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Thread: Warren Williams Charged in 2010 FL Shooting Death of Dad

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    Warren Williams Charged in 2010 FL Shooting Death of Dad



    A lawyer for the 15-year-old boy accused of shooting his father to death will ask a judge today to toss out of evidence the boy's statement to police after he was arrested.

    Pensacola attorney Barry Beroset will argue that Warren Williams' statement should be suppressed because he was not old enough, mature enough or mentally stable enough to voluntarily waive his rights to remain silent and to speak with an attorney.

    Williams is charged with first-degree murder in the March 11 shooting of William Williams, 55, in their home in the Gaberonne neighborhood off Scenic Highway. He was 14 at the time.

    In his statement, Williams admitted to firing several shots at his father. He told investigators he was sick of his life, but he did not provide an explanation for the killing.

    Williams, who is expected to offer an insanity defense, is scheduled for trial in April. However, Assistant State Attorney Bridgette Jensen said the trial could be delayed because of various mental-health examinations of the boy.

    Circuit Judge Joel Boles is expected to consider several issues at today's hearing:

    n A motion filed by Beroset said a Pensacola police investigator "quickly read" Williams his Miranda rights before obtaining the statement, and the boy signed a waiver of those rights.

    "Even though defendant was advised of Miranda rights, defendant was only 14 years old, less than 5 feet tall, and approximately 80 pounds, yet no one asked defendant if he wanted to speak with a lawyer or with a parent before questioning began," the motion states.

    The motion also reveals the new information that Williams told investigators that his older brother, Sawyer, who committed suicide in 2002 when he was 12, had told him of his plan two days before killing himself.

    Williams told the investigator that he did not do anything to stop his brother. He said he'd seen counselors for mental issues after that.

    Beroset's motion says the child "blamed himself when he was 7 years of age for not telling his parents that his 12-year-old brother intended to commit suicide."

    http://www.pnj.com/article/20110304/...ent-tossed-out

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    Judge Boles allows Warren Williams' confession

    A judge on Friday refused to toss out the confession of a then-14-year-old boy in his father's death.

    Circuit Judge Joel Boles said there was no evidence that Pensacola police used any "cajoling or trickery" to elicit a statement from Warren Williams after he called 911 to say he'd shot his father to death in their home off Scenic Highway.

    Defense lawyers Barry Beroset of Pensacola and Paul Mones of Oregon argued that police sped through reading Williams his Miranda rights, which they said a boy that young would have trouble understanding.

    Police questioned the child for more than 40 minutes on March 11 after his father, William Williams, was shot to death. The boy admitted to Detective Danny Harnett that he fired two shots as he and his father watched television.

    Williams, now 15, charged with first-degree murder, sat quietly between his two attorneys. He was dressed in a collared shirt and slacks, having been granted an unusual request to wear civilian clothing at the hearing rather than a jail jumpsuit.

    His mother and family friends crowded into the first three rows of benches in the courtroom.

    Beroset argued that the boy was in shock and wasn't given the opportunity to contact his mother or an attorney after his arrest.

    "Did you advise this young, 14-year-old boy that he could be charged with first-degree murder?" Beroset asked Harnett. "Did you ever come out and ask if he wanted to speak to his mother?"

    Beroset also noted that early in the interview, the boy asked to use the restroom, but when asked later by Harnett, he said he didn't have to go. This, Beroset argued, would put the boy under some stress.

    "He sat there for more than an hour, all alone, no one to assist him and no one on his side," Beroset said.

    The video showed Harnett tell Williams that he would ask him a series of questions and that if the boy had any difficulty understanding them to ask.

    "Miranda?" Williams asked the officer, who appeared curious that the youngster would know the name of the law.

    Assistant State Attorney Bridgette Jensen presented case law that investigators are not obligated to contact a juvenile's parents before they begin questioning.

    http://www.pnj.com/article/20110305/...ams-confession

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