Contact:

Phone:
Email:

Cameron Kline
215-686-8711
cameron.kline@phila.gov

PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT ATTORNEYS STATEMENT ON DEATH PENALTY MORATORIUM

ANNOUNCEMENT
PHILADELPHIA (Feb. 13, 2015) Philadelphia District Attorney R. Seth Williams today issued the
following statement in response to Gov. Wolfs announcement declaring a death penalty moratorium
in Pennsylvania:
The people who are most grateful for this moratorium on capital punishment are the guiltiest,
cruelest, most vicious killers on death row. Most other murderers do not get the death penalty,
and if they did they will likely have the sentence reversed on appeal.
Terrance Williams must be one of those grateful killers today. He is one of the few capital
murderers in Pennsylvania who has lost all his appeals, all the way up to both the Pennsylvania
and United States Supreme Courts. And there is not a shred of doubt about his guilt. Even his
own lawyers dont claim he is innocent.
I am weary of this murderers effort to portray himself as a victim. He has committed robberies
and burglaries, he has broken into the home of an elderly woman in the middle of the night, on
Christmas Eve, put a rifle muzzle to her neck, and threatened to blow her f---ing head off, and
he has brutally bludgeoned to death two older gay men in order to steal their belongings. These
were not spontaneous crimes of rage. He planned each one in advance, he made careful
efforts to cover up his involvement, and he made sure to profit.
The power to issue a reprieve exists to permit examination of last-minute evidence or legal
claims that could not otherwise be reviewed. But there are no new claims here; they have been
examined and reviewed and ruled on, over and over and over again. The reprieve is unlawful.
If the governor wants to be a man of his convictions, he should debate this issue publicly and try
to persuade the legislature and the people to change the law. But he has no moral or legal right
to nullify judicial rulings and legislative statutes. The governors action today was an injustice to
the citizens of this state, who support the death penalty in limited and appropriate cases, to the
judges who have conscientiously reviewed this case over two decades, and to victims of crime,
who deserve to see justice carried out as the laws provide.
The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office is the largest prosecutor's office in Pennsylvania, and one of the largest in the nation. It serves the
more than 1.5 million citizens of the City and County of Philadelphia, employing 600 lawyers, detectives and support staff. It is organized into
seven divisions: Executive/Administration, Trials, Pre-Trial, Investigations, Juvenile Law, and Special Operations. The District Attorney's Office
is responsible for prosecution of over 75,000 criminal cases annually. The main office of the Philadelphia District Attorney is located in Center
City Philadelphia at The Widener Building, Three South Penn Square. The Juvenile Court and Child Support Unit are located at 1501 Arch
Street, and the Private Criminal Complaint Unit is located at 1425 Arch Street. Additionally, the Charging Unit is staffed around the clock in
The Widener Building.

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