Trial for Def in Trooper's death started today....

[Berzerker]

The trail phase for defendant Donald Williams, charged with Aggravated Fleeing and Eluding, Vehicular Homicide and Vehicular Manslaughter in the death of FHP Trooper Darryl Haywood, began this morning in Judge Hutcheson's (Court Room #1) at the Daytona Beach Justice Center 251 N Ridgewood Ave. I sat through the majority of the trial as the Prosecution is building their case against Mr. Williams. Leon Jones is Mr. William's attorney and presented the defense of " he did not know he was being chased". The State began presenting thier eveidence in the form of FHP dispatchers, eyewitnesses to the chase and subsequent crash, 911 tapes, and as of 4:00pm the FHP trooper how actually worked the crash was taking the witness stand. A series of photos were viewed/presented depicting the crash scene as well as the Hyabusa and clothing that Defendant Williams was wearing/riding. Fortunately for Trooper Haywood's family in attendance, no specific photos of Darryl were shown during this portion of the trial.

The trial resumes at 08:30 on Wednesday.

http://www.odmp.org/officer.php?oid=17459

[GregGimbert]

Question please - how close did the trooper get to the speeder during the pursuit according to the witnesses? From todays article it seems he was quite aways back.

[Berzerker]

it all depends on which Trooper. The Trooper (P.D)that arrested him in St. John's county was five feet away. 2 witnesses had Darryl within 20 feet. The Def looked back repeatedly and MUST have known he was there.... The Def filled up with gas at 95 and LPGA and headed north only to once again, pass a number of the same vehicles that called 911 in Seminole County while on I-4...and the description of the def fit to a tee... not to mention the jailhouse confession of the Def. I can't wait to hear the Defence's evidence, thus far the State has taken the approach to winning the case of " hitting a fly with a sledge hammer".... Interesting sidenote, it is my undestanding that the Defence asked the State for a pre-trial plea offer and the State told them no way. If I was Mr. Williams, I would be crying for a plea offer.....but his attorney is doing a "good job" with what little of a defence he has to work with.
Today the Courts were closed and the trial will resume Friday.

[Kris]

keep us posted for sure! i have a feeling they are going to try and make an example of this guy

[coldduc]

keep us posted for sure! i have a feeling they are going to try and make an example of this guy


If they are to make an example of anyone, this would be the guy. his actions were irresponsable, reckless and took no consideration to anyone elses well being.
whether or not he "knew he was being chased" he endangered many others, with his actions. Would it be less of a crime had it been a family with fatalities,caused by his foolishness? He wouldn't have the same defense for certain.

[flynjay]

The DEF is not the only one to blame. Yes, his actions were stupid and irresponsible and he should be punished. The Porshe that was involved in this was unfortunatley not caught...he was stupid, too.

However (I'm going to get flamed for this), the trooper ultimately made the decision and attempted to overtake the motorcycle, vs radio ahead and try a different method of slowing him down....example a rolling road block or use air support to track the guy. Either of which he could have attempted first, but no one will know why he made the decision he did. Nor do I know what was available (as support) to him when he made the decision. I think the state is going to have a hard time holding the DEF either directly or indirectly responsible for the troopers death.

But please keep us informed, this case is going to get alot of attention in the motorcycle world.

[Berzerker]

the entire chase lasted less then 2 minutes and he was doing his job to prevent your family from being killed.

"Rolling road block" there is not one agency that I am aware of that has a "rolling roadblock" policy..... unless there are from TV land, where most arm chair cops get there information.

Helicopters (ours) had not been notified.

This entire situation and ultimate death could have been avoided if the DEF had obeyed the law, he made a conscious descision to flee and elude and killed trooper in the process.

Although I was quite amused listening to him sing Gospel songs while I transported him back the the Branch Jail Friday afternoon....

[coldduc]

[quote="flynjay"]The DEF is not the only one to blame.

I guess the Porsche guy held a pistol on him & made him play along?
Or maybe held his Granny hostage if he didn't play?
Sorry, I'm as quick as the next guy to try to rationalize a bad decision I made, but ultimately, it's still on me. Rationalize all you want. He made bad decisions, and no one else can blamed for his actions, but him.
You can't blame the Porsche guy, or the Trooper, or the guy's Mama
(Freud) so that just leaves him to blame.
If he had made the right decision early on, the Trooper, the Porsche guy, and everyone else effected would have had DIFFERENT decisions to make & act on.
Have I always obeyed every traffic law? Nope.
When I got bagged was it the guys I was riding with to blame? Nope. Does being a motorcyclist make me feel bad for this guy? Nope.
I feel bad for him because we've all make bonehead moves, but HIS cost a man his life & a family a father.
( I believe I read he was survived by a family)
So his punishment should be appropriate. Not more severe, not more lenient, appropriate.
If you're gonna dance you gotta pay the Band.
I appreciate your opinion Jay.
I just think it's too much of an easy out.

[flynjay]

Trust me...I believe in being held accountable for you mistakes. I except that fact every time I twist the throttle.

Maybe "blame" is a bad choice of words, but my opinion is...there were many decisions made in that 2 minutes which sadly resulted in the loss of a Trooper. Some of which were possibly made, although in response to the defendant's actions, by the Trooper. So I think the state is really going to need a strong case to get a full conviction on all counts. Yes, I think the defendant should go to jail for a good long while...he F*%k'd up. But, if I were on the jury it would be a hard decision to me to go with a more severe punishment or it would a take fair bit of work on the state's part for me to justify it.

Also, I fully respect and appreiciate all that our law enforcement professionals put on the line and the crap they have to deal with. I've had the privledge of supporting the FBI and the USSS while I was active duty and enjoyed working with those guys.

Just a point of note...I've seen JSO (Jacksonville) use a rolling road block on several occassions for traffic control on I95.

[Berzerker]

J, there is the difference, JSO's use of a mvoing roadblock to slow down traffic is perfectly legitimate and often practiced. The use of a rolling roadblock to stop a suspect in a criminal offense is a entirly different animal and rarely practiced. Nonetheless , my vacation and race bike prep starts today so I will not be attending the trial....

[flynjay]

Good luck with the races !!!

[daytonajoker]

I guess the moral of the story is, "Don't look back!"...If you've got any used race tires that're still usable, I'll buy 'em for my Buell...I hope you did well this w/e