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PA Execution Halted Due to Prosecutorial Misconduct

Terrance Williams has been on death row in Pennsylvania for 28 years. He was scheduled to be executed next week. Today a judge stopped the planned execution and overturned his death sentence because the prosecutor in his case, suppressed evidence and engaged in gamesmanship to get the death sentence. While the conviction stands, the judge ordered a new sentencing hearing.

A Philadelphia judge halted next week's scheduled execution of a teenage killer after finding the trial prosecutor suppressed evidence the victim was molesting boys, “sanitized” witness statements before giving them to the defense and lied about a secret deal she'd struck with the accomplice.

...Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina accused trial prosecutor Andrea Gelman Foulkes of “gamesmanship” in order to win the 1986 death-penalty case. “She did at times play games and take unfair measures to win,” Sarmina said Friday, reading aloud her lengthy ruling. “She wanted to win.”

Gelman Foukes is now an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Philadelphia. She testified at a hearing in Willimas case last week and the judge said her testimony was "not credible." [More...]

Williams original trial lawyer has since been disbarred. Although federal courts found his performance "constitutionally deficient", they refused to vacate Williams' death sentence.

Since 1996, Williams has been represented by the federal public defender's office.

“That we were talking about executing somebody who meets his lawyer a day before trial is an indictment of the system. The fact we're talking about this new evidence a week before execution is a bigger indictment of the system,” public defender Victor Abreu said Friday.

Pennsylvania prosecutors say they will appeal today's decision.

< Mass. Drug Lab Chemist Arrested | Wrongfully Convicted Inmate Freed From Death Row in Lousiana >
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    DNA exonerates another death row inmate today (5.00 / 1) (#2)
    by CoralGables on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 04:13:20 PM EST
    NEW ORLEANS -- A Louisiana death-row inmate convicted of the rape and murder of his 14-year-old step-cousin in 1996 on Friday became the 300th person exonerated on the basis of DNA evidence in the United States -- and the 18th death-row inmate saved from execution by DNA.


    yay science (none / 0) (#6)
    by TeresaInPa on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 05:55:42 PM EST
    = )

    Parent
    why? (5.00 / 1) (#3)
    by TeresaInPa on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 04:34:47 PM EST
    Pennsylvania prosecutors say they will appeal today's decision.

    Why do they care if this guy dies now?  Whatever political benefit the prosecutors office derived from getting the death penalty in this case must have paid off years ago.  Are they blood thirsty?

    Because that is what prosecutors do (5.00 / 3) (#4)
    by Peter G on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 05:30:22 PM EST
    By the way, the Capital Habeas Unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, Federal Court Division (public defenders) -- whose attorneys won the case today -- are absolutely fabulous. Their spectacular work is the reason there has not been a single execution in Pennsylvania since 1999, despite a death row of over 200 inmates, while there have been six exonerations.

    Parent
    nice to hear (5.00 / 2) (#5)
    by TeresaInPa on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 05:54:31 PM EST
    about the public defenders in Philly.  I am opposed to the death penalty and I feel like I am fighting a losing battle all the time.  We seem to be becoming a meaner nation rather than a kinder gentler one. So GO "Capital Habeas Unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia, Federal Court Division".

    Parent
    The National Clearinghouse for the Defense (5.00 / 2) (#7)
    by Peter G on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 06:16:09 PM EST
    of Battered Women, located in Philadelphia, just released this excellent statement on the DA's decision to appeal (received by e-mail).

    September 28, 2012

    Today, just days before the scheduled execution of Terry Williams - a victim of long-time childhood sexual abuse - justice prevailed when state court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina vacated Mr. Williams' death sentence.  The National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women, an organization that assists victims of abuse whose criminal charges are directly related to the abuse they experienced applauds and supports Judge Sarmina's decision.  Terry Williams' experiences of abuse were directly related to the crimes for which he was charged and yet, in the case for which he received the death sentence, the jury never knew about the sexual abuse he was subjected to by the decedent.  Five jurors have signed affidavits stating that they would not have voted for death had they been told all relevant information including that the decedent knew Terry Williams and that he had been sexually abusing Terry Williams for years.

    But, we just learned in a statement from District Attorney Seth Williams that his office is going to appeal this decision to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.  Enough is enough!  We believe that the right and just thing would be for the DA to accept Judge Sarmina's decision and to stop any and all wasteful appeals immediately.

    Why is the Philadelphia District Attorney's office fighting so hard to execute Terry Williams?  In whose name are they digging in so deeply that they are unwilling or unable to step back even a little bit to see the bigger issue here:  that at trial, their false characterization of the decedent as an innocent and kind man who was just giving kids a ride home sent Terry Williams to death row?  Seth Williams says that [the appeal] "is about preserving the integrity of the jury's verdict and sentence."  But that is beyond disingenuous:  almost half of the original jurors (of whom only 8 are still living) have said in sworn statements that the sentence lacked integrity because they were not given all the relevant evidence (about the decedent's proclivity for preying on teenage boys - including Terry Williams, Terry Williams life-long experiences of abuse, and about not being told that a life sentence in Pennsylvania does mean that the defendant will spend the rest of his/her life in prison).

