Put venom aside in Williams case

This letter from our friend, Phyllis Pautrat, appeared in today's Philadelphia Inquirer


I'm not sure why District Attorney Seth Williams seems so angry about the Terrance Williams case ("Making the case for Williams' execution," Sunday). His office has processed many cases involving adults sexually abusing children, children who took years to come to terms in any healthy way with being subjected to rape by an adult.

Terrance Williams was barely 18 years old when he committed his crimes. Some never are able to come to terms with abuse in any healthy way, and perhaps Williams is in that category. Credible experts have agreed that this abuse happened, and it happened while Williams was a child, the last time just months past the age that the U.S. Supreme Court has recently ruled is acceptable for people to be executed.

The district attorney ought put his venomous words and thoughts aside, respect the possibility that Terrance Williams was brutalized as a child, and thus recommend that he be kept in prison but not executed.

Phyllis Pautrat, Mount Laurel, ppautrat@comcast.net

Terrance Williams safe for now, but D.A. falls short of 'zealous, ethical and effective' standards

The following is a work of opinion submitted by the author.
This morning, Friday Sept. 28, 2012, the life of Terrance Williams was temporarily spared the execution scheduled for him just days from now. He is also scheduled to have another hearing with the Pennsylvania pardons board.

It was a day of joy in a courtroom that for weeks was gradually packed with all manner of people interested in the case. Williams'  family and childhood friends were there since the first of the post-conviction relief act hearings began. Some of them broke out in applause and praise to God — silenced by court officers when ... read more here

Well That Was Fun While it lasted

The fun never stops.

In a mystifying move,  the District Attorneys' office just announced that it is going to appeal Judge Sarmina's grant of clemency and relief for Terry Williams. May I just say, personally,  

"Seriously guys? What ARE you thinking? You just got spanked by the judge for withholding evidence and now you want to get even more negative publicity about prosecution and police misconduct? You're in TIME OUT until you can explain why you're behaving this way and offer an appropriate apology. The mind boggles."

And Seth, aren't you running for DA again? Have you decided to change your line of work?

And another thing, THIS is how you spend our tax dollars while cutting funding to critical programs? The mind boggles.

End of personal rant. At least for now. Please do continue to ask even more people to sign petition for clemency here: chn.ge/RMLmd3

Kathleen

Statement from Attorneys for Terry Williams in Response to the Stay of Execution and Vacation of Death Sentence

“On behalf of Terry Williams, we are extremely pleased that Judge Sarmina, after carefully considering all of the evidence in this case, has vacated the death sentence based on misconduct by the prosecution.  Her decision was right and well-reasoned.  As prosecutor for more than 10 years and a judge who likely presided over more than a hundred homicide trials, Judge Sarmina certainly understands how the prosecution misled the jury in this case. The Philadelphia District Attorney should stop their appeals and stop fighting to have Terry executed.

The District Attorney’s very own files were replete with evidence from as early as 1984 of predatory, exploitive and abusive acts by Herbert Hamilton and Amos Norwood against Terry Williams and other teenage boys.  It is legally and ethically unconscionable that Seth Williams and his Assistants have been advocating for the execution of Terry Williams after hiding critical evidence from jurors and continuing to hide it for 28 years.

Judge Sarmina found that the trial prosecutor engaged in misconduct. She found that the prosecutor 'played games and took unfair measures to win.' She also noted that the prosecutor violated her ethical duty for failing to turn over evidence in the files in the possession of the Commonwealth.

If the DA appeals, we are confident that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will not overturn Judge Sarmina’s well-reasoned decision, and do not believe that the Court will tolerate the prosecutor’s actions in this case, especially when life or death are at issue.

We are also hopeful that Governor Tom Corbett and the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons will now grant clemency in light of Judge Sarmina’s decision and the significance of the evidence that prosecutors kept from the Board during their life or death deliberations.  A majority of the Board, including Attorney General Linda Kelly, previously voted in favor of clemency.  Surely, after considering the new evidence, they will not allow this execution to go forward.”

- Shawn Nolan, attorney for Terry Williams
- September 28, 2012

Even though we have a stay at the moment, it's still very important to continue to gather signatures for the petition in support of clemency for Terry.  http://chn.ge/RMLmd3

Report on Today’s Hearing of the Board of Pardons 9/27/12

Disclaimer: I am not an attorney, nor have I ever played one on TV, cable or otherwise. Any inaccuracies are my own damn fault.

The first hurdle was for the members of the board to take a vote on whether or not to grant a re-hearing on the clemency petition for Terry Williams. In order to be granted a re-hearing, the petitioner has to provide proof of changed circumstances. In this case, the defense demonstrated that the District Attorney’s representative had lied in the previous clemency hearing that ended with a vote of three to one in favor of granting clemency.

The Board of Pardons voted in favor of granting a re-hearing, which after a brief recess, began with a review of the procedures, a reminder that we were guests of the Commonwealth, and a description of the three possible outcomes, namely, that the board could vote to recommend to Governor Corbett, clemency for Terry Williams. In order to make this recommendation, the vote would have to be unanimous. The second outcome is that if even one member of the board votes against recommending clemency, the application for clemency would be denied. The third possible outcome is that the board votes to take the matter under advisement to allow more time for deliberation.

