![]() “There’s no more information to garner,” Romero said.ĭeputy County Counsel Mona Williams, representing the county’s juvenile probation division, said in court that the county has no existing jurisdiction to assume custody and supervision of Jae Williams for the proposed rehabilitation program. Romero said the notion of putting the now-27-year-old Williams through programs not meant for an adult would be a needless delay and pointed to years of his client undergoing counseling and receiving education - including earning his high school diploma - as he awaited trial following Russell’s 2009 killing. “If he’s going to be released,” Rosen said, “at least go through the process of reentry and rehabilitation.” 2009 photograph: Jae Williams, left, and Randy Thompson enter the courtroom where they were charged with the stabbing death of Michael Russell. Rosen said the proposal to have Williams put in a rehabilitation and counseling program under the umbrella of the county’s juvenile probation division is a “second-best option” to keeping him in prison, a pathway that was eliminated when the case was transferred to juvenile court. Thompson is continuing to serve his full prison sentence and was not affected by SB 1391 because he was 16 when the crime happened. Williams was 15 when the killing occurred he was initially sentenced to 26 years to life in prison before his case was transferred. Williams and Randy Thompson were convicted of slaying Michael Russell in his family’s backyard in South San Jose in what was dubbed as a Satanist-inspired “thrill kill” or the “Devil Boys” murder. “This was a sadistic and awful, awful murder,” Rosen said after Tuesday’s hearing. ![]() Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and other California county prosecutors argued that the law was unconstitutional, but the state Supreme Court settled the issue earlier this year with a unanimous decision affirming the law’s validity.Īfter Folan’s ruling Tuesday, Rosen echoed a refrain he has given for the past three years, arguing that Williams is part of a group of “exceptional” youth offenders who pose a stark public safety risk if they were to be released early. The Williams case was one of a select few that have served as legal battlegrounds for SB 1391, a 2018 law that barred minors under the age of 16 from being prosecuted as adults. “We can’t divorce ourselves from basic principles of law,” Romero argued in court Tuesday. He has exhausted juvenile custody supervision, which typically ends once a person turns 25. Williams’ case, which had been on appeal following his 2014 conviction, was transferred to juvenile court three years ago after a landmark change in state law. ![]() Williams’ longtime attorney, Lewis Romero, fiercely objected to Folan’s decision and contended that his client’s Eighth Amendment rights were being violated. Authorities plan to put him in a juvenile-oriented rehabilitation program to transition him back into the community. ![]() In issuing a four-week stay on the release of 27-year-old Jae Williams, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Maureen Folan, the district attorney’s office, and probation department are waiting on a longshot appellate court petition that would give the county jurisdiction over Williams. SAN JOSE - A man convicted in the notorious killing of a high school classmate over a decade ago remains on track to be freed but will have to wait at least another month after a judge delayed his release Tuesday. ![]()
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