Final Thoughts

                 As of the time of this writing, Williams has been found guilty and the fate of this man rests in the hands of the jury that will determine eligibility for the death penalty and potentially then, more deliberation. If eligible, they will sit in a room and begin to talk for days on end about what to do with his life. These individuals were not chosen entirely by random, as stated earlier, they must consider capital punishment, not dismiss it right away. If he is considered eligible, then the question becomes death or life in prison.

            Williams sits in a holding cell in Honolulu awaiting this decision. Maybe he has a view of the ocean, where families and children toss in the waves just minutes away. Maybe he has a view of the mountains or of the city or even the country. In The Fault in Our Stars, Hazel Grace mentions after Augustus’s death how when she wakes up, everything feels okay again for a split second before it all comes crashing down on her. Maybe Williams wakes up thinking he is back in his home with his family for a moment before remembering he is simply awaiting death.

 I wonder if he has come to terms with his fate. He has, after all, spent nine years thinking about and dealing with his past decisions. Nine years has come to this, a decision out of his hands that could cut his life very short. Nine years it took to find him finally guilty of killing his daughter, a deed that he knew he committed the whole time. This verdict provides a morbid and confusing sort of relief. On one hand, it is known that he killed his daughter in a macabre fashion. That did happen. On the other hand, knowing severe punishment is forthcoming provides solace to the family and the public at large. Justice will be served by either death or life in prison for this murderer.

            The other odd relief that this verdict provides is knowing that this person did not spend nine years and months of grueling trials and hearings as an innocent man. Conservatively, more than four percent of inmates on death row are estimated to be innocent. This raises several concerns, one being the fact that innocent people can and are sentenced wrongly to death and the other being the time it takes from the crime itself to trial. The phrase innocent until proven guilty is a cornerstone of our judicial system. Williams fortunately was proven guilty, but if he was not, he would have spent nine years in a detention center regardless.

            The inconvenient truth in this case is the long and drawn out legal process that must take place involving investigations, assignment to a judge, determination of what potential sentences could be carried out, and a whole Landry list of bureaucratic processes that must take place before a trial can be carried out. Just sitting for those few days in the courtroom I saw dozens of three ring binders filled with thousands of pages of documents that needed to be found, organized then printed and sectioned off for the trial (not to mention read in the first place by all participating parties). Nine years is an awfully long time to await trial, but what also must be considered is that a mountain of work was done in that time to ensure an accurate and thorough trial.

            All of this work was in preparation for a landmark case. The trial of Williams is the first capital case to be tried in Hawaii since 1944. That makes it the first of its kind since statehood in 1959. The reason for its rarity is the fact that Hawaii as a state does not allow the death penalty, but since the crime occurred on a military base, it is being tried in Federal courts, where capital punishment is allowed.

University of Hawaii Law professor Ken Lawson told a local news station after hearing the guilty verdict, “… it doesn’t look good for the defense. I would be worried if I was the defense.” This spells bad news for Williams. With death being a plausible case for Williams, the next phase of the trial should be especially difficult. Williams is no longer waiting to find out if he has been found guilty or not, he is finding out his destiny.

Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, this blog will not go on long enough to determine the fate of Williams. You will close this window or move on to another blog, maybe check your email or Facebook. But somewhere out there is Williams, sitting in a cell waiting to die one way or another. He either dies soon or waits for it to happen unexpectedly. This is yet another life-related question that is raised from immersing yourself in a capital case. Would you want to know when you are going to die? We all die at some point, yet in all of us there must be some curiosity as to when it’s going to happen. I’m a fairly good person and I could be hit by a bus tomorrow and die well before Williams, the murderer. Life invariably continues in prison, albeit severely restricted. Williams, if sentenced to life in prison, could make friends, maybe take part in some activities, spend free time in a prison yard feeling the sun and go to sleep every night in the comfort of his dreams. If sentenced to death, Williams will spend grueling years simply waiting to die. Living day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute.

During a recess, many left the courtroom I waited outside while many went to the bathroom, an action we carry out without much thought. Yet I am reminded that this is the reason that this whole trial is taking place, because Williams’s daughter kept soiling herself. This angered Williams to a very tragic point, far more than it should have. The word shame is often used when murderers occur. “It was just a shame,” people often say. It’s a shame that some people get so worked up over an inconvenience like a child soiling themselves. Williams’s daughter would have more than likely gotten over her small problem someday. She could have grown up to be wonderful human being, contributing to society in meaningful ways. She could have had a daughter of her own someday, bringing just a little more beauty and happiness into this world. Williams was asked if he sought a doctor’s help with his daughter’s problem. "That's something I should have looked into," he said.

  

Works Cited

Daranciang, Nelson. "Ex-soldier Admits He Never Sought Doctors for Daughter." Honolulu Star-

Advertiser. Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 2 Apr. 2014. Web. 25 May 2014.

McLaughlin, Michael. "Shocking Number Of Innocent People Sentenced To Death, Study

Finds." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Apr. 2014. Web. 26 May 2014.