Foulkes' testimony that she suspected Norwood had *** with teenage boys and had a ***ual relationship with the then-18-year-old Williams, a Cheyney University freshman and football player.
"She was able to connect all the dots," Judge Sarmina said. "Had a reasonable defense counsel been given all the dots, he also could have connected them."
In Williams' plea for clemency, defense lawyers presented statements from five trial jurors saying they would have sentenced Williams to life had they known about evidence of Norwood's ***ual proclivities and abuse of Williams.
Judge Sarmina said Ms. Foulkes gave Williams' 1986 defense lawyer statements from Norwood's widow and minister that portrayed him as a kindly, religious man with a reputation for helping poor youths.
"They were sanitized statements," Judge Sarmina said, adding that Williams' attorney could have used the information to portray Norwood as an "unsympathetic victim."
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