When the FBI Comes Calling…®
February 7, 2005
Jury selection delayed in smuggling deaths trial
HOUSTON- Jury selection in the trial of a New York man accused of taking part in a smuggling attempt that resulted in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants was again delayed Monday.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals granted a request by prosecutors to put the trial on hold while it decides whether to overturn a judge's ruling to have two juries decide the fate of Tyrone Williams.
The trial in the nation's deadliest smuggling attempt was put on hold last month after Williams' attorneys asked the U.S. Supreme Court to make public details about why he is the only one of 14 indicted defendants in the case who faces the death penalty.
Craig Washington, the truck driver's lead attorney, has accused the government of seeking the death penalty because Williams is black. Prosecutors have said Williams, 34, was singled out because he alone had the power to release the immigrants from his trailer. But they have argued that details of their decision-making process is privileged information.
Prosecutors say Williams, from Schenectady, N.Y., was hired by a smuggling ring to transport more than 70 immigrants in his hot, airless tractor-trailer from South Texas to Houston in May 2003.
The trailer was abandoned at a truck stop near Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of Houston, after the immigrants began succumbing to the heat. Seventeen immigrants were found dead inside. Two died later. Authorities said the temperature reached 173 degrees in the trailer.
On Friday, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore granted a request by Williams' attorneys to allow the case to proceed while the high court makes its ruling by having two juries in the trial.
One jury would decide whether Williams is guilty or innocent of any of the 58 counts of harboring and transporting illegal immigrants he faces. If Williams were found guilty of any charges that carry a possible death sentence, another jury would be chosen for that decision.
But federal prosecutors are against having two juries.
Douglas McNabb, a Houston attorney who specializes in federal criminal defense and isn't connected to the case, said having two juries could be detrimental for prosecutors because the second jury will have to be re-educated about the case and won't be as emotionally invested in it as the first jury.
"I think this is a good move for the defense," he said.
Various dates for jury selection have been set since last month but all have come and gone because of last minute appeals related to whether race has played a factor in why Williams faces the death penalty.
This article can also be found at Denton Record Chronicle, WFAA, KTRK, Fort Worth Star Telegram, New York Newsday, San Angelo Standard-Times, Plainview Daily Herald, and ABC 13 Texas.