HOUSTON (AP):
JURORS RESUMED deliberating yesterday in the trial of a Jamaican national who could be executed for his role in the deaths of 19 illegal immigrants during a smuggling attempt.
The jury began its deliberations Monday, working for seven hours before recessing for the day without a verdict in the trial of Tyrone Williams. He faces 58 counts of conspiracy, harbouring and transporting illegal immigrants in the May 2003 smuggling attempt.
If the jury convicts him on any of the 20 counts eligible for the death penalty, it will hear more evidence in the punishment phase and then decide whether he should be executed. If it finds Williams guilty only of counts not eligible for the death penalty, U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore will sentence him.
Douglas McNabb, a Houston federal criminal defence lawyer not involved in the case, said it may take time for the jury to reach a verdict because jurors would have to unanimously agree on each of the 58 counts.
IGNORED THE IMMIGRANTS' SCREAMS
Prosecutors told jurors that Williams ignored the immigrants' screams for help as he transported them from Harlingen to Houston in his airtight tractor-trailer. They said he abandoned the sweltering trailer at a truck stop in Victoria, about 100 miles southwest of Houston. Seventeen people died inside the trailer while two others died later.
Williams' attorney, Craig Washington, said while his client was guilty of transporting the immigrants, the other members of the smuggling ring were responsible for the deaths because they loaded the trailer with too many people.
Williams, 34, who lives in Schenectady, New York, is the only one of 14 defendants in the case facing the death penalty. Federal law allows capital punishment in fatal smuggling cases.
In December, two other defendants in the case were convicted of various smuggling charges and still face sentencing. Charges against another defendant were dismissed.
The trial of another defendant in the case is on hold. Five others pleaded guilty. One man remains a fugitive. Prosecutors have not decided whether to seek the death penalty against three others who were returned to the United States from Mexico last month.