Both sides were permitted to submit evidence to the board before today’s hearing. Attorney Shawn Nolan laid out the straight forward case for clemency. New information which had been withheld by the prosecution had been discovered since the last time the Board of Pardons met to consider clemency for Mr. Williams. Some of this evidence was only uncovered after Judge Sarmina, who is presiding over separate proceedings in Philadelphia, ordered that the boxes and boxes of files dealing with the original interviews and investigation. Mr. Nolan addressed every question that two of the board members had asked during the previous hearing.

That evidence was a bombshell. While the prosecutor of Terry’s original case was questioned under oath about her investigation, she was asked to read her notes, in her own handwriting. These notes clearly contained evidence that the prosecution has consistently denied existed, including her suggestion that evidence suggesting an underage Terry Williams and Mr. Norwood. I will not repeat some of the derogatory terms she used to describe the squad which she wrote that this case should be referred to for further investigation of a long time sexually predatory relationship on the part of Mr. Norwood. Not only were there notes concerning her belief at the time, there was even a statement made by the parent of another minor complaining that her son had been touched inappropriately as well by Mr. Norwood. As was the case in the first clemency hearing, attendees lowered their heads, shaking them slowly side to side, as the details were revealed.

After a few clarifying questions from the States Attorney General, the prosecution began their show, which amounted to repeating that the new evidence of ongoing abuse was not relevant. He spent a great deal of his allotted thirty minutes defending the actions of the DA’s office at the time. During questioning, he was asked to explain what Ms. Foulkes, the woman whose notes were so damning to the prosecution, meant by her testimony that “she would do things differently now.” To those of us listening, it’s clear what she meant. She knew that she had not performed her job,  that she had, in fact, failed to follow up on the most likely motive, i.e.  a black out fury prompted by Mr. Norwood’s raping Mr. Williams the night before. The DA stumbled, saying something about Ms. Foulkes being young and inexperienced and that she must be a better attorney now that she’s had more years of practice.

Can I just call “BS” here? How does a rookie prosecutor get assigned to a homicide case? Isn't that a big problem (if it's true) by itself? I’m supposed to believe that her mistakes were merely oversights? I’m not buying it. I’m confident that the Board of Pardons won’t buy it either. Even if they do believe that fairy tale, there is so much more evidence pointing to misconduct by police and the DA’s office, that I’m hopeful that the board will do the right thing and recommend that Governor Corbett grant clemency to Terry Williams.

Meanwhile, in Philly, Judge Sarmina has said that she will issue her ruling tomorrow on the request for a stay of execution. Having attend two of the four days of that hearing, it’s clear to me that there is overwhelming evidence that a stay of execution is the right outcome.

Meanwhile, please keep sharing the petition for clemency for Terry Williams and encouraging your friends to sign it. If the link above doesn't work, you can copy and paste this url into your browser. http://bit.ly/QXpUhG

We have only days left to show our support and help save Terry's life. If ever there was a case for clemency, this is it. Don't let Pennsylvania kill a man who was the victim of ongoing sexual abuse beginning when he was only six years old. Don't let PA execute a man when the jury didn't have the truth presented to them. Don't allow the state to execute a man whose case should never have been a death penalty case in the first place. Don't allow the state to kill Terry in our names.

 

More as I learn it.

Kathleen

Terrance Williams had no chance for a normal life; don't kill him

After reading Frank P. Cervone's piece "The Weight of Child Abuse: Should a Killer's Horrific Childhood Matter in Deciding His Fate?" (Sept. 18 Perspectives), I am fully convinced that Terrance Williams' execution should not take place on Oct. 3. We have all read about the tragic and widespread sexual abuse of boys in our trusted institutions and by prominent individuals in the commonwealth. It is unacceptable that our state may execute another victim of this unspeakable crime.

 As said in the article, "Victims of child sexual abuse face a monumental crossroad in the decision to disclose their abuse. Some get help, heal their emotional wounds and get on with their lives. Others don't tell their story, sometimes for months, years or ever. Later, they might hurt themselves or others."
Unfortunately for Mr. Williams, he kept silent and killed his abusers. After reading about Mr. Williams' abusive upbringing and years of sexual abuse, it has become very clear that he never had a real chance at a normal life. Mr. Williams has committed terrible crimes; that's not a question. But he still deserves for the crimes committed against him to be taken into consideration.

JESSICA MICHAEL
Glenside, Montgomery County

Please sign and share the petition for clemency  ow.ly/dXn8a 

Link to Jessica's letter in the Pittsburgh Gazette

Great Letter to the Editor in Response to DA Seth Williams

September 25, 2012

Letters Editor
The Philadelphia Inquirer

Dear Editor:

As a citizen and a taxpayer, I am outraged that Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams should attempt to make a case for the execution of Terry Williams in the press (Philadelphia Inquirer, September 23).  Mr. Williams is a public official and an officer of the court.  The place for him to make his arguments is in court.  To abuse his position in such a fashion is to undermine the trust and credibility of his office, and to raise serious concerns about his fitness to lead it.

The Terry Williams case, involving as it does strong evidence of coerced and perjured testimony and prosecutorial misconduct, unfortunately fits the profile of much of what passed for "justice" in Philadelphia courts in the 1980s.  Many similar cases will soon come to term as Death Row prisoners exhaust their appeals.  Will Seth Williams contest each one?  If so, he will forfeit public confidence in himself and his office, and link himself to the abuses of a shameful past.

Sincerely,

Robert Zaller

Please sign petition to save #TerranceWilliams  http://chn.ge/TYy3mcPetition at change.org