Good sources on Twitter for real-time updates:
@EricWilkinson He’s a reporter for KING 5 news in Seattle.
@Gina_SVH Gina Cole is a reporter for the Skagit Valley Herald, and been following the trial since jury selection.
@LeeStoll She is a reporter for KIRO-TV in Seattle.
Follow updates at #WilliamsTrial.
News this morning: A juror declined to be presiding juror because his wife works for the prosecutor’s office. The defense asked for him to be dismissed, and he has been excused from the trial. One of the 2 remaining alternates will be called back. The jury now has to start deliberations over, with the new juror, after about 3 hours of work. The defense is not asking for a mistrial.
The jury asked to hear Carri’s 911 call on the night Hana died.
Maureen: I feel pretty sure that the excused juror has disclosed this at the time of selection, though I’m not certain. Seems it would have come up then.
I’m getting my information from the tweets. Twitter may be the best way to get real-time information.
I’d like to point out the illogic the defense attorneys are trying to get the jury to buy. As just one example, they kept talking about Hana’s stomach condition, which was identified as an H. pylori infection. My understanding has been that that’s treatable. Maybe Hana couldn’t eat that last night because her stomach hurt. Was she too afraid of her “mother” to tell her that? Oh wait… She wasn’t allowed to talk! So when the attorneys argue that one of the other possible causes of her weight loss, besides starvation, was her stomach condition, they are implying that it’s not the Williamses fault that she didn’t get medical care. Illogical!
That got me too, but I think the different is between homicide and manslaughter. If you don’t take your child to a doctor for religious reasons and the child dies of a treatable condition, it’s manslaughter, a lesser charge than homicide. http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/06/us/in-child-deaths-a-test-for-christian-science.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
I still think it’s a ridiculous argument, given that multiple people testified that Carri was withholding food or serving inedible food as punishment. Let’s hope that the jury agrees.
There’s a common thread in the stories of religious zealots who withhold food from children as punishment. A line is crossed when food is withheld. Carri got drawn deeper and deeper into sadism. Sadists have to keep pushing further to satisfy their needs.Some of the kids testified that Hana went days without food.
I think Carri panicked in the last few minutes that Hana was conscious. Hana was given gold spaghetti. How appetizing! At that point Hana’s brain was barely functioning and her body was shutting down. What a rare treat to be allowed to actually eat cold spaghetti! She brought the fork up to her mouth because her survival instinct was telling her eat, but her body was saying, sorry, I can’t process that, sSystem is shutting down.
When Carri said that, when Hana is fed a plate of cold spaghetti, she usually eats every last bite. That kind of blew the anorexia defense out of the water. The argument also was that nobody ate well in that house. The monthly food budget was $800 for eleven people. There were options Carri could have taken to make sure she met the basic needs of her children. Grow vegetables, buy chickens, ask for public assistance, pick up food at a food pantry, or put the kids in school and get a job. She went with the starvation option.
The oldest boy is probably eating well for the first time in his life having joined the military. The military was probably his only option, given his education.. Their teacher used corporal punishment when the kids made an error in their schoolwork. Way to instill a lifetime love of learning!
Pingback: The Williams Trial – Day 28: Jury Deliberation Issues | Why Not Train A Child?
As Jackie mentioned, yes, the juror was very straight forward about being married to a spouse that works for the prosecuting attorney office and also was questioned about it by the defense attorneys.
The Skagitt News just did a bit on this. It looks like there was more to the story. The juror discussed the case with his wife which was a no no.
I contacted the Skagit County prosecutors office this morning when I heard this story about the juror.
This is the reply I received from the Rosemary Kaholokula in the prosecutors office/ it was a forward ……
“One of the jurors on the panel in the case of State v. Larry and Carri Williams is married to an employee of the Skagit County Prosecutor’s Office. This fact was known to all parties at the time of jury selection and prior to his being selected for the jury. This individual was questioned thoroughly about this fact. All parties agreed to his being on the jury. It was brought to our attention that this juror provided information to his wife regarding procedural matters related to this case. When we learned of this, we immediately brought it to the attention of the defense attorneys and the court. The court excused the juror.”
—–Original Message—–
From: prosecutor
Sent: Friday, September 06, 2013 11:11 AM
To: Richard A. Weyrich; Rosemary Kaholokula
Subject: FW: Williams trial in deliberation – juror spouse works in prosecutor’s offi
Thanks for the info! I just watched King 5 news and they reported something to this effect. What a mess this has become….
YES, this juror disclosed this more than once….this is so frustrating. I’m on pins and needles here, checking twitter when I can….
Thank you so much for your diligence. Thanks for being there. I’m hoping and praying for justice.
I find it interesting that they were able to try both defendants in a single trial and with a single jury. I’ve heard of a combined trial with each defendant having their own jury. The spouses ended up having to testify against each other in order to defend themselves. I guess the jury will have to consider each charge against each defendant and then step back and look at the overall situation.
I suspect Larry won’t fare as badly as Carri as he is the more sympathetic of the two and has deniability even if not plausible deniability. He has already served two years in jail and will likely get credit for that. It’s possible he may not have to serve much more time.
Unbelievable, a juror with a connection to the prosecutor’s office sat through the child and it wasn’t brought to the attention of the judge until now.
Like any circumstantial case, any one piece of evidence can be explained away but the totality of the evidence is overwhelming.