Prosecution wants 'Big John' capital murder trial to stay in Lowndes
A judge will decide if the capital murder trial of slain Lowndes County Sheriff "Big John" Williams will stay in the county.
William Chase Johnson, 21, of Montgomery, is charged in the case. A defense motion for a change of venue was filed in January citing “sensationalized” media coverage of the case. Williams, 62, was shot and killed in the line of duty the night of Nov. 23, 2019, while trying to disperse a large crowd in the parking lot of the QV convenience store in Hayneville.
Johnson has entered a not guilty due to mental disease or defect plea. The defense has not elaborated on what mental disease of defect Johnson may have. A fair trial is not possible in Lowndes County, the defense holds.
The attorney general's office has entered a motion answering the change of venue request, stating that the case should remain in Lowndes County. Retired Escambia County Circuit Judge Bert Rice was appointed to handle the case after local judges recused themselves.
Rice has set a hearing for March 15 to take up the change of venue request, court documents show. The hearing will take place in Hayneville at the Lowndes County Courthouse, which has been named in honor of Williams.
In their motion, the prosecution said media coverage and the fact that the courthouse in named after Williams should not mean the trial should be moved.
The defense "...has failed to meet the extremely heavy burden of proving presumptive prejudice from pretrial publicity," the state's motion reads. "The media coverage in this case has been reasonably factual rather than inflammatory, and Johnson has offered no proof that the media covered this case on such a consistent basis as to so saturate the community. Furthermore, any determination on how potential jurors will by impacted by the name of the courthouse is premature. For the foregoing reasons the Court should deny Johnson's motion to change venue."
Rice set the trial date for Oct. 10, which would be almost four years since Williams was killed.
A gag order bars prosecutors and defense attorneys in the case from commenting outside of court filings and courtroom proceedings.
Johnson has been held at the Elmore County Jail under no bond since his arrest that night. No bond is standard in a capital case. Johnson was 18 at the time of his arrest, and he is the son of a Montgomery County Sheriff's Office deputy.
Capital murder is the most severe charge the state can file. The only sentencing options in the event of a conviction are life in prison without the possibility of parole or the death penalty. The defense has filed a motion seeking that the death penalty be removed from consideration. Rice has not ruled on that request, records reflect.
Williams spent more than 40 years serving his community. He started out as a reserve deputy in 1978 under then-Sheriff John Hulett before spending three years with the Hayneville Police Department, then going back to the sheriff’s office as a “road deputy.” He worked his way up to chief deputy and was elected sheriff in 2010.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Prosecution wants 'Big John' capital murder trial to stay in Lowndes
