46 Comments
The Associated Press is reporting that Robert Williams, the ex-convict charged with torturing and raping a Journalism School student last year was found guilty of 44 of 46 counts.
For further details — though Bwog warns that it’s extremely disturbing — the New York Times has a detailed summation of the events of the 19-hour torture session.
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46 Comments
@name I’m actually glad he’s not getting the death penalty. Prisoners do not treat kindly those who have harmed women and children. The DP would be humane compared to what I’m sure awaits this monster in prison – repeated rape, daily beatings, the occasional shanking. I hope they give him a good working over, render him unrecognizable, and then eventually take it too far, leaving him just another stain on the prison floor.
@question i know that those who have harmed children are treated badly in prison, but what about a black man who has raped a white woman? i feel like i’ve read somewhere that in prison, that’s worthy of a pat on the back etc from fellow prisoners? anyone else feel like they’ve read the same article as me and care to comment?
@innneresting is that true? I wish this sick bastard gets raped repeatedly and faces daily humiliation. He will feel the wrath of his past heinous crimes coming down on him like a thousand spears piercing through his own eyes and heart.The other prisoners would flock to his mutilated body like birds of prey and crush him with their overpowering weight.
This is how a life-sentence at prison should be.
only then would the victim find justice in this oh so unfair judicial system.
@haha right because we should absolutely kill people without carefully considering it and without regard to any mistake made in the trial. Obviously no innocent people are ever sentanced to death, and then have it overturned through appeal. I absolutely believe the appeals should not drag on forever, but if you are going to take someones life you have to be sure they are guilty.
@triviality agreed with 37. Unfortunately, we go to Columbia, and some of our fellow students lack the sense to forgo their left wing equivalent of Bill-O-Factor commentary for an evening. Save the ACLU talking points, amici briefs, and SCOTUS links for law school, k thx
@oh please How was #33 trying to score political points by pointing out that the death penalty wouldn’t apply? ALSO, maintaing a stance against the death penalty isn’t a lack of sense–it’s the reasoned, thought-out opinion that the state shouldn’t have the ability to kill human beings as punishment for their crimes, even if those crimes involve truly fucked up shit. Do I think this guy is a worthless scumbag whose despicability can’t be properly described? Duh. Would I personally enjoy kicking him a lot? obvi. do I think it’s actually a good idea to let me beat him up, or to let the state fry him? uh, no. If you really want to argue about the definition of “human beings,” and from there debate about what humans (vs animals/monsters) deserve as punishment, go for it, but a reasoned stance against the death penalty isn’t lame adherence to “aclu talking points.” you lose all credibility by suggesting so.
@i wonder... i wonder how he can live with himself.
@huh actually in certain particularly brutal cases, they’ve related even more than this
its great to see your trying to minimize this horrible incident to score despicable political points
@violence violence violence violence
it’s not the answer to everything
@Hmmm It certainly is to some things.
@excuse me it has to take life to get the death penalty.
@hmm I wonder why NYT decided to relate the incident with such excruciating detail. I’ve haven’t seen rape cases covered like this before.
Certainly serves the purpose of invoking some unrivalled fury
@... this is terrifying
@On a side note... Does anyone feel bad for the defense attorney?
Given the evidence, I think it takes a lot for someone to convince himself of his client’s innocence. I followed Spec’s coverage of the case, and it seemed like Levine was arguing that they got the wrong guy. Then his stance eventually changed to ‘mentally unfit’. I don’t know how Levine can walk around without shame after a case like this. On the flip side, he must have really believed in what he was doing to see the case through…gutsy.
In a case like this, I’d have thought any self respecting lawyer would be fighting for a more lenient punishment. But I guess that’s what the appeal is for.
That said, I hope Williams is skinned alive. Hey, if we wish hard enough, maybe it’ll come true.
@my guess “That said, I hope Williams is skinned alive. Hey, if we wish hard enough, maybe it’ll come true.”
Well, my guess is that he’ll be in a pretty rough prison. I’m sure he’ll have his share of violence in there.
@oh my god holy shit. I am actually, truly, speechless.
@Hmmm Is he a human being? I think we really need to be asking ourselves that. I would like to believe that the word “human being” rather than homo sapien requires some level of empathy for others, which, in my opinion, this guy has forfeited through his actions.
And frankly this guy didn’t even contest the charges. Assuming that his lawyers weren’t trying to use the judicial equivalent of a Hail Mary play, he did it and attempted to plead insanity.
I feel as if many people have been indoctrinated by the nanny state, taught that all have some inherent worth. Let’s be honest, what kind of self-important, hate-filled monster would you have to be to do this? Do any of you think you could do the same thing? Then why do you place yourself in the same category of ‘humanity’ as him?
