"Convicted killer will get a new hearing in effort to avoid execution," is the title of Joseph A. Slobodzian's report in today's Philadelphia Inquirer/
Terrance "Terry" Williams' execution is still set for Oct. 3, but a Philadelphia judge on Friday agreed to hear testimony on his lawyers' claim that the prosecutor at his 1986 trial withheld from the jury evidence of Williams' history of sexual abuse by his victim.
Although Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina questioned whether Williams' lawyers had met the legal standard for an emergency hearing, she added that "The fact is, death is different. . . . The penalty is serious enough, and it cannot be reversed."
Sarmina said the hearing Thursday would involve two witnesses: Andrea Foulkes, the city prosecutor in Williams' trial in the 1984 murder of Amos Norwood; and Marc Draper, Williams' admitted accomplice, who in new sworn statements says detectives and Foulkes ordered him to testify that Williams killed Norwood in a robbery - not in a rage over years of sexual abuse by Norwood.
In seeking clemency, Williams' attorneys have cited his youth when Norwood was killed - three months over 18, the minimum age for execution - and his sexual abuse by Norwood.
Foulkes, now a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, has said it is inappropriate for her to comment while Williams' case is being litigated.
Draper, now 46, is serving a life sentence after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and testifying against Williams for the prosecution.
Sarmina conducted a two-hour hearing Monday on Williams' lawyers emergency motion to stay execution. She said she was skeptical but gave them until Friday to supplement their claim.
Unlike Monday, Williams, 46, was not present for Sarmina's decision, but his lawyers were pleased. If Sarmina had not stayed the execution, the hearing is the necessary prelude to block Pennsylvania's first execution in 13 years.
"Philly judge grants condemned killer new hearing," is the AP filing by Maryclaire Dale, via the Trentonian.
A Philadelphia judge has granted a new evidence hearing for a killer set to be executed next month, saying she wants to hear from his co-defendant and the trial prosecutor.
Terrance “Terry” Williams admits he killed Amos Norwood with a tire iron at age 18, months after killing another man. Williams now says the 56-year-old Norwood had been sexually abusing him since he was 13.
In a new affidavit, co-defendant Marc Draper says he told detectives and a prosecutor that Williams “snapped” over his relationship with Norwood. The defense believes that corroborates Williams’ claims of abuse — which the jury did not hear.
Common Pleas Judge R. Teresa Sarmina on Friday ordered Draper and the trial prosecutor, Andrea Foulkes, to testify at a hearing Thursday.
Draper said Foulkes and city detectives told him not to mention the relationship when he testified against Williams, but to instead focus on the alleged robbery motive. The pair stole cash and credit cards from Norwood during the 1984 slaying at a cemetery, then went gambling in Atlantic City, N.J.
“Neither Ms. Foulkes nor the police wanted to hear anything about the case having to do with Norwood having sex with Terry,” Draper, who is serving a life sentence for his role in the slaying, wrote in an affidavit signed Tuesday. “They did not want me to say the case involved a relationship. They wanted me to say it was only a robbery. Ms. Foulkes made it clear to me that I had to stick to the story.”
Foulkes, now a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, said she cannot comment on the pending litigation.
The Philadelphia Daily News posts, "New evidence hearing scheduled for death row inmate," by Mensah M. Dean.
DEFENSE ATTORNEYS for the Philadelphia man scheduled to be executed on Oct. 3 persuaded a judge Friday to schedule a hearing to hear testimony from witnesses whom the attorneys allege covered up evidence during the condemned man's 1986 trial.
The ruling, made over the objections of city prosecutors, was a ray of sunlight for Terrence Williams, 46, who is on deck to become the first person executed in Pennsylvania in 13 years.
And:
Common Pleas Judge M. Teresa Sarmina scheduled the hearing for Thursday to hear from Foulkes, who is now a federal prosecutor, and Draper, 46, who is serving life in prison for his part in Norwood's murder.
Before that hearing, Williams will be in Harrisburg on Monday for a clemency hearing before the state Board of Pardons, from which he is seeking to have his death sentenced commuted to life in prison without the chance for parole.
"Terry Williams Execution: Man Who Killed Alleged Sexual Abuser Scheduled To Die Next Month," by John Rudolf at Huffington Post.
A Philadelphia judge on Friday granted a condemned man a rare hearing to weigh whether prosecutors failed to disclose key evidence indicating the true motive behind a grisly killing nearly 30 years ago.
The ruling is a major break for Terry Williams, 46, slated to be the first prisoner in more than 50 years to be executed in Pennsylvania while still appealing his sentence. Attorneys for Williams say his life should be spared due to his traumatic and violent childhood, and the fact that he was sentenced to die for killing a man who sexually abused him and other teenage boys.
Judge Teresa Sarmina, of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, did not stay Williams' execution, which is scheduled for Oct. 3, but allowed a hearing next Thursday that opens the door to that possibility. His attorneys want Williams' sentence reduced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Democracy Now posts, "In Controversial Death Row Case, Pennsylvania Prepares to Execute Man Who Killed His Sexual Abusers. There is video at the link; a rush transcript is also available.
Advocates for child victims of sexual abuse are calling on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett to grant clemency to Terrance "Terry" Williams, who is scheduled to be executed on October 3. In 1986, Williams was convicted of killing Amos Norwood. What the jury in that case did not know is that Norwood had sexually abused Williams and had allegedly violently raped him the night before. Furthermore, Williams had suffered years of physical and sexual abuse by older males.
Earlier coverage of Terry Williams' case begins at the link.
Advocates for Terry Williams have posted an online petition calling for clemency. You can find out more about the case and read the entire clemency petition filed with Pennsylvania Board of Pardons.
Related posts are in the clemency and victims' issues index.
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