A App. March 9, Defendant contends his plea attorney provided ineffective assistance of counsel by: 1 failing to review discovery that allegedly indicated that Green, not he, discharged the weapon in the house they invaded; and 2 failing to advocate for a sentence more lenient than defendant's plea agreement contemplated, particularly in light of the sentences Kent and Green received.
Defendant also contends that his appellate attorney was ineffective by failing to raise the issue of disparate sentencing before the ESOA panel. We are unpersuaded. Regarding the first point, defendant focuses on the female victim's statement, provided in discovery, that the intruder with the Jamaican accent discharged the weapon.
Based on Green's statement that he used the accent, defendant contends the victim's statement proved he did not discharge the weapon. He argues his counsel should have used this information to obtain dismissal of the charges, argue for a lesser sentence, or to negotiate a better plea agreement.
AT2 5 As to those contentions we need not reach the first prong of the Strickland test, because defendant has failed to establish prejudice under the second prong.
See State v. Gaitan, N. A motion to dismiss the charges would not have succeeded. Notwithstanding the victim's statement, Green's assertion that defendant discharged the weapon, and Kent's statement that defendant supplied the weapon used in the robbery, provided probable cause for the weapons charges against defendant.
It is not ineffective to withhold a meritless motion. O'Neal, N. Nor is it reasonably probable that reliance on the victim's statement would have secured a more favorable plea agreement or sentence. The prosecutor was already aware of the victim's statement. Moreover, in the context of a PCR petition challenging a guilty plea based on the ineffective assistance of counsel, the second prong is established when the defendant demonstrates a "reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, [the defendant] would not have pled guilty and would have insisted on AT2 6 going to trial," State v.
DiFrisco, N. Kentucky, U. Defendant fails to make that showing here. Defendant's contentions regarding his sentence fare no better. Later, these dogs would be shot or beaten to death by the gamblers and hustlers in his neighborhood. The betting progressed to fights between young boys, and Williams was paid to box other young boys to unconsciousness.
The experiences hardened Williams, who kept the horrors he saw—and performed—from his mother. Williams rarely attended school, believing that he was destined to be "dys-educated"—a term he coined to describe the impaired and diseased knowledge he received in school and on the streets. Instead, he was convinced he could do better in the streets, and earned his reputation with his fists.
Through fighting, he made several friends with whom he frequently stole and made quick money as a bootblack.
One of these new friends was Raymond Washington, who Williams met in The two boys formed an alliance that became known as the "Crips," a group they initially founded to protect their neighborhood from other, larger gangs. The original Crips consisted of approximately 30 members, but they soon divided into the Westside and Eastside Crips.
By , the Crips had evolved into a statewide organization, and Williams and Washington lost control of the group. This division led ultimately to both Williams' and Washington's downfalls. In , Washington was shot and killed in a shooting in Los Angeles. His murder was blamed on the Hoover faction of the Crips, which led to a war between the Hoover and other Crip factions. No one was ever arrested for his murder, but theories state that Washington knew his killer well.
That same year, Williams and three fellow gang members, under the influence of PCP-laced cigarettes, drove to a convenience store with the intention of robbing the clerk. According to later police reports, year-old store clerk Albert Owens was walked into a back room by Williams while the other members of the gang took money from the register. Williams then shot out the security monitor in the back room and killed Owens with two execution-style shots to the back.
Coates, the prosecution again corroborated statements made by Alfred Coward. Coates corroborated the approximate time of the crime, he corroborated the vehicles used, and he corroborated the sequence of events at the time Williams walked up behind Mr. Owens and forced him into the store. Contrary to the claims made in Williams' petition, Mr. Coates did this despite the fact he was not an accomplice, he was not a jailhouse informant, he was not facing a lengthy prison term or death, and he was not granted freedom or a reduced sentence for his testimony.
Instead, he was a completely uninvolved citizen witness who was able to corroborate some of the relevant facts testified to by Alfred Coward. In fact, defense counsel for Williams conducted a lengthy and aggressive cross-examination of Mr.
Oglesby on this very issue. Much of what George Oglesby testified to, however, was corroborated by handwritten notes written by Stanley Williams himself. Not only did George Oglesby identify these notes as being written by Stanley Williams, but Deputy Matthews recognized the writing from having previously received notes from Williams. In addition, Stanley Williams personally handed a note to Deputy Lichten that was subsequently used for comparison purposes.
Herbert Campbell, a court-qualified handwriting expert, then compared the handwritten note passed to Deputy Lichten to the escape notes, and determined that all the notes were written by the same person. However, Sims did not testify at Williams' trial because he was not granted immunity. Sims was separately prosecuted for his role in the 7-Eleven robbery-murder. Sims' statement to homicide investigators following his arrest, along with his sworn testimony over several decades, not only corroborates the testimony of Alfred Coward offered at Stanley Williams' trial, but further establishes, without question, Stanley Williams' guilt.
Tony Sims was arrested on March 23, , for his participation in the robbery of the 7-Eleven that led to Albert Owens' murder. After his arrest on March 23, , Tony Sims spoke to homicide investigators. In that audio-taped interview, Tony Sims openly admitted his involvement and the role he played in the robbery leading up to the murder of Albert Owens. People's Clemency Exhibit 1 P. Tony Sims was subsequently prosecuted for his role in Owens' murder.
