Killer’s release delayed by judge
SAN JOSE >> A man convicted in the notorious killing of a high school classmate over a decade ago remains on track to be freed but will have to wait at least another month after a judge delayed his release Nov. 23.
In issuing a four-week stay on the release of 27-year-old Jae Williams, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Maureen Folan, the district attorney’s office and probation department are waiting on a longshot appellate court petition that would give the county jurisdiction over Williams. Authorities plan to put him in a juvenile-oriented rehabilitation program to transition him back into the community.
Williams’ longtime attorney, Lewis Romero, objected to Folan’s decision and contended that his client’s Eighth Amendment rights were being violated. Williams’ case, which had been on appeal following his 2014 conviction, was transferred to juvenile court three years ago after a landmark change in state law. He has exhausted juvenile custody supervision, which typically ends once a person turns 25.
“We can’t divorce ourselves from basic principles of law,” Romero argued in court Nov. 23. “Jae needs to be released today.”
The Williams case was one of a select few that have served as legal battlegrounds for SB 1391, a 2018 law that barred minors under the age of 16 from being prosecuted as adults. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and other California county prosecutors argued that the law was unconstitutional, but the state Supreme Court settled the issue earlier this year with a unanimous decision affirming the law’s validity.
After Folan’s ruling Nov. 23, Rosen echoed a refrain he has given for the past three years, arguing that Williams is part of a group of “exceptional” youth offenders who pose a stark public safety risk if they were to be released early.
“This was a sadistic and awful, awful murder,” Rosen said after Tuesday’s hearing.
Williams and Randy Thompson were convicted of slaying Michael Russell in his family’s backyard in South San Jose in what was dubbed as a Satanist-inspired “thrill kill” or the “Devil Boys” murder. Williams was 15 when the killing occurred; he was initially sentenced to 26 years to life in San Quentin State Prison before his case was transferred. Thompson is continuing to serve his full prison sentence and was not affected by SB 1391 because he was 16 when the crime happened.
Rosen said the proposal to have Williams put in a rehabilitation and counseling program under the umbrella of the county’s juvenile probation division is a “second-best option” to keeping him in prison, a pathway that was eliminated when the case was transferred to juvenile court.
“If he’s going to be released,” Rosen said, “at least go through the process of reentry and rehabilitation.”
Romero said the notion of putting the now-27year-old Williams through programs not meant for an adult would be a needless delay and pointed to years of his client undergoing counseling and receiving education — including earning his high school diploma — as he awaited trial following Russell’s 2009 killing.
“There’s no more information to garner,” Romero said.
Deputy County Counsel Mona Williams, representing the county’s juvenile probation division, said in court that the county has no existing jurisdiction to assume custody and supervision of Jae Williams for the proposed rehabilitation program. Judge Folan’s earlier attempt to send Williams to the Department of Juvenile Justice for rehabilitation was denied by that agency, which is slated to shutter in the next two years.
Mona Williams said the current county proposal would be illegal pending legislative action, and Romero said an appellate court petition on behalf of the county will almost certainly be denied.
Near the end of the hearing, Romero got into a heated back-and-forth with the judge, arguing that Folan’s assessment of the county juvenile rehabilitation proposed for Jae Williams was based “on hearsay” and demanding that the judge recuse herself from the case. Folan denied that request.
Afterward, Romero reiterated that the judge’s stay order was “a waste of money” and that “nothing’s going to change” between now and Dec. 28, when they return to court.
For Russell’s family, the fight for closure remains elusive. Cathy Russell, Michael’s aunt, said the revisiting of Jae Williams’ sentencing since 2018 has kept a deep wound open.
“We’re moving backwards. It’s just unbelievable,” she said. “We’ve been living this for 12 years, over and over.”