Williams’ lawyer wins a decision

Monday, March 5, 2001 | 11:41 a.m.

Jessica Williams, convicted of driving under the influence in a crash that killed six teenagers last year, won a small victory in her appeal Friday when District Judge Mark Gibbons agreed that the manner in which blood evidence was presented may have prejudiced the jury.

However, Gibbons, citing a month-old state Supreme Court decision in a similar case, said the issue did not rise to the level that would earn Williams a new trial.

Defense attorney John Watkins had to either prove bad faith on the part of the state, which was in charge of his client's blood sample but did not refrigerate it, or prove not only that the jury was prejudiced but also that the results of the defense's tests under proper conditions would have changed the verdict.

Gibbons ruled there was no bad faith on either side, despite accusations traded by Watkins and Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelsen.

"You were right, I was wrong," Gibbons told Watkins, referring to his ruling during the trial that Watkins was leveling accusations that the blood may have been tainted at the wrong time. Watkins said a special evidentiary hearing should have been held immediately outside the jury's presence.

Gibbons also ruled, however, that because the defense could not show how the new tests done on properly refrigerated blood would have changed the verdict, he had to rule against Watkins' motion for a new trial.

"Whether that is right or wrong, I must apply the law," Gibbons said.

At her Feb. 16 conviction, Williams scored a minor but significant victory when the jury found her guilty of driving under the influence of a prohibited substance -- specifically marijuana and Ecstasy -- but that she was not actually impaired by the drugs during the accident. The jury also found Williams innocent of lesser accident charges.

The verdict set the table for Friday's hearing and perhaps several others to follow.

The denial for a new trial paves the way for Gibbons to sentence Williams to two to 20 years in prison on each of the six counts. Sentencing, is scheduled for March 30, and Gibbons has the discretion to impose the sentences consecutively or concurrently.

Should Williams, an exotic dancer at the time of the accident, receive the maximum sentence of 120 years, she would be eligible for parole after 48 years.

Williams was the first person in Nevada to be tried under a law that went into effect in October 1999, which states that anyone with more than two nanograms of marijuana's active ingredient in the blood is guilty of driving under the influence. Her level was 5.5, according to prosecution testimony.

Watkins has argued that the law is unconstitutional because people cannot be -- as the jury in effect ruled -- under the influence of a drug that does not impair them.

The question of law's constitutionality is expected to go before the Nevada Supreme Court and, if necessary, the U.S. Supreme Court. If the law is overturned, Williams could be set free because she cannot be retried on the lesser offenses for which she was found innocent.

In another appeal avenue, Watkins is expected to attempt to overturn Gibbons' decision not to allow him to discuss Clark County's alleged liability during the trial.

Watkins maintains that Clark County is responsible for the teens' deaths because the county was in charge of the crew that was fulfilling an obligation for community service for minor offenses.