The wait continues
Terry Williams' death warrant expires at midnight.
The wait continues
Terrance Williams awoke today in the same cell he has for years, on the “death row” at the state prison at Greene, about 15 miles from the West Virginia border in southwestern Pennsylvania.
Where he ends his day remains an open question.
At some point today Williams, 46, could be taken from his cell in shackles and, under an escort of state prison officers and state troopers, begin the 200-mile, four-hour drive to the state prison at Rockview in Bellefonte to prepare for an injection of lethal chemicals.
Williams’ death warrant for the June 11, 1984 murder of Germantown churchman Amos Norwood expires at midnight and right now it has been blocked by last Friday’s ruling by Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina. Sarmina ruled that evidence of Norwood’s sexual predation on teenage boys – including Williams – was withheld from the defense in his 1986 trial, making it more likely for the jury to sentence Williams to death.
But Sarmina’s stay is under appeal to the state Supreme Court by the city District Attorney’s office and by noon today, both sides had traded a flurry of motions trying to convince the high court of their positions.
Susan McNaughton, spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections, said the department is prepared to carry out Williams’ execution before the death warrant expires at midnight – if the Supreme Court gives its approval.
For security purposes, McNaughton said, she was not permitted to discuss when and how Williams might be moved from Greene to Rockview, or even how much lead time prison officials would need.
“Let’s just say we’re monitoring the situation in court very closely,” McNaughton added.
If Williams’ execution occurs, it would be the first in Pennsylvania since 1999 and the first contested execution since 1962.
If the death warrant expires at midnight, Gov. Corbett is required to sign a new warrant within 30 days from when Sarmina’s stay is lifted. A new execution date would then have to set within 60 days of the signing of the new warrant.
Also watching the courts is the state’s five-member Board of Pardons, which had two hearings over the last two weeks on Williams’ plea to have his death sentence commuted to life in prison without chance of parole. The pardons board must be unanimous to pass on a nonbinding recommendation of clemency to the governor.
blanketman,
Where has anyone said the DA didn't turn over evidence?— Northeaster- How is this guy on death row for almost thirty years? How is that justice? Same ridiculousness that we witnessed with cop killer mumia abu jamal— mecp22
- kill him before midnight.i love this guy corbett.he has iron ones,and doesn't let the left-wing press get in his way.— seanmike
- Civilized countries do not have the death penalty. Countries like Iran, China and the United States continue to have that penalty.— mindstorms
- Off with his head.— Elbarad
- Put this thug down— frank123456
- Lest we forget, Williams lured Hamilton to bed, then stabbed him over 20 times and beat him with a baseball bat...— mayfair_
- Yes— Wildman Bill
- Should everyone who commits murded be killed? I don't know....— bump
- SURETHING must be black. He even yells when he types.— LouDiamondPhillipsheadScrewdriver
- Where can I get tickets????— cmoney
- hopefully he begs for forgiveness and his maker grants him peace in the after life.....unless of course our gutlless judiciary wimps on the law allows the low life to live out his life here at our expense...— nuggett
- you guys don't seem to know what "hiding evidence" is. If the DA's office hid evidence of Williams' abuse from his counsel, that would be suppression. Neglecting to tell the jury themselves is not, especially when the murderer himself lied of the stand and said that he didn't know Norwood before he murdered him.— Northeaster
- Not turning over exculpatory evidence is definitely hiding evidence. I know exactly about what I'm speaking. The defense attorney had he been competent and given the evidence to which Williams was entitled would have put on a very different defense. Williams was a teenaged rape victim. His defense attorney didn't meet with Williams until the day before the trial, had none of the evidence he needed, and didn't offer any mitigating factors to the jury. It was the very model of ineffective assistance of counsel. Williams did not receive the evidence nor the defense to which he was entitled under the law. The DA's Office engaged in active deception in order to cover up years of child rape by two people connected to the police department. They not only hid exculpatory evidence, but actively bullyied a witness into lying. The jurors have gone on record to say that if they hadn't been actively deceived by the DA's office, they would have acquitted him. — Blanketman
- Not turning over exculpatory evidence is definitely hiding evidence. I know exactly about what I'm speaking. The defense attorney had he been competent and given the evidence to which Williams was entitled would have put on a very different defense. Williams was a teenaged rape victim. His defense attorney didn't meet with Williams until the day before the trial, had none of the evidence he needed, and didn't offer any mitigating factors to the jury. It was the very model of ineffective assistance of counsel. Williams did not receive the evidence nor the defense to which he was entitled under the law. The DA's Office engaged in active deception in order to cover up years of child rape by two people connected to the police department. They not only hid exculpatory evidence, but actively bullyied a witness into lying. The jurors have gone on record to say that if they hadn't been actively deceived by the DA's office, they would have acquitted him. — Blanketman
- Not turning over exculpatory evidence is definitely hiding evidence. I know exactly about what I'm speaking. The defense attorney had he been competent and given the evidence to which Williams was entitled would have put on a very different defense. Williams was a teenaged rape victim. His defense attorney didn't meet with Williams until the day before the trial, had none of the evidence he needed, and didn't offer any mitigating factors to the jury. It was the very model of ineffective assistance of counsel. Williams did not receive the evidence nor the defense to which he was entitled under the law. The DA's Office engaged in active deception in order to cover up years of child rape by two people connected to the police department. They not only hid exculpatory evidence, but actively bullyied a witness into lying. The jurors have gone on record to say that if they hadn't been actively deceived by the DA's office, they would have acquitted him. — Blanketman
- Not turning over exculpatory evidence is definitely hiding evidence. I know exactly about what I'm speaking. The defense attorney had he been competent and given the evidence to which Williams was entitled would have put on a very different defense. Williams was a teenaged rape victim. His defense attorney didn't meet with Williams until the day before the trial, had none of the evidence he needed, and didn't offer any mitigating factors to the jury. It was the very model of ineffective assistance of counsel. Williams did not receive the evidence nor the defense to which he was entitled under the law. The DA's Office engaged in active deception in order to cover up years of child rape by two people connected to the police department. They not only hid exculpatory evidence, but actively bullyied a witness into lying. The jurors have gone on record to say that if they hadn't been actively deceived by the DA's office, they would have acquitted him. — Blanketman
- the Philadelphia DA's office actively hid evidence and extorted perjury in order to protect two child rapists with police connections and put Williams on death row. The man behind these murderous lies at the time, former Philly DA and current PA Supreme Court Justice Ron Castile, has refused to recuse himself even though the main issue in this case are the crimes committed by his office.— Blanketman
- So the man who authorized that Mr. Williams be subject to a death penalty trial refuses to recuse himself from deciding whether to lift Judge Sarmina's stay of execution. The Chief Justice may think that this is just another case where he routinely rubber stamps whatever it is that the DA's office wants but he is wrong. The whole world is watching.— Sanchez
