Michael Wayne Williams In February 1994, Michael Wayne Williams was sentenced to death for the capital murder of Morris Keller. He had been charged with 12 felonies in connection to the crime. Williams was 25 years old at the time of the crime.Williams suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, a mental disorder that
impacted his ability to perform well in school and in society. His psychological expert testified that "persons suffering from A.D.H.D. are likely to be involved in substance abuse and engage in impulsive and sometimes illegal behavior." His parents divorced before he was born and his mother remarried an alcoholic who verbally and emotionally abused her in the presence of Williams. She later divorced him and dated several other men during Williams' childhood. He was sexually abused when he was 14 years old by an unnamed older man. His family members testified that Williams was a "caring, loving, generous, and dependable person who was not seen to be cruel or abusive to animals or to people." Williams contends that the jury must have been influenced by "passion, prejudice, or other arbitrary factors" because he feels that there was enough mitigating evidence to warrant a life sentence. The Appellate court did not agree and upheld the sentence.Both Williams and his partner, Jeff Cruse, were indicted in the crime. Williams admits to suggesting to rob the Keller home, being the first person to shoot Mr. Keller, and to suggesting that they should burn down the house. However, he "(1) denied that he raped Mrs. Keller, (2) claimed that Cruse fired all the subsequent shots into the Kellers' bodies, and (3) contradicted other details of Cruse's testimony about who had suggested some of their activities during and after the murders." Williams believes that there is no sufficient evidence which proves that he killed Keller because after the first shot, the only one which he admits firing, Williams got up. Cruse, in an attempt to avoid the death penalty, testified for the prosecution against Williams. He claims that Williams was the person who fired all of the additional shots. The Appellate court denied Williams' appeal because they believe that the jury could have believed Cruse's testimony over Williams' and provided enough evidence to convict him.
Williams also believes that he should have been granted a change of venue due to the vast amounts of publicity surrounding the case. Included in the media coverage were Cruse's story about what happened, which implicated Williams, and the account of four other murders with which Williams was allegedly involved. The trial court stated that jurors selected stated that they all could be impartial and thus there was no need for a change of venue. The Appellate Court agreed.
Michael Wayne Williams has been on death row since February 23, 1994.
Recent update:
On November 20, 1996, Williams filed a petition for habeas corpus, claiming a Brady violation on the grounds that the Commonwealth failed to disclose a psychiatric report on Cruse, who had been involved in the murders. Cruse had entered into a plea agreement under which he received a life sentence recommendation in return for testifying against Williams. Williams also alleged prosecutorial misconduct and jury bias because of an undisclosed previous marriage between the jury foreperson and the prosecution’s lead witness. The district court dismissed Williams’s petition, and the Fourth Circuit affirmed the denial, stating that Williams should have developed the facts in state court.
Approximately one hour before Williams’s scheduled execution on October 18, 1999, the United States Supreme Court stayed his execution and granted Williams’s petition for certiorari to consider whether he was barred from receiving an evidentiary hearing on his claims. The U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the Fourth Circuit’s finding that Williams lacked diligence in developing the factual basis for his Brady claim in state court. However, the Court reversed and remanded Williams’s case regarding his claims of prosecutorial misconduct and juror bias.
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