Kayla Francis intended to spend the night with her three brothers at Gram’s place, but canceled to go with a friend to a Girl Scout meeting.
While the boys and their grandmother slept in the Milton apartment that night in October 1999, the downstairs neighbor, Eric Williams, set fire to the two-story building, killing the family above, according to police.
“I think about that a lot,” said Francis, now 21 and living with her mother in St. Albans. “I went from having three siblings to being an only child.”
Williams confessed to the crime at the time of his arrest. However, after a decade behind bars, he now says police “persuaded” him to make that confession. He also says he received poor legal advice when he entered a deal with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter and in 2001 was sentenced to 40-60 years in prison.
A 2½-week hearing to determine whether Williams, 31, deserves a new trial began Thursday in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington with testimony from a self-described expert on police interrogations. The expert testified on Williams’ behalf.
Francis attended, as did her mother, Bobbi-Jo Perreault. Perreault lost her mother, Amelia Perreault, 64, and three sons — Ryan Francis, 11, Tyler Billado, 5, and Troy Perreault-Moulton, 3 — in the fire.
“I’ve had problems not being able to sleep, flashbacks, stuff like that. I miss them everyday,” said Perreault, 40. “In any event, in my eyes, ... (Williams is) a baby killer, and people need to remember that.”
Bobbie Moulton, the father of Troy, also disputed Williams’ claim that he made a false confession.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Moulton, 36, of Barre. “It seems like Eric Williams doesn’t have a case, and they’re just trying to create one.”
The victims’ relatives spoke to the Burlington Free Press during breaks in testimony Thursday; a judge heard a starkly different account from Williams’ legal team.
Richard Ofshe, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, was retained by lawyers for Williams to speak about police interrogations. Ofshe called Williams’ previous admission of guilt “worthless.”
“It’s not a confession,” he said.
Vermont State Police Detective David Harrington, who interrogated Williams, “pushed his buttons” and drove the suspect to confess during a non-tape-recorded portion of the interview, Ofshe testified. The buttons Harrington pushed included talking about Williams’ unpleasant childhood and his recent break-up with a girlfriend.
According to a transcript of the questioning, when the recording resumed Williams told Harrington: “Somehow I got that lighter off my stand and lit the papers” in a wicker basket, which burned down the apartment building.
Harrington had told Williams he knew Williams set the fire, and Williams, under severe stress, agreed, Ofshe said.
Williams’ legal team intends to call Harrington as its first witness today. Williams’ lawyers are starting before Chittenden County prosecutors in the case, because the case essentially is a lawsuit Williams filed against the state. The claim, if successful, would result in a new trial in criminal court.
Williams is challenging his conviction through a civil proceeding called post-conviction relief. Williams, in pleading guilty, waived his right to appeal the conviction directly to the Vermont Supreme Court, but he retained his right to challenge his conviction through civil proceedings.
Williams is imprisoned at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.
“I think about that a lot,” said Francis, now 21 and living with her mother in St. Albans. “I went from having three siblings to being an only child.”
Williams confessed to the crime at the time of his arrest. However, after a decade behind bars, he now says police “persuaded” him to make that confession. He also says he received poor legal advice when he entered a deal with prosecutors, pleaded guilty to four counts of involuntary manslaughter and in 2001 was sentenced to 40-60 years in prison.
A 2½-week hearing to determine whether Williams, 31, deserves a new trial began Thursday in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington with testimony from a self-described expert on police interrogations. The expert testified on Williams’ behalf.
Francis attended, as did her mother, Bobbi-Jo Perreault. Perreault lost her mother, Amelia Perreault, 64, and three sons — Ryan Francis, 11, Tyler Billado, 5, and Troy Perreault-Moulton, 3 — in the fire.
“I’ve had problems not being able to sleep, flashbacks, stuff like that. I miss them everyday,” said Perreault, 40. “In any event, in my eyes, ... (Williams is) a baby killer, and people need to remember that.”
Bobbie Moulton, the father of Troy, also disputed Williams’ claim that he made a false confession.
“It’s ridiculous,” said Moulton, 36, of Barre. “It seems like Eric Williams doesn’t have a case, and they’re just trying to create one.”
The victims’ relatives spoke to the Burlington Free Press during breaks in testimony Thursday; a judge heard a starkly different account from Williams’ legal team.
Richard Ofshe, a professor emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, was retained by lawyers for Williams to speak about police interrogations. Ofshe called Williams’ previous admission of guilt “worthless.”
“It’s not a confession,” he said.
Vermont State Police Detective David Harrington, who interrogated Williams, “pushed his buttons” and drove the suspect to confess during a non-tape-recorded portion of the interview, Ofshe testified. The buttons Harrington pushed included talking about Williams’ unpleasant childhood and his recent break-up with a girlfriend.
According to a transcript of the questioning, when the recording resumed Williams told Harrington: “Somehow I got that lighter off my stand and lit the papers” in a wicker basket, which burned down the apartment building.
Harrington had told Williams he knew Williams set the fire, and Williams, under severe stress, agreed, Ofshe said.
Williams’ legal team intends to call Harrington as its first witness today. Williams’ lawyers are starting before Chittenden County prosecutors in the case, because the case essentially is a lawsuit Williams filed against the state. The claim, if successful, would result in a new trial in criminal court.
Williams is challenging his conviction through a civil proceeding called post-conviction relief. Williams, in pleading guilty, waived his right to appeal the conviction directly to the Vermont Supreme Court, but he retained his right to challenge his conviction through civil proceedings.
Williams is imprisoned at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.
0 comments:
Post a Comment