The convict of the rape and torture of a former student of the Graduate School of Journalism was sentenced to life in prison on Thursday.
After a two-week trial, Robert A. Williams was convicted last month on 44 counts that include attempted murder, arson, kidnapping, and numerous counts of rape and sexual assault. In an April 2007 attack that shocked the Columbia campus, Williams tortured the 24-year-old victim for over 19 hours, pouring boiling water and bleach over her, slitting her eyelids, and repeatedly forcing sex on her before setting fire to her apartment and fleeing. The former student survived and testified in detail about the ordeal during the trial.
The presiding Judge Carol Berkman sentenced Williams separately for each individual count, taking into consideration his extensive criminal history and classification as a predatory sex offender. All counts taken together, Williams’ minimum combined sentence is 422 years in prison before parole becomes a possibility.
“This is a person who enjoys and in fact relishes and derives pleasure from the infliction of extreme physical pain on another human being,” lead prosecutor Ann Prunty said in recommending the maximum sentence. “His lawlessness knows absolutely no bounds.”
Defense attorney Arnold Levine argued, as he has throughout the case, that Williams is mentally unfit and “not a rational thinker.” Pre-trial competency hearings found Williams mentally fit for trial, though Levine cited new, ongoing examinations of mental health and asked for the sentencing hearing to be held off.
Levine pointed to Williams’ continual refusal to appear in court during the trial and his unwillingness to communicate as evidence of his lack of understanding of the proceedings. “I don’t think he understands what the trial is about. He hasn’t understood for over a year,” Levine said.
Prunty maintained that Williams’ absences from the courtroom show “utter disregard for the criminal justice system” and “utter contempt for authority and for this court.” Williams refused to appear only after he realized witnesses could identify him in court, Prunty said, pointing to what she characterized as coherent objections he made in pre-trial hearings.
Berkman authorized use of force to bring Williams to court Thursday, delaying the sentencing until the afternoon. He was carried into the courtroom—with arms and legs shackled and with protective mitts over his hands—by five armed guards in riot gear, brandishing helmets, plastic shields, and truncheons.
“By the outrage of the defendant’s extraordinary evil, he has … forfeited any right to the hope of liberty,” Berkman said. “The protection of the community requires that he be put away.”
Williams sat motionless throughout the hearing, remaining silent when Berkman asked him if he wished to speak in his defense and when Levine informed him of his right to appeal. Nevertheless, Levine promised he will appeal the case. “The thirst for blood is pushing all legal rights aside,” he told reporters after the sentencing. “The system did not serve my client.”
Check out http://www.columbiaspectator.com/node/55174 for Spectator’s previous coverage of the trial.
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