On a lighter note, how would you people feel about a prison island? Escape from New York anyone? Maybe the world’s largest game of red rover with entirety of the student population with baseball bats on the other end.
@hmmm As it stands now the death penalty is more expensive due to the incredibly byzantine bureaucracy and appeal system that is far too good for some people.
While I realize many people like to use the ‘death penalty is actually more expensive’ argument with a smug little grin on their face, it seems as if for some rather horrendous crimes the appeals process should be leapfrogged straight to the highest possible court, therefore negating this legal loophole.
And how does killing him not seem right? We kill cows and pigs every day that have more of a right to exist and have done less to harm humans than this piece of worthless garbage.
@Human The appeals system is in place because, as open-and-shut as this case may appear to be, there are still a lot of mistakes in the judicial system, and you really want to be sure before you punish someone irrevocably. Imagine if somehow they just convicted the wrong guy for this crime, maybe someone who looked similar. It’s happened before.
And as for killing swine, we eat them. They are not human. This guy, barbarous and worthless though he may be is a human being. Unless you’re suggesting we cannibalize him too, there’s something that’s still off about killing him.
@enforcing the death penalty is more expensive than keeping someone in jail for life so the money argument doesn’t work
@Uhhh That is only because of the retarded laws that allow them to appeal. If those ridiculous laws were changed it was quite save quite a bit of money.
@Self Defense I read about this case in detail only about two weeks ago, and purely because of it I started taking a rigorous self defense class. The first thing we learned is how to get out of a choke hold. Women (and men), please follow my example and learn some form of self defense. I’m taking Krav Maga at John Jay College (http://www.kravmagafederation.com/schools.php?school=1).
@yeah fuck the death penalty. handing him such an immediate death would be letting him off far too easily.
@1200000000 My God…
@Win-Win Maybe the other prisoners can torture him into killing himself? Thoughts?
@DHI A lot of people deserve a lot of things; that doesn’t make me comfortable with allowing the government to do those things to people.
@may he rot in solitary confinement whenever his asshole isn’t being torn to shreds. Rapists don’t do well in prison.
@I wonder what Anthony Kelley has to say about this. Maybe something like how we need to engage in life-affirming sharing of feelings and fears.
@anonymo i don’t believe in the death penalty, mainly because life in prison is a worse punishment than any death penalty – we all win.
@Yeah... because paying for this jack-hole to live a better life than he did outside of prison is certainly worth the money.
Why put money toward allowing this guy to live longer so he can “dwell ” on his punishment? He knows exactly what he did, and exactly what consequences could have come of it. I really don’t see any reason to punish him further or attempt to rehabilitate him, just wipe that trash off the face of the Earth in the most painful and appropriate way possible.
@anon this guy deserves the electric chair- or rather something much more painful- he should have to die the same way he tortured this poor woman
@i don't know no one deserves to die for what they have done. although this was absolutely terrible beyond words….killing him doesn’t seem right
@falsee erroneous.
@cupcake you sir, are wrong.
@the Man '07 Whether or not you can give the DP for a non-homicide case will depend on the outcome of Louisiana v. Kennedy (child rape case, DP handed down by trial court and upheld up to US Supreme Court)
The Supreme Court should have an opinion fairly soon…
@Well... As of now, New York has no death penalty. The Court of Appeals ruled it unconstitutional in 2004, and a new statute has yet to be proposed.
@what?? but benson and stabler always tell those rapists that if they dont confess and work with the popos, their looking at the death penalty up in sing sing.
@SVU fan That’s only in reruns! They’re actually faithful to the current extent of the law, and periodically discuss pending legislation.
@speaking of which http://www.scotuswiki.com/index.php?title=Kennedy_v._Louisiana
It has to be murder to get the death penalty.
@tony eveready you getting dp any goddamn way
@So, Anybody want to argue that the Death Penalty isn’t a fair verdict in this case? I used to believe that we don’t have the right to take other human beings’ lives, but now I’ve come to believe that animals on the other hand…..
This sick fuck should be tortured to death.
@speechless.. this guy should not be allowed to live..
i wish all the best for the woman…
@oops answering my own question, this is from the spec website:
“Williams was found not guilty of the charge of assault in the 1st degree causing serious physical injury with dangerous instrument, the knife, or of assault in the 1st degree with intent to disfigure, again with the knife.”
…ok seriously, how is he NOT GUILTY of those? 44/46 is pretty good but I was hoping for a perfect score on this one. Here’s hoping he does get life in prison, no parole.
@question what were the two counts for which he was somehow NOT guilty?
@other blog Spec has also been doing an amazing day-by-day blog on the trial: http://www.columbiaspectator.com/node/55174
@Sprinkles The J-School student is the bravest woman I could possibly imagine and I only hope she is one day able to live a normal life.