PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "Williams was labeled as the prosecution’s star witness by McDermott. Williams was the only one who connected Wright to the fire. Williams recounted how Wright confessed to him while they were getting high smoking crack cocaine a few weeks after the fire. "I didn't want to do it. They weren't supposed to be home," Williams said Wright told him as they got high in Wright’s bedroom at 489 Fifth Ave. The girls and the rest of the Gilbert family had been at an amusement park returning home just hours before the fire. “I lit it. I threw it. And I ran,” Williams said was how Wright’s summarized how he started the fire. Wright’s one emotional explosion during his two-week trial came during Williams’ testimony. That’s when he shouted at Williams to “stop (expletive) lying.” Ceresia warned him at the time to refrain from any more outbursts. The defense went after Williams, pressing on why each time he spoke to police or testified he gave a different story about his interaction with Wright. McDermott said that Williams claimed he couldn’t remember when questioned about inconsistencies in his testimony. The defense also pointed out that Williams made a deal with prosecutors – his testimony against Wright in exchange for a misdemeanor plea to criminal trespass and a year in the Rensselaer County Jail to resolve 28 felony burglary cases. Williams’ testimony echoed what retired Troy Sgt. John Waters said was his theory of the case, that Wright started the fire but didn’t mean to kill anyone, McDermott said. “The fire is not the issue in the case. The issue in the case is the credibility of Danny Williams,” McDermott said."
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STORY: "Judge deliberating in 30-year-old fatal arson retrial," by reporter Kenneth C. Crowe II, published by The Times Union on July 20, 2018.
GIST: "The testimony by the prosecution’s prime witness and by two fire investigation experts are the key pieces in the retrial of a murder and arson case that three decades ago saw the conviction of a Lansingburgh man for killing two teenage girls. Richard J. Wright’s retrial in Rensselaer County Court came down to two factors the prosecution and defense focused on in their closings Friday -- how believable prosecution was witness Martin “Danny” Williams and whether the fatal fire was an arson. The blaze killed Tara Gilbert, 14, and Meredith Pipino, 13, in the early morning hours of Sept. 1, 1986 in a bedroom at the rear of the second-floor apartment at 17 108th St. Wright opted for a bench trial, taking out the emotion of a jury considering four counts of second-degree murder and a first-degree arson count. State Supreme Court Justice Andrew Ceresia, serving as jury and judge, began deliberations Friday afternoon after hearing two hours of closing statements. Ceresia didn't reach a verdict Friday. The judge will resume his deliberations Monday morning. Ceresia vacated Wright’s original 1988 conviction in October on the five counts and his sentence of 25 years to life after his legal team presented evidence questioning if the fire was an arson. Wright received a new trial, which began two weeks ago. He’s been incarcerated since he was arrested in January 1987. Defense lawyer Michael P. McDermott in his 30-minute closing statement Friday turned to the court’s October 2017 decision to point out that five different experts said the cause of the fire could not be determined. The evidence that the Troy police cited to call the fire an arson, McDermott said, was unscientific, poorly documented and not thoroughly investigated. Defense arson expert John Lentini testified that it is impossible to determine the cause of the fire, McDermott reminded Ceresia. He attacked the testimony of ATF Special Agent Mark Meeks as ignoring facts that didn’t fit the storyline of the fire being incendiary and caused by a Molotov cocktail, and failing to analyze the evidence he collected. McDermott accused Meeks of cherry picking testimony of events 32 years ago by witnesses that fit the arson case. The fire “is the least important thing of this case,” McDermott said. Williams was labeled as the prosecution’s star witness by McDermott. Williams was the only one who connected Wright to the fire. Williams recounted how Wright confessed to him while they were getting high smoking crack cocaine a few weeks after the fire. "I didn't want to do it. They weren't supposed to be home," Williams said Wright told him as they got high in Wright’s bedroom at 489 Fifth Ave. The girls and the rest of the Gilbert family had been at an amusement park returning home just hours before the fire. “I lit it. I threw it. And I ran,” Williams said was how Wright’s summarized how he started the fire. Wright’s one emotional explosion during his two-week trial came during Williams’ testimony. That’s when he shouted at Williams to “stop (expletive) lying.” Ceresia warned him at the time to refrain from any more outbursts. The defense went after Williams, pressing on why each time he spoke to police or testified he gave a different story about his interaction with Wright. McDermott said that Williams claimed he couldn’t remember when questioned about inconsistencies in his testimony. The defense also pointed out that Williams made a deal with prosecutors – his testimony against Wright in exchange for a misdemeanor plea to criminal trespass and a year in the Rensselaer County Jail to resolve 28 felony burglary cases. Williams’ testimony echoed what retired Troy Sgt. John Waters said was his theory of the case, that Wright started the fire but didn’t mean to kill anyone, McDermott said. “The fire is not the issue in the case. The issue in the case is the credibility of Danny Williams,” McDermott said. McDermott relied on documents from 32 years ago to counter witnesses’ faded memories of what took place. The motive behind the fire was presented as Wright seeking revenge against Donald Gilbert, Tara’s older brother, who stole 30 to 40 audio tapes from Wright. But McDermott also pointed out that Williams also said Puerto Rican drug dealers had struck a deal with Wright to kill Gilbert for stealing drugs and money so they wouldn’t kill him and that two other men had stuck a shotgun in Gilbert’s face threatening him. Williams’ testimony was part of an overall package in which the prosecution witnesses’ accounts corroborated each other, Special Prosecutor Jasper Mills said in his 90-minute closing. Mills said Wright’s outburst when Williams was on the stand betrayed his guilt. “You saw the hate in his eyes because he was betrayed by a guy he trusted; a guy he had a secret with,” Mills said. The apartment was small, Mill said, reminding Ceresia of the judge's visit to 17 108th St. to view the apartment’s interior; to see it from the stoop of 14 ½ 108th St. where Wright watched the blaze, according to testimony by Jeannine Giroux-Holland; and to Wright’s home at 489 Fifth Ave. to look down the street toward 108th Street. Mills defended Meeks’ re-investigation of the case 32 years after the fire occurred. He said that Lentini didn’t conduct an independent probe relying on previous records and trial testimony and Meeks’ new findings. Meeks testified that evidence pointed to Wright throwing a Molotov cocktail contained in an amber beer bottle on to the second-floor rear porch of the Gilbert family’s apartment at 17 108th St. This resulted in a burst of flames, according to original testimony by Barbara Gilbert, Tara’s mother. Gilbert has died since first testifying so her previous testimony was read into the record. Mills said that Meeks determined the fire started on the second floor in the rear porch. Lentini said it began in either the kitchen or the porch. Troy arson investigators said the fire began on stairs to the first-floor porch. Wright didn’t testify at the retrial, but his original testimony was read into the record. Mills said Wright’s testimony showed an attempt to create two different alibis to show he wasn’t responsible for the fire. He said neither one held up when scrutinized. Wright, in that 30-year-old testimony, described being at a party, then returning home, driving around Lansingburgh and North Central before going to the fire scene. Ceresia asked for a read-back Friday of the testimony of Philip Morrissey. He testified that he saw Wright out on the street the morning of the fatal fire."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/
