USA - Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a lower court order granting a new trial to Christopher Williams.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a lower court order granting a new trial to Christopher Williams. It was the first case in which the newly constituted court had the opportunity to rule on a death penalty case in which a new trial had been granted. The four most avid supporters of the death penalty have recently left the court, three resigning as a result of unethical conduct or conviction for public corruption and a fourth, who the subject of recent judicial bias ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, reaching the mandatory retirement age. The new court determined that Williams' trial and appellate counsel had been ineffective by failing to investigate and present expert forensic testimony on blood flow and gunshot wounds that would have demonstrated that the version of the murders presented by the prosecution's lead witness was incompatible with the physical evidence. The court also ruled that the trial judge had improperly prevented defense lawyers from cross-examining the state's expert witnesses on key matters. Williams (Black) was charged with murder and related offenses in connection with the drug-related 1989 killings of Gavin Anderson, Kevin Anderson, and Otis Reynolds. On February 7, 1995, Williams was sentenced to death in Philadelphia County.