Opinion ID: 2364198
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Vincent Williams

Text: Vincent Williams testified that he witnessed the shooting on the early morning of April 23, 1989, and that the shooter was not Anthony Ways. That morning, on the corner of Louis and Thurman Streets, Williams saw Ben Johnson and another person, whom he did not recognize as a familiar face in the area. Williams, who was standing on the corner across the street from the bar, saw the man with Johnson running up to cars trying to make a sale while Johnson stayed near the doorway of the bar. When a car pulled up on the street, Williams observed that same man, whom he described as brown-skinned, thin, and about 5'7, draw a gun and shoot into the car. Williams admitted that he had known Ways all his life; the two had lived on the same street. Williams did not come forward to the police because he was on the run and did not want to get caught. Williams claimed that, while incarcerated in the county jail in 1989, he told prosecutors that he was at the scene of the shooting and that Ways was not involved in the crime. Because the PCR court began with the premise that the shooting occurred near the corner of Chase and Louis Streets, the court necessarily came to the conclusion that Williams's account was not believable. The court also found Vincent Williams incredible because he had [e]mbellished his story to the point of disbelief and seemed to be making things up as he went along. The court was troubled by deviations between Williams's testimony and his affidavit. (In his testimony, Williams said that he saw the shot fired, whereas in his affidavit he said that he only heard the shot.) Last, the court discounted the testimony of Williams because of his life-long relationship with Ways.