Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 6, 2006 13:25:33 GMT -5
Lehigh judge to rule on death-penalty case work
Ex-Bucks man was convicted 21 years ago of first-degree murder.
By Debbie Garlicki Of The Morning Call
Lehigh County's oldest death penalty case continued in court Tuesday — 21 years after a jury convicted a former Bucks County man of killing an Ohio truck driver.
And regardless of a judge's decision, the old case is likely to be extended with state and federal appeals.
In 1985, a jury convicted Kenneth Williams of first-degree murder in the 1983 shooting of Edward Miller, whose body was found in a trailer in a Kuhnsville truck stop. Williams was the first person to be sentenced to death in the county in 35 years.
The Williams case was featured in a national television show on people who maintained they were wrongfully convicted. A vocal support group had protested at the county jail and had tried to raise awareness of the case through fundraisers to get money for appeals.
Two of Williams' dozen or so supporters were in court Tuesday. Others are still involved in the case but could not attend the hearing, said Jim Pozza of Allentown, who met Williams when he was involved in self-help groups at the county jail more than 20 years ago, and Jeannette Eliason of Nazareth, who had been Williams' therapist in the county jail.
Williams, who is on death row in Graterford State Prison, waived his right to be at the hearing.
In 2003, Lehigh County Judge Carol K. McGinley threw out the death sentence and granted a new trial on the penalty for Williams, then 54. McGinley upheld the murder conviction.
The judge ruled that Williams was denied effective assistance of counsel because his trial lawyer, Charles Sieger, didn't investigate and introduce mitigating evidence about Williams' mental health problems that may have persuaded a jury to give him life in prison.
McGinley also found that the trial judge erred when he didn't allow Sieger to present testimony from a psychologist that Williams wasn't likely to be dangerous in the future, another possible mitigating factor.
In June, the state Supreme Court set aside McGinley's order for a new trial on sentencing and sent the case back to Lehigh County for testimony on whether Williams' appellate lawyers were ineffective.
The Supreme Court directed the county court ''to accord the matter special priority, given its substantial age.''
On Tuesday, McGinley heard testimony of lawyers John Karoly and James Lanshe, who handled post-trial motions and Williams' appeals.
Both those lawyers previously raised the issue of Sieger's representation but did not address in court challenges the issue of Williams' likelihood of posing a future danger.
The defense now is trying to show that Lanshe was ineffective for not alleging that Karoly was ineffective for not questioning whether Sieger should have raised the issue of whether Williams posed a future danger.
Williams currently is represented by Michael Wiseman, a supervisor in the Defender Association of Philadelphia, capital habeas corpus unit. That group has won numerous appeals of other death row inmates in Pennsylvania, including several in Lehigh, Northampton and surrounding counties.
McGinley will make a ruling after Wiseman and Deputy District Attorney Joan Reinsmith file briefs.
debbie.garlicki@mcall.com
610-820-6764
Copyright © 2006, The Morning Call
Ex-Bucks man was convicted 21 years ago of first-degree murder.
By Debbie Garlicki Of The Morning Call
Lehigh County's oldest death penalty case continued in court Tuesday — 21 years after a jury convicted a former Bucks County man of killing an Ohio truck driver.
And regardless of a judge's decision, the old case is likely to be extended with state and federal appeals.
In 1985, a jury convicted Kenneth Williams of first-degree murder in the 1983 shooting of Edward Miller, whose body was found in a trailer in a Kuhnsville truck stop. Williams was the first person to be sentenced to death in the county in 35 years.
The Williams case was featured in a national television show on people who maintained they were wrongfully convicted. A vocal support group had protested at the county jail and had tried to raise awareness of the case through fundraisers to get money for appeals.
Two of Williams' dozen or so supporters were in court Tuesday. Others are still involved in the case but could not attend the hearing, said Jim Pozza of Allentown, who met Williams when he was involved in self-help groups at the county jail more than 20 years ago, and Jeannette Eliason of Nazareth, who had been Williams' therapist in the county jail.
Williams, who is on death row in Graterford State Prison, waived his right to be at the hearing.
In 2003, Lehigh County Judge Carol K. McGinley threw out the death sentence and granted a new trial on the penalty for Williams, then 54. McGinley upheld the murder conviction.
The judge ruled that Williams was denied effective assistance of counsel because his trial lawyer, Charles Sieger, didn't investigate and introduce mitigating evidence about Williams' mental health problems that may have persuaded a jury to give him life in prison.
McGinley also found that the trial judge erred when he didn't allow Sieger to present testimony from a psychologist that Williams wasn't likely to be dangerous in the future, another possible mitigating factor.
In June, the state Supreme Court set aside McGinley's order for a new trial on sentencing and sent the case back to Lehigh County for testimony on whether Williams' appellate lawyers were ineffective.
The Supreme Court directed the county court ''to accord the matter special priority, given its substantial age.''
On Tuesday, McGinley heard testimony of lawyers John Karoly and James Lanshe, who handled post-trial motions and Williams' appeals.
Both those lawyers previously raised the issue of Sieger's representation but did not address in court challenges the issue of Williams' likelihood of posing a future danger.
The defense now is trying to show that Lanshe was ineffective for not alleging that Karoly was ineffective for not questioning whether Sieger should have raised the issue of whether Williams posed a future danger.
Williams currently is represented by Michael Wiseman, a supervisor in the Defender Association of Philadelphia, capital habeas corpus unit. That group has won numerous appeals of other death row inmates in Pennsylvania, including several in Lehigh, Northampton and surrounding counties.
McGinley will make a ruling after Wiseman and Deputy District Attorney Joan Reinsmith file briefs.
debbie.garlicki@mcall.com
610-820-6764
Copyright © 2006, The Morning Call