It’s easy to understand why island residents might be outraged by what would appear the possibility of Jamie Jarvonte Williams – the driver of the speeding car that struck and killed Michael Gianfresco as he walked his dog alongside A1A – being released from jail on bond.
But there’s no need to fret.
Assistant State Attorney Bill Long said he “requested the highest bond” Indian River County Judge Nicole Menz would consider on the vehicular homicide charge against Williams, and she set it at $250,000.
The bond amount, though, is meaningless, other than sending a message that Menz believes the case against Williams is formidable.
“She could’ve set bond at anything, and it wouldn’t have made a difference – because he’s already being held on the violation of probation, and there’s no bond for that,” a local attorney explained.
Barring some unexpected twist in this real-life tragedy, there’s virtually no chance Williams will be seeing the outside world in the foreseeable future.
The more likely scenario, based on my conversations with attorneys familiar with prosecutors and judges in Indian River and St. Lucie counties, is that justice will prevail, and Williams will have plenty of time behind bars to consider the consequences of his reckless behavior.
These local legal eagles predict Williams will not only remain in jail in St. Lucie County, where he’s currently being held without bond for allegedly violating the terms of his probation for two felony convictions in July 2020, but that he’ll stay there until he’s moved to Indian River County for his trial on the vehicular homicide charge filed by the State Attorney’s Office last week.
Or at least until his attorney cuts a deal.
“If he has effective counsel, and the vehicular homicide case is as strong as prosecutors seem to believe it is, they’ll probably make a deal that covers everything,” one prominent local criminal defense attorney said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
“I expect you’ll see the prosecutors in the two counties work together, and the driver will end up with a deal that allows him to serve concurrent sentences for all three felonies,” he added.
“It’s always possible he’ll want to go to trial, but, either way, I don’t see any way he’s released on bond.
“If you commit a felony while on probation for committing a felony, you almost always go to prison.”
Another local attorney suggested Williams, 27, might actually prefer to remain in jail and continue adding to his time-served credit, if he knows he can’t beat the vehicular homicide rap, which could put him in prison for up to 15 years.
And get this: The plea negotiations could happen quickly.
“It doesn’t appear to be a terribly complicated case,” a local defense attorney said of the vehicular homicide charge. “They didn’t arrest him at the scene, and if they didn’t charge him with DUI manslaughter last week, the blood analysis must’ve come back clean.
“So all they need to prove is that he was driving way over the speed limit, that there were no mechanical issues with the vehicle and that his reckless driving resulted in someone’s death,” he added. “It might not take two years to get a plea.”
Even if it does, Williams almost certainly will still be doing time on the earlier felonies – carrying a concealed firearm without a permit and attempting to tamper with evidence – stemming from his December 2018 arrest in St. Lucie County.
With no prior criminal record, Williams entered a no-contest plea to both charges, as well as to a misdemeanor resisting arrest offense, and was rewarded with no jail time and only 24 months of probation.
Also, Williams was to be eligible for early termination after one year, if he paid all his court fees and didn’t violate the terms of his probation.
However, Williams’ arrest on July 1 – after the State Attorney’s Office obtained a warrant alleging that he violated those terms by leaving St. Lucie County without the consent of his probation officer and failing to include on his monthly check-in form his crash-related interaction with law enforcement in Indian River County – came 12 days before he would’ve been eligible.
Instead, Williams has been sitting in a cell at the St. Lucie County Jail for the past two months, and he’s not going anywhere any time soon.
“Any day now, the prosecutor in St. Lucie County case will file an amended violation-of-probation complaint, adding the information about the vehicular homicide,” he added. “That’s going to carry some weight.”
Indeed, local lawyers agreed that Williams’ being accused of killing a man while violating the terms of his probation will have a significant impact on Circuit Judge Lawrence Mirman, who will decide Williams’ fate on the St. Lucie County convictions at a future hearing.
For those who don’t know: Violation-of-probation hearings are not subject to the same rules as criminal trials, and the accused – because they’ve already been convicted and sentenced – are not afforded the same legal protections.
A judge, not a jury, decides such cases. Hearsay is admissible as evidence. Defendants can be compelled to testify against themselves, at least to some degree. The threshold for proving guilt is a preponderance of the evidence, rather than beyond a reasonable doubt, as is the standard in criminal trials.
Given that Williams was outside St. Lucie County when the crash occurred, and that investigators have verified their evidence with his probation officer, prosecutors should have no trouble making their case.
You can then expect Mirman – again, barring any jarring developments – to revoke Williams’ probation and re-sentence him on the two prior felonies, each of which carries a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison.
That should keep Williams in jail until the vehicular homicide case is resolved.
“My prediction,” a local attorney said, “is that he gets five years for each of the two prior felonies, 10 years for the vehicular homicide, and the sentences will run concurrently.”
Some may think a 10-year sentence for running down a man walking his dog doesn’t sound like all that much.
“It’s not the maximum,” the attorney agreed. But, he added, “10 years in prison is a long time.”
