In her closing argument Wednesday afternoon in the Kristofer Michael Williams murder demo, Deputy District Legal professional Ilana Shapiro consistently advised jurors that the defendant’s statements to investigators immediately after fatally knifing a man in 2018, outside the house a rural Vacaville dwelling and his testimony on the witness were being inconsistent and, basically, lies.
At just one point in excess of her almost 90-moment summation, Shapiro, standing and, at periods, pacing in entrance of the jury box, conceded “alcohol was a theme” in the scenario, with Williams going through murder costs for stabbing and killing Jonathan “Jonny” Russell, 30, on Oct. 23.
She later on characterized significantly of the witness testimony as “consistent,” thus letting the jurors to know “who was telling the real truth and who was lying,” obviously suggesting the defendant was not, and, at that minute, forged her eyes and emphatically pointed towards Williams at the defense desk in Division 11 in the Justice Middle in Fairfield.
Shapiro famous that Williams, in the course of his time on the witness stand, could not remember, for example, who told him that Gary Nofuentes, the father of a girl at a Fry Highway residence whose contested custody goes to the coronary heart of the circumstance, and Russell had been allegedly molesting the baby.
Towards the stop of her argument, she also pointed out that Williams, 35, donning a white shirt and tie, his hair slicked back again, neck tattoos noticeable above his shirt collar, “did not say” in the job interview that he believed the kid, 9 at the time, was remaining molested.
Shapiro continued to assail Williams’ believability, saying “I misplaced track” how several situations he reported “self defense” and “I feared for my everyday living,” statements Williams did not make through the job interview with Hendrix.
Additional, Williams “lied about becoming remorseful,” asserted Shapiro, adding, “He lied so many times, he could barely be remorseful.”
At the outset of her remarks, Shapiro told jurors that legal protection legal professional Daniel Russo, who signifies Williams, preferred them to imagine his client’s actions ended up justified, that Nofuentes and Russell ended up baby molesters.
She conceded that Nofuentes, in his early 30s at the time of Russell’s demise, was intoxicated immediately after returning from a funeral reception for a mate.
Though recuperating at Kaiser Permanente Vacaville Health care Middle, Nofuentes, whom investigators consider Williams stabbed in the abdomen, requiring surgical treatment, may perhaps have built inconsistent statements to the Sheriff’s officers, but, Shapiro pointed out, he was rising from anesthesia and soreness medication and was “going to be a minimal groggy” and created “errors of omission.”
She characterised statements by witnesses Jonathan McCommon and Drue Hundley as “consistent” with the testimony of other witnesses.
Of Williams’ coming into the Fry Highway residence to retrieve the woman, Shapiro said that he took the girl from her bed room and into the parking large amount outside the house the home, where by the female, apparently frightened, screamed and Williams advised her to be peaceful “Or I’ll shoot you in the head.”
The prosecutor named the lady, now 12, “a credible witness” for the duration of her testimony, and Shapiro acknowledged that the girl did not want to be in the courtroom.
The lady also did not limit that her father was drunk on Oct. 23.
Shapiro also mentioned that what was believed to be the knife Williams employed to stab Russell in the neck was identified in a nearby slough.
She also explained Russell did not strike Williams as arguments and passions escalated outdoors the property, which Williams stated that he did.
“He was lying,” Shapiro told jurors, including that Williams, if he had been so upset about allegations of child molestation or the ailment of the home’s inside, never referred to as 911 or Solano County Kid Protecting Expert services.
“He lied and perjured himself,” she mentioned.
Courtroom information clearly show Williams was disturbed by an ongoing baby custody battle and considered the woman belonged with her mother, Kailyn Scarlett Gibson, 32, of Vacaville, who was looking for to obtain custody legal rights in Solano County Spouse and children Courtroom.
In addition to the murder charge, Williams faces kidnapping of a insignificant beneath 14 assault with a lethal weapon youngster endangerment and theft of an inhabited dwelling. He continues to be without bail in the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield.
In the course of a held-to-answer arraignment in late Oct 2019, Williams pleaded not responsible to all prices. If discovered guilty of them all, having said that, he may perhaps face far more than 50 several years in condition jail.
Russo will get started his closing argument at 8:30 a.m. these days in Office 11 in the Justice Middle in Fairfield.
Shapiro will start off her rebuttal afterward, Decide William J. Pendergast, who has presided more than the 5-week trial, will concern last jury instructions, and the jury will start deliberations.
Pendergast beforehand severed the trials of folks linked to the criminal offense.
Gibson was to begin with charged with dissuading a witness cruelty to a child by inflicting personal injury and eavesdropping by recording private info. Just after her arrest on Nov. 16, 2018, she posted a $75,000 bond and was released from custody. She is represented by Fairfield criminal protection legal professional Denis Honeychurch. If convicted at trial, Gibson, who returns to court at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 8 to set a preliminary listening to, may face as a great deal as 3 decades in jail.
Jessica Anne Weirich, who reportedly drove Williams to the Fry Street dwelling, was to begin with accused of currently being an accent right after the truth. Soon after her arrest, also on Nov. 16, she posted a $25,000 bond and was produced from custody. She is represented by protection legal professional Barry K. Newman. If convicted at demo, Weirich, who also returns to courtroom on Dec. 8 for the identical proceedings, likewise may facial area as much as three a long time in jail.