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Tue, Jan. 04, 2005

Appeals court delay puts smuggling deaths trial on hold

JUAN A. LOZANO

Associated Press

HOUSTON - The trial of a New York man accused of driving and abandoning a tractor-trailer in a deadly human smuggling attempt remains in limbo as lawyers argue over a side issue: whether the driver faces the death penalty because he is black.

Jury selection in the trial of Tyrone Williams, 33, was to begin Wednesday. But the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals put a halt to proceedings, giving prosecutors a chance to argue against a trial judge's request that they explain why Williams is the only one of 14 indicted defendants facing death.

Craig Washington, Williams' attorney, has argued the federal government is seeking the death penalty against Williams because he is black.

Prosecutors say Williams was singled out because he alone had the power to release the immigrants packed in his trailer. Prosecutors have refused to elaborate to U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore.

The judge has threatened to tell jurors about the prosecutors' refusal if the case reaches the death penalty phase.

Prosecutors are urging the appeals court to bar the judge from any such instruction. Williams' lawyers have a week to respond.

Prosecutors say Williams, 33, from Schenectady, N.Y., was paid $7,500 by a smuggling ring to transport more than 70 immigrants inside his tractor trailer during a trip from South Texas to Houston in May 2003.

Authorities say Williams, a native of Jamaica who is not a U.S. citizen, abandoned the trailer at a truck stop near Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of Houston, after the immigrants began succumbing to the deadly heat inside. Seventeen died inside the trailer; two more immigrants died later of injuries suffered in the smuggling attempt.

Authorities estimate temperatures inside the trailer reached 173 degrees.

Gilmore has warned that if the trial is not held on schedule, it could be delayed as much as a year.

But Douglas McNabb, a Houston attorney who specializes in federal criminal defense, said he believes the appeals court could rule as soon as next week on the case.

McNabb said he agreed with Gilmore's actions in the case but believes the appeals court will side with prosecutors.

Jean Rosenbluth, a University of Southern California law professor, said she did not believe it would be appropriate for Gilmore to tell jurors about her disagreement with prosecutors. Rosenbluth, a former federal prosecutor, also believes prosecutors are within their right to seek the death penalty against Williams.

"He was with the immigrants and had the ability to let them go and take into consideration the fact that they might be dying back there," she said.

Williams' trial was to begin two weeks after the first trial in the immigrant smuggling case. Two men were convicted Dec. 23 of various smuggling charges, while a third had all charges against her dismissed.

The trial of another defendant in the case is on hold. Five others previously pleaded guilty. Four were arrested in Mexico and face trial there.


This article can also be found in the Star-Telegram, Denton Record Chronicle, WFAA, Plainview Daily Herald, and Fort Worth Star Telegram.