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Thread: Charles Christopher Williams - South Carolina

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    Charles Christopher Williams - South Carolina




    Facts of the Crime:

    Was sentenced to death in 2005 for shooting 24-year-old Maranda Williams, his ex-girlfriend, three times in the back two years earlier.

    Around 10:00 a.m. on September 3, 2003, Williams entered a Bi-Lo grocery store in Greenville where his former girlfriend, Maranda Williams, worked. Williams accosted Maranda and forced her into an office in the bakery/deli. Maranda called 911 from her cell phone. During the ninety-minute phone call, hostage negotiators tried to convince Williams to release Maranda. When Maranda attempted to escape Williams chased, shot, and killed her. Hearing the shots, law enforcement entered the store and apprehended Williams. Shortly after his arrest, Williams gave a statement in which he confessed to the crimes for which he was later charged.

    Williams was tried and found guilty of murder, kidnapping, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime. During the sentencing phase of the trial, the State sought to establish two statutory aggravating circumstances: the murder was committed while in the commission of kidnapping; and (2) the offender by his act of murder knowingly created a great risk of death to more than one person in a public place by means of a weapon.

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    On February 8, 2010, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld Williams' conviction and sentence.

    http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/opin...m?caseNo=26770

    On October 4, 2010, the US Supreme Court denied Williams' certiorari petition.

    http://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.a...es/10-5029.htm

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    On November 30, 2010, Williams filed an application for post-conviction relief in Greenville County Circuit Court.

    http://www.greenvillecounty.org/scjd...stName=Charles

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    On July 24, 2013, Williams' application for post-conviction relief was dismissed in Greenville County Circuit Court.

    https://www2.greenvillecounty.org/SC...792&CaseType=V

    On May 24, 2016, Williams filed a habeas petition in Federal District Court.

    https://dockets.justia.com/docket/so...cv01655/228549

    On April 13, 2016, the South Carolina Supreme Court denied Williams' certiorari petition.

    http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&client=safari

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On April 24, 2017, the United States Supreme Court denied Williams' certiorari petition.

    Lower Ct: Court of Common Pleas of South Carolina, Greenville County
    Case Nos.: (2010-CP-23-9792)
    Decision Date: July 24, 2013
    Discretionary Court
    Decision Date: April 13, 2016

    https://www.supremecourt.gov/search....es/16-5909.htm

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    I've always thought there should be a two-tiered system of justice, where if there is the remotest chance someone is not guilty the person has access to all these levels of appeals to make sure you have it right, but in cases like this where there is absolutely no chance the person is not guilty, then the appeals should be truncated and justice should be _extremely_ swift.

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    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On March 8, 2018, US District Court Judge Childs (Obama) VACATED Williams' death sentence and ordered a re-sentencing hearing.

    https://docs.justia.com/cases/federa...655/228549/168

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    On October 31, 2018, the Fourth Circuit will hear oral argument in the State of South Carolina's appeal.

    http://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/cal/inte...t302018ric.pdf

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    October 10, 2019

    Man who held woman hostage, killed her inside Greenville grocery store to be re-sentenced


    By Dal Kalsi
    Fox Carolina

    GREENVILLE, SC – South Carolina’s attorney general’s office said the U.S. Supreme Court denied their request to appeal lower courts’ decision to throw out the death sentence that had been previously issued to Charles Christopher Williams.

    Robert Kittle, a spokesman for the SCAG office, said the Supreme Court of the United States on Monday denied Attorney General Alan Wilson’s petition to review the decisions by the US District Court and the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that granted Williams a new sentencing proceeding.

    “The US District Court threw out his death sentence, we appealed that to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, which agreed with the US District Court, and then when we asked the US Supreme Court to hear our petition they denied our request, so Williams will go back for sentencing,” Kittle stated in an e-mail.

    According to federal court documents, Williams entered a Greenville grocery store on September 3, 2003, where his former girlfriend, Maranda Williams, worked. He confronted her, then forced her into a store office, and held her hostage at gunpoint. She eventually attempted to escape, but Williams shot her four times, killing her.

    Kittle said Williams was convicted and sentenced to the death for murder, kidnapping, and a weapons offense in his 2005 trial.

    However, the US District Court ruled in a post-conviction relief action that Williams’ attorneys were professionally deficient in their representation, especially in preparation for the sentencing phase.

    “We disagreed with that conclusion and we appealed to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court to uphold the sentence,” Kittle stated.

    Williams is currently being held in the Greenville County Detention Center awaiting a new trial date.

    The solicitor’s office said a new trial date has not been set.

    Kittle said Williams could be once again sentenced to death, but he could also receive a lesser sentence of anything from 30 years in prison to life in prison without parole.

    https://www.foxcarolina.com/news/man...ded955363.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

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