    What does the Philadelphia DA think will be gained by executing a long-time victim of sexual and other forms of abuse who had just turned 18 at the time of the crime?  Not even the decedent's widow supports the execution.  The Philadelphia District Attorney has accused Terry Williams and his defense team of posturing to avoid punishment when they know Terry has been pleading to spend the rest of his life in prison.  Wouldn't the huge amount of resources the Philadelphia District Attorney's office is expending to try to execute Terry Williams be better spent on trying to protect other victims of sexual assault?  Had Terry Williams been protected back when he was a child, it is likely that he would not even be in prison today, let alone fighting to have his life spared.

    Sue Osthoff
    Director
    National Clearinghouse for the Defense of Battered Women
    Philadelphia, PA

    If anyone's looking for a great group to support with a donation, there's one for you.

    Parent

    How can a verdict based on lies... (5.00 / 2) (#9)
    by unitron on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 07:13:58 PM EST
    ...have any integrity?

    How dare these people even use that word?

    Oh, wait, they've proved they don't really know what it means.

    Parent

    verdict not based on lies (1.00 / 2) (#12)
    by diogenes on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 09:34:15 PM EST
    "Williams, a star high school quarterback from a troubled family, was secretly having sex with older men in exchange for money, clothes and gifts. He had killed 50-year-old Herb Hamilton five months earlier, when he was 17, in a gruesome, clearly sexual slaying. Foulkes herself had prosecuted Williams in that case, which detailed the sex motive and resulted in a third-degree murder conviction."

    There is no dispute that Williams killed people in a gruesome way.  The only dispute is in the way the DA presented it in the penalty phase.  If you redo the sentencing phase you might well still have sentenced him to death.

    Parent

    The verdict was based on missing information (5.00 / 1) (#13)
    by shoephone on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 10:42:39 PM EST
    Five jurors have signed affidavits stating that they would not have voted for death had they been told all relevant information including that the decedent knew Terry Williams and that he had been sexually abusing Terry Williams for years.

    Next time, try reading the entire post.

    Parent

    You are misconstruing Unitron's comment, Dio (none / 0) (#14)
    by Peter G on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 11:07:33 PM EST
    His/her use of "verdict" clearly referred to the penalty phase, not to the guilt/innocence phase of the trial.

    Parent
    my guess: the former prosecutor, now AUSAG (none / 0) (#8)
    by cpinva on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 07:00:38 PM EST
    Why is the Philadelphia District Attorney's office fighting so hard to execute Terry Williams?  In whose name are they digging in so deeply that they are unwilling or unable to step back even a little bit to see the bigger issue here

    potentially, if this decision is sustained, this could adversely affect not only her career, but her license to practice law, since prosecutorial misconduct would, i should think, be an ethics violation. as it is, her status even now should be under review, by DOJ.

    Parent

    I doubt she suffers any repercussions. (none / 0) (#10)
    by Chuck0 on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 08:26:02 PM EST
    She will go on being an AUSAG and her prosecutor colleagues will defend her actions.

    Parent
    Not likely. (none / 0) (#18)
    by scribe on Sat Sep 29, 2012 at 06:41:57 PM EST
    John Yoo is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar, and they did exactly nothing when his ethics in writing torture memos were complained of.

    Other than dismiss the complaint, of course.

    Parent

    Seth Williams (none / 0) (#15)
    by Makarov on Sat Sep 29, 2012 at 12:07:03 PM EST
    for lack of a better term, is a giant phallus.

    He wanted to prosecute a 70 year old man for murder, when he'd served something like 20 years for attempted murder and been living a quiet life after leaving prison. The reason? The police officer he shot and maimed 30+ years before finally died from an infection.

    Maybe I remember incorrectly and this was Lynn Abraham's last extreme reach as Philly's DA, but I'm pretty sure it was Seth Williams. He never saw a potential death penalty case he didn't like.

    Parent

    Williams original trial lawyer (none / 0) (#1)
    by me only on Fri Sep 28, 2012 at 04:11:28 PM EST
    was found to be unconstitutionally deficient.

    disciplined.  The DA in New Orleans who put many on death row lost a damages verdict that was in favor of a man who wrongfully spent years on death row.  The Supreme Court of the United States reversed the verdict -prosecutorial immunity, I believe.  But someone may correct me on the facts.  

    We need to change this to a more just system, where both sides have to follow the rules.  

    "... and take unfair measures to win," (none / 0) (#19)
    by Mr Natural on Sun Sep 30, 2012 at 10:39:47 AM EST
    - I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!