Update on Ashley Williams case

[Phil Wilayto]

Richmond's Ashley Williams case nears a crucial juncture

By Phil Wilayto

RICHMOND, May 19, 2012 - Yesterday's court hearing for Ashley Williams, the young Richmond mother facing decades in prison in connection with the death of her 2-year-old son DeSean, lasted all of two minutes. Circuit Court Judge Richard Taylor declined to rule on a request by Williams to be represented by Pauline Ewald, the court-appointed attorney whom Taylor had removed from the case 14 months ago. Instead, Taylor referred the motion to the next judge in the court's rotation schedule. 

If that judge grants the request, Taylor stated he would remove himself from the case altogether. If the request is denied, the case will go back to Taylor, for sentencing. Taylor had previously stated that he will not preside over any case in which Ewald is an attorney. 

Taylor did not announce this decision in the courtroom, which included 15 Williams supporters. Instead, in an apparently unusual move, he announced that copies of his decision could be obtained from the court clerk's office, “in a few minutes,” and then abruptly left the courtroom. 

A hearing on the motion has been scheduled for June 6. 

A more detailed report by The Virginia Defender newspaper will be sent out later this weekend.