$2.5 million bail set for Williams

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, March 14, 2003 | 11:26 a.m.

The same judge that granted Jessica Williams a new trial set bail in her case Thursday, but she won't be getting out of jail anytime soon.

District Judge Michael Douglas on Thursday set Williams' bail at $2.5 million, but this morning he ruled that as a prison inmate she is ineligible to post bail. She will stay in prison until her case is settled.

On Thursday defense attorney John Watkins had argued that she wasn't a flight risk or a threat to the community.

Williams' case was set at no-bail status after she was convicted of having drugs in her system when she ran over a group of teenagers, killing six, in 2000.

Prior to her conviction, bail had been set at $5 million.

Watkins had argued that Douglas should release Williams on her own recognizance or place her under house arrest, saying she had family members with whom she could live in Las Vegas.

He added that a jury had acquitted Williams, 23, of driving while impaired and manslaughter charges.

"If she's not impaired, how is she a threat?" he asked. "She's not going to cause any problems. And no one could say that Jessica has not been remorseful."

But prosecutors painted a different picture of Williams, describing her as a marijuana addict who used the drug every day before the accident.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Bruce Nelson asked Douglas to hold Williams without bail or set bail at $5 million.

"She's already killed six children," he said. "Do we really want to give her the chance to kill more?"

Douglas said that it's always difficult to decide whether a defendant should remain in prison or go free.

"Every time you grant a release you have to pick up the paper each morning and wonder what happened," he said. "Whether this will happen again, I don't know."

Thursday's hearing came after Douglas overturned Williams' conviction on six counts of driving under the influence of a controlled substance.

He said carboxylic acid, a marijuana metabolite, is not listed on Nevada's prohibited substance statute. The state has filed a motion with the Nevada Supreme Court appealing the decision.

Williams was serving an 18- to 48-year prison sentence.

Douglas set a tentative trial date for Aug. 25, pending the high court's decision. Williams is being held at the Clark County Detention Center in the meantime.

Douglas' ruling doesn't affect Williams' two separate convictions of possession of a controlled substance and use of a controlled substance. Those crimes are probationable.

Dale Booth, whose 16-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was killed in the accident, said Williams did not deserve to have her bail reduced.

"I'm tired of hearing about what a good person she is," he said. "She's not remorseful. Not a day goes by that we don't think about our kids."

Brigitte Smith, whose 14-year-old son, Anthony, was killed in the collision, said she hopes Williams is unable to post bail.

"(Jessica) slapped me once and the judge just slapped me again," she said. "It could have been the judge's child that was killed."

Smith said attention in the case has been shifted away from where it belongs -- on the children who lost their lives.

"Jessica is nothing," she said. "She's a dope user. Yes, she's been in jail for three years. But our kids have been dead for three years."

Watkins had argued that Williams was not a flight risk. Her father lives near Mesquite and other family members live in Las Vegas, he said.

"The state's argument is ludicrous," Watkins said. "They're trying to make her look like a hardened criminal. She wasn't a flight risk when she was facing 21 charges and she's not a flight risk now."

But Nelson, who called Williams a "vagabond," said Williams also has family members in Europe, where she could flee if released.

He said Williams lied on documents to obtain a work card prior to the accident.

"She was living in Arizona, driving with a California driver's license and working in Nevada," Nelson said. "This shows she will lie to get what she wants."

Attorneys also argued over the order granting Williams a writ of habeas corpus, which was prepared by Watkins and signed by Douglas.

Prosecutors claimed the order didn't accurately reflect Douglas' decision to grant a new trial.

Douglas said the order was accurate, adding that he read over the document before it was filed and deleted or rephrased portions as necessary.