Page 6 - ARUBA TODAY

A6 U.S. NEWS
Wednesday 23 May 2018

Plea agreement: False confession obstructed justice

By JANET McCONAUGHEY another house in 1998. Wil- prosecutors’ summaries
Associated Press liams initially denied killing were falsified. This was one
A mentally disabled man Griffin, but changed his sto- of the reasons cited by a
walked free Tuesday after ry after police questioned group of 44 former prose-
20 years in prison for a killing him through the night. cutors and Justice Depart-
his attorneys say he didn’t “His confession was brief, ment officials, including for-
commit, under a plea devoid of corroborating mer U.S. Attorney General
agreement that blames details,” his lawyers wrote in Michael Mukasey, in a le-
him for obstructing justice their March 2 petition to the gal brief filed recently urg-
by falsely confessing to the U.S. Supreme Court. “Hav- ing the U.S. Supreme Court
crime. ing just assumed responsi- to review the case.
In exchange for his free- bility for a homicide, Corey The plea “puts an end to
dom, Corey Williams ac- told the officers, ‘I’m tired. Corey Williams’ efforts to
cepted a deal that short- I’m ready to go home and get the United States Su-
circuits a potential U.S. lay down.’” preme Court to reverse his
Supreme Court review Defense attorneys said conviction,” wrote John
and requires him to drop there wasn’t any physical Andrew Prime, spokesman
all claims against the state evidence linking Williams for Caddo Parish District At-
of Louisiana, which initially to the killing, and accused torney James Stewart Sr.,
sentenced him to death. prosecutors of withhold- in a news release emailed
“Moments ago, I had the ing “staggering” evidence Tuesday.
honor of walking Corey of innocence, in part by Williams signed his plea bar-
Williams out of prison,” at- sharing only summaries of gain in inch-high printing
torney Amir Ali said in a evidence involving other with big circles over the i’s.
tweet Tuesday morning. suspects. This undated photo provided by Amir Ali shows Ali, from left, His lawyers say that before
“He spent the last 20 years As it turned out, witnesses Corey Williams and Ali’s co-counsel Blythe Taplin posing for a the shooting, Williams was
there, after being wrong- saw several older men steal photo at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola, La. hospitalized for extreme
fully convicted as a 16 year money and pizza from Grif- (Courtesy of Amir Ali) lead poisoning, still sucked
old child.” fin, and saw Williams run- was the only witness who er men, and the victim’s his thumb and frequently
Police found Williams hiding ning from the house alone identified Williams as the blood was found on cloth- urinated on himself. His dis-
under a sheet on a couch with nothing in his hands shooter. ing worn by a third older abilities were cited by a
at his grandmother’s house after the shooting, accord- Fingerprints found on the man, according to Wil- district court judge in over-
after Jarvis Griffin was killed ing to his lawyers. One of murder weapon belonged liams’ lawyers. turning his death sentence
after delivering a pizza to the older men, Chris Moore, to one of the other old- Williams’ lawyers said the in 2004.q
Federal board recommends seatbelts on all new school buses

By JONATHAN MATTISE dump truck in New Jersey, kill- install shoulder belts.
Associated Press ing a student and teacher. The National Highway Traffic
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Chairman Robert Sumwalt Safety Administration, which
federal transportation panel said the board’s last recom- creates regulations for school
on Tuesday recommended mendation about school seat- bus safety, already had re-
to states that all new large belts, made in 2013, was that quired some kind of seatbelt
school buses be equipped states consider them, which for smaller school buses in all
with both lap and shoulder he called “sort of weak.” states. But the administration
seatbelts, which the board He said it’s time for the agen- hasn’t embraced requiring
chairman called a “tried and cy to take a hard stance. seatbelts on larger buses. In-
true” safety protection. “I think that that’s the right stead, the agency says chil-
The National Transportation stance, and I feel like we as an dren on larger school buses
Safety Board, which investi- agency have tiptoed around are protected by strong,
gates transportation disasters, that for a long time,” Sumwalt closely spaced seats with
approved the recommenda- said. seatbacks that absorb energy
tion Tuesday in Washington. Eight states already require during crashes. The adminis-
The board also recommended some kind of seatbelts on larg- tration points to a strong safe-
requiring collision-avoidance er school buses, according to ty record for school buses, say-
systems and automatic emer- the National Conference of ing students are 70 times more
gency brakes on new school State Legislatures. likely to get to school safely on In a May 17, 2018 file photo, emergency personnel examine a
buses. New Jersey requires lap belts a school bus instead of car. school bus after it collided with a dump truck, injuring multiple
The recommendations, which on its larger buses. At least 29 states introduced people, on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive, N.J.
aren’t binding on government But the NTSB is also suggesting school bus seatbelt legisla- (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
agencies or the transportation that it and three other states tion last year, but big cost es- The NTSB’s recommendations es in November 2016, one in
industry, came just days after that use lap belts — Louisiana, timates have tripped up law- are contained in a report on Chattanooga, Tennessee,
a school bus collided with a Florida and New York — also makers in several instances. two deadly school bus crash- and the other in Baltimore.q