At his trial, Sims testified in his own defense. Under oath, Sims again identified Stanley Williams as Owens' killer. Sims was convicted of the first-degree murder of Owens based on the felony murder rule a killing committed during the course of a robbery. Sims was also convicted of robbery. Additionally, the allegation that a principal was armed with a shotgun was found to be true and the special circumstance of robbery-murder was found to be true.
At sentencing, the court specifically found ". On May 20, Sims was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus one year. In , the Second Appellate District struck the special circumstance finding of robbery-murder against Sims, holding that there was no substantial evidence that Sims aided and abetted the robbery of Owens with the intent that Owens be killed.
Sims was subsequently re-sentenced to an indeterminate term of life in prison. At subsequent parole hearings, Sims, again under oath, has repeatedly identified Stanley Williams as the man who shot-gunned Owens to death. Tony Sims, throughout the last 26 years, has never wavered in his identification of Stanley Williams as Owens' killer. INV: Now, we've talked here, uh, for a period of time prior to turning the tape on. Prior to that conversation, uh, I advised you of your rights; is that true?
INV: All right. Now, at that time, you waived your rights and said that you wanted to talk to me; is that also true? INV: I'm going to advise you of your rights again for purposes of this tape. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. And you have the right to have an attorney.
You have a right to have an attorney present before, or at any time, while you're talking to us. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you, free of charge. Do you understand those rights, Tony? INV: Now, the particular incident that, uh, we want to talk to you about is an incident that occurred on the -- during the early morning hours of the 28th of February, Which is approximately three weeks ago, uh, on a late Tuesday night, or early Wednesday morning, uh, on an occasion when you were with some other young men and -- out on the east side of the county; do you recall that incident?
And Alfred, Tookie, and Darryl came by the house. Alfred came to the door, and I went outside and we was talking. He ask me, did I know any place to make some money at, and I said, no. And, uh, Tookie and Darryl was in the car. And, uh, I asked him, "Do you know where to get somethin' to smoke at?
And while we was in the car, uh, Tookie said he wanted to stop by one of his friends' house so he can get a gun, another gun, cause he needs another gun. INV: Another gun? SIMS: Oh, uh, on th. I don't know the name of the street, I know it was a block off of Western. SIMS: Uh-huh. And so we got in his car -- I mean, Tookie and Darryl got in they car, and me and Alfred was in his car.
So we was following them. And Tookie wanted to go by somebody else's house, go get another gun. So we went on th right off of Western, right off of Normandie. SIMS: Yeah. To get another gun. And Tookie said he had a dog in the backyard, and he wanted us to see it. So we got out and we went in the backyard and seen the dog. And so then we went across the fence to another one Tookie friends' house.
And smoking on some Sherman, and then we left from there. And, uh, so we followed them and got on the freeway and went out, I don't know where we was.
I don't know where we ended up to. But, anyway, we went out there INV: You know what freeway you took? And they stopped at a -- a stop-and-Go -- No. First, they stopped at one store, and I got out and went in the store and got me some cigarettes and some bubble gum. Then we left from that one.
And we was riding, and they stopped at, uh, Stop-and-Go, and uh, me and Darryl went in, and they was supposed to -- Blacky and Tookie was suppose to come in after me and Darryl had went in. I walked to the back, and Darryl was at the front of the store. And I walked back from the back cause there was somebody in there, and just walked out the door and got back the car with, uh, Blacky. And then we left.
And, uh, Darryl walked back to his car. And Tookie was sitting in the car. And so we pulled off, and uh, we was riding down the street, and Tookie kept saying, "we got to do somethin'. We got to do somethin'. SIMS: Because we was riding on the side of each other, I mean, you know, we was behind him and, you know, like somebody roll down they window and put out -- stick out they hand and tell you to come over to the side. And, uh, pulled on the side, and then we pulled up in a parking lot.
We had passed the store, and we pulled up in the parking lot. SIMS: We had passed the store, we was down the street from the store. And pulled up in the parking lot, and Tookie kept saying, "we got to do somethin'.
Just fuck it, we just go on back and just do this, uh, uh, Store. I don't," you know, "I don't want to do nothing, really. And I kind of think Blacky was thinking about what I was saying not doing nothing, you know. And he was trying to tell Tookie uh, that, uh, "No, we don't want to do nothing.
When Darryl and Sims entered the 7-Eleven, Owens put the broom and dust pan he was using on the hood of his car and followed them into the store. Williams and Coward followed Owens into the store. As Darryl and Sims walked to the counter area to take money from the register, Williams walked behind Owens and told him "shut up and keep walking. While pointing a shotgun at Owens' back, Williams directed him to a back storage room. Once inside the storage room, Williams, at gunpoint, ordered Owens to "lay down, mother fucker.
Williams then chambered a round into the shotgun. Williams then fired the round into the security monitor. Williams then chambered a second round and fired the round into Owens' back as he lay face down on the floor of the storage room.
Williams then chambered a third round and fired again into Owens' back. The pathologist who conducted the autopsy on Owens testified that the end of the barrel was "very close" to Owens' body when he was shot. One of the two wounds was described as ".
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