Southwest
Texas ex-judge sentenced to death nearly 10 years ago for killing 3 people seeks new trial: report
A former justice of the peace in North Texas, who was sentenced to death in 2014 for killing a district attorney’s wife in a revenge plot that left three people dead, is asking for a new death penalty trial, according to reports.
The Dallas Morning News reported that attorneys for Eric Williams claim in a 169-page filing they did not have time to review the evidence and prepare for trial, which led to his conviction.
He also claims he was tried before a biased judge, adding that holding a trial in Rockwall County had no effect on providing him with a fair trial.
Williams was convicted of capital murder Dec. 4, 2014, for the deaths of Cynthia McLelland, who was killed along with her husband, and Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland, in their home east of Dallas. Williams was also convicted of killing prosecutor Mark Hasse.
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Eric Williams makes his way into the courtroom before closing arguments in his trial at the Rockwall County Courthouse in Rockwall, Texas. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Vernon Bryant, Pool)
Williams had lost his job and law license after McLelland and Hasse prosecuted him for theft and burglary.
Authorities said Williams was upset because the prosecutor’s office had pursued charges alleging that he stole some county-owned computer equipment.
Prosecutors claimed the conviction pushed Williams over the edge, and during his trial, they presented evidence that he paid a friend to rent a storage unit where he kept more than 30 guns, police tactical gear and a getaway car.
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Eric Williams lowers his head as a guilty verdict is read during his capital murder trial at the Rockwall County Courthouse in Rockwall, Texas, on Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014. The jury convicted Williams, a former public official, in the 2013 murder of Cynthia McLelland and her husband Kaufman County District Attorney Mike McLelland. Williams now faces a potential death sentence. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Pool)
In January 2013, Williams, wearing a mask and tactical gear, gunned down Hasse outside a courthouse building in broad daylight.
Prosecutors said a “masked assassin,” who they identified as Williams, approached Hasse as he was walking to work. The two shoved each other, Hasse pleaded and yelled he was sorry, then was shot several times.
Two months later, Williams stormed into the rural home of the McLellands before shooting both the DA and his wife over a dozen times.
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In a Dec. 16, 2014 file photo, Kim Williams, the estranged wife of Eric Williams, testifies during the punishment phase of Eric Williams’ capital murder trial at the Rockwall County Courthouse in Rockwall, Texas. Williams pleaded guilty Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2014, to murder and was sentenced to 40 years in prison after earlier testifying that she helped her husband gun down a district attorney, his wife and a top assistant in a revenge plot. Williams appeared in court two weeks after her husband, Eric Williams, was sentenced to death for one of the three killings. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, Vernon Bryant, Pool, File)
Williams’ wife, Kim, was accused of, and pleaded guilty to, helping him carry out the killings. During Williams’ trial, Kim testified that she drove the getaway car in Hasse’s death and helped Williams’ dispose of the weapons in the murders of the McLellands.
Kim also testified that Williams had a hit list with other names including District Judge Glen Ashworth and Kaufman County District Attorney Erleigh Norville Wiley.
She was later sentenced to 40 years for her role.
Williams has made several appeals to overturn the death sentence, including one where he said his brain was broken.
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In another appeal, the publication noted, Williams stated he wanted revenge against “a few politicians who ruined his life.”
A North District of Texas federal judge will hold a hearing on the latest request from Williams this Tuesday, the publication reported.
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A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
If you live or want to live in Los Angeles, the city controller has released a new dashboard highlighting some of the city’s most notorious problem rental properties, a tool designed to help renters avoid future headaches.
“This project comes at a time when tenants are reporting harassment and illegal evictions violating the City’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance, Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance and Tenant Anti‑Harassment Ordinance, but very few of the complaints end up leading to strong enforcement or real accountability,” L.A. City Controller Kenneth Mejia said in a media release Thursday.
The new Top 100 Problem Rental Properties dashboard includes a searchable database of all residential addresses with reported housing violation cases within the city of Los Angeles, a ranked list of the 100 addresses with the most violations and an interactive map.
“There has never before been an uncomplicated way for anyone to look up years’ worth of violations by address,” Mejia said in the release.
Data for the dashboard was compiled from multiple sources, including the Los Angeles Housing Department, Los Angeles City Planning and the L.A. County Assessor’s Office, according to the controller’s office.
The release also identified the top three addresses with the highest number of reported housing violations:
1. 636 1/2 North Hill Place, Chinatown
192 housing violation cases
2. 11700 West Wilshire Boulevard, Sawtelle
166 housing violation cases
3. 6650 West Forest Lawn Drive, Hollywood Hills
113 housing violation cases
“Our new dashboard is an easy‑to‑understand public tool that we hope will help renters and organizers document patterns of harm, as well as put pressure on both landlords and the City to act,” Mejia said. “Everyone deserves safe, stable and dignified housing.”
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