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Highlands Today

Cemetery Rape Defendant Won't Testify

Jury Expected To Deliberate Thursday

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By Gary Pinnell | Highlands Today

Published: June 19, 2008

SEBRING — Both the prosecution and the defense rested Thursday afternoon in the case of Oral Williams, 21, who was accused of taking a Lake Placid woman and her Avon Park boyfriend to the DeSoto City cemetery on May 5, 2005, holding a knife to her throat, and sexually assaulting her for hours.

The victim and her boyfriend were then 18. According to a May 5, 2005 sheriff's report by Det. John Barcinas, both victims were sitting in her vehicle on Orange Blossom Blvd. when two masked men approached. One was armed with what appeared to be a machine gun.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement technicians Carrie Sutherland and Carol Greenwell testified Thursday afternoon they found DNA from the victim, her boyfriend, Williams and a co-defendant, Julius Jamall "Gussy" Nixon, 21, of Sebring, who was convicted in May 2007.

Green, black and white condoms , the technicians said, all contained the female victim's DNA, and all three contained semen mixed from at least two of all three males.

Williams, in Highlands County Court wearing a white shirt, white suit and below-the-shoulder
black hair pulled back in a pony tail, was called "Dread" by Nixon at the time of the assault because he wore his hair in dreadlocks, the victims told the police. Police used that nickname to identify Williams, who had been arrested previously on unrelated charges.

Their identification cards were taken, and the victims were forced to drive the suspects to the cemetery.

Williams' attorney, Bruce Nants of Bartow, asked Judge Peter Estrada for a mistrial because a police officer spoke with Williams before he was read his Miranda right to remain silent. While the judge found that troublesome, he didn't dismiss the case. He also overruled Nants' request for a directed verdict, saying the state had met the burden of proving its case against Williams.

Asst. State's Attorney John Kromholz rested his case at 2:45 p.m. Thursday, and Nants did likewise, saying Williams would not testify in his own defense. The defense called no witnesses.
The six jurors, who included three males and three females but no African-Americans, were expected to be handed the case late Thursday afternoon.

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