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— — - ri i % v • 'V-' • ^ ^ ^ ^ m-w » • - - - - -- -------Williams Sentenced To Life in Prison For DeathB Camefca MwA jur of seven women and five men could not agree on the first question of their instructions from the judge that Joe Sydney Williams Jr charged with the murder ofJuanita White on March 2. 1986, conducted himself in a manner that caused the death of deceased and if that crime was committed deliberately and he had reasonabl expectation that his action would cause the death of the deceased or anotherThe jury did not answer the first question but on the second question, that deals with the defendant being a further threat to society. the jurors answered yes. thus eliminating the death sentence from the punishment presiding Judge George Allen couldassess the defendant.When the jury returned with their answers in the punishment phase of the trial after two and one half hours of deliberation the foreman had not signed the blank on the first question and Judge Allen sent them from the court to have the foreman sign the answerHad the jury answered yes to bothquestions William could have beensentenced to death.Judge Allen then assessedWilliams a life sentence in the TexasDepartment of Corrections, butdelaved his transfer to the state*penitentiary until a motion for a new tnal is heard, which will be within 60days.Life sentence* are also subject to automatic appealThe same jury on Friday, foundWilliams guilty of the murder ot Mrs White, while committing the cnme of burglary thus making it a capital murder charge Mrs. White was also sexually assaultedIf the death penalty had been assessed, Williams would have been placed on death row in Huntsville with David Wayne Spence, the son of Mrs. WhiteSpence is on death row after being found guilty of murdering two of the teenagers in the Lake Waco murderson July 1982. Bite marks were a vitalpart of the testimony that convictedSpence of the murders.Bite marks were also a part of the trial evidence against Williams.Dr. Homer Campbell testified for the state, that the bite marks foundon Mrs. White’s hips and near the breast area were from Williams. He testified in 1982 that the bite marksfound on Jill Montgomery were fromSpence.The defense brought in Dr. PaulStimson to refute the testimony ofDr Campbell in the Williams caseAlso testifying were eight jail house inmates The same type of testimony was used in the Spence tnal.“After the jury found him guilty. 1 am urpnsed they did not give him the death penalty. court appointed defend attomev Rick Bostwick saidfollowing the verdict.When the punishment verdict was read. Williams. 19. said to the jury. “1 never killed no one in my life.Bostwick said. “There were only two types of testimony in this case the bite mark and the eight prisoners, thev can't believe he did it. but I’ve*rgot the feeling it went down on the jailhouse testimony“Twelve people believed he was guilty, but some of the same 12 did not believe he did the actual mur der, Bostwick said.Walter Reaves, also an appointed defense attorney for Williams, said. “I am not optimistic on the motion for a new trial, but of all the cases that have been retried, this one would have a very good chance Representing the state were Assistant D.A.'s Karen Amos and Scott Petereon.Jury selection began in the tnal on July 29 and the trial concluded on September 9.
Newspaper Details
Waco Citizen
Waco, Texas, US
Fri, Sep 11, 1987
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Jared T.
NA, NA 22 Feb 2023
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