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Contradictions arise in Williams trial

Posted January 24, 2017 10:00 pm

By Pete Spitler Editor@heraldtrib.com

The jury in the first-degree murder trial of London Williams will be tasked to decide whom to believe after an opening day of testimony on Tuesday that featured some contradictory statements by witnesses.

Randolph County State’s Attorney Jeremy Walker called nine witnesses to the stand and was prepared to call a 10th before it was discovered that witness was unavailable and Associate Circuit Court Judge Gene Gross concluded proceedings for the day.

“You’re going to hear a lot of evidence today,” Walker told the predominantly-white jury - made up of 10 women and four men (including two alternates), only one of which is African-American - in his opening statement.

Several of the witnesses called knew either or both Williams or victim Timothy J. “T.J.” Michael personally, while the State’s first witness, Gilster-Mary Lee worker Rodney First, testified he did not know either.

During testimony, the witnesses offered differing views on the amount of punches Williams sustained from Michael, how many times Williams went to his car and both the stance and position of Michael when he was stabbed.

Despite that, there was a generally consistent narrative in that Williams and Donald “Donnie” Weaver - who also testified Tuesday - were having a conversation on the smoking deck of Bernasek’s Bar and Grill in Chester when they calmly stood up to go outside to fight after Williams made some comments about Weaver’s drug habits.

They were followed outside the front of the bar by several people, including Michael, and had begun arguing when Michael allegedly entered the fray.

“T.J. came out and he was extremely mad,” said Chelsea Schroeder, who was working at Bernasek’s the night of the incident on June 22, 2016. “Way more mad than the other two.”

Schroeder testified that Michael was “acting crazy” and there was a lot of yelling involved. Williams later began walking away when Michael allegedly attacked him.

At some point, Williams retreated to his vehicle, with both Michael and Weaver allegedly following him, and retrieved the knife - a red folding knife with a locked blade - used in the incident.

Schroeder testified she told both the bar owner and bartender to call police and observed both Williams and Michael out in the street.

Schroeder said she saw Michael with his arms down and leaning slightly forward while yelling at Williams, and heard Michael make the comment “If you’re going to cut me, (expletive) cut me.”

During cross-examination by defense attorney Justin Kuehn, Schroeder said Williams made it known to Michael and others that he had a knife and made the statement “Get the (expletive) away from me, I’m done with this.”

In her statement to police, Schroeder reportedly said Michael went to punch Williams and then Williams lunged forward and stabbed him.

After being stabbed, Michael staggered around to the front of the bar and said he was going to die and to take him to the hospital before collapsing. Schroeder and Jacob Fogle - another of the State’s witnesses - loaded Michael in Fogle’s pickup truck and took him to Memorial Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

First testified that after being punched by Michael, Williams - who is alleged to have not punched back - walked over to the front porch railing and put his head on it while Michael allegedly slapped him and screamed swear words in his ear.

“Did you get the impression (Michael) was trying to provoke a fight?” Kuehn asked.

“Yes,” First said.

Fogle testified that Williams said something about Weaver’s past and Michael intervened, while Weaver backed off and let Michael take over. Fogle said Williams was punched once initially by Michael and again later on.

Other witnesses said in police statements that the amount of punches was a “six-piece,” commonly known as a flurry of punches.

Fogle testified that Williams’s brother, Donavan Richardson, tried to keep Michael back, but then Weaver tried to fight Richardson.

Fogle said Williams went to his car twice, the second time returning with the knife after Williams observed Weaver tangling with Richardson.

Fogle, who said he didn’t see the actual stabbing from his spot on Bernasek’s front porch with Schroeder, later testified that Michael said “I can’t believe he cut me” before collapsing and that he didn’t know Michael had a stomach wound until he took him to the hospital.

“I could see London with the knife in his hand as Donnie was backing away,” Fogle said.

Court records say Michael suffered two knife wounds - one to the torso and one to the side of the head. A pathologist, St. Louis University’s Dr. Kamal Sabharwal, was anticipated to kick off Wednesday’s witness testimony.

Weaver, who had a hard time finding Williams in the courtroom while mistakenly stating he was wearing a tie, testified that he, Michael and Williams all grew up together and had gone to school together.

“We both agreed upon we’d walk outside and fight,” he said, later saying, “It wasn’t out of hate by no means.”

Weaver also recanted some of his statements to police and said Williams went to his car to get the knife after Michael made the comment “Who are you? You don’t even have your children in your life.”

Weaver testified that Williams “walked up to T.J. and he sliced him” and that Michael was not paying attention to Williams when he was stabbed.

“I didn’t realize the severity of the situation at the time,” Weaver said.

Weaver later stated he believed there was “a false sense of pride” in the altercation between himself and Williams and the incident “was never an actual fight.”

During cross-examination, Weaver testified that Michael never followed Williams to his car and denied saying some of his statements when the transcripts were read to him by Kuehn.

In an interview after the hearing, Walker stated he had anticipated Weaver recanting some statements and “reluctantly” put him on the stand.

“It would be up to the jury to believe his testimony,” Walker said.

The afternoon session featured testimony by several members of law enforcement, including Chester Police Sgt. Joe Jany.

Jany was the patrol supervisor on the night in question and testified that several items of clothing, believed to be worn by Williams during the incident, were found in the washing machine of Williams’s Rockwood residence when law enforcement arrived.

Jany testified that as he approached the house, Williams came out with his hands up and made a statement that it was all in self-defense.

The jury was later shown video from Williams’s interview at Randolph County Jail, where he made statements about racial profiling, how his children wouldn’t see him until they graduated high school and “this was nothing but (expletive) self-defense.”

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