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Convicted Memphis
cop killer sentenced to death penalty
By Bryan Robinson - CourtTV.com
July 16, 1999
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Court TV) —
Despite Timothy McKinney's request for life with parole so that he could
prove his innocence, a Tennessee jury imposed the death penalty on the
25-year-old parolee.
Jurors deliberated for approximately fours hours
between late Thursday and early Friday before announcing their verdict.
McKinney was convicted Wednesday night of first-degree murder in the
shooting death of Officer Don Williams after an altercation outside a
Memphis, Tenn. comedy club in December 1997.
The jury's sentence indicated that they did not
believe that potential mitigating factors should spare McKinney's life.
Jurors were told that McKinney never knew his biological father, that he
is learning challenged — he only went as far as the ninth grade in
school and received his GED while incarcerated for robbery — and that he
never received treatment for his learning problems.
During the penalty phase of McKinney's trial Thursday,
defense attorneys had unsuccessfully attempted to humanize their client
and show that potential mitigating factors outweighed aggravating
factors such as his previous criminal record for aggravated robbery in
1993. Through the testimony of friends and relatives, defense attorneys
tried to show that McKinney could still be a benefit to society if
spared the death penalty and sentenced to either life in prison without
parole or life in prison with the possibility of parole after 51 years.
Prosecutors had to prove only one aggravating factor
to get the death penalty — that McKinney had prior violent history. In
addition to focusing on McKinney's guilty plea to aggravated robbery in
1993, they told jurors about the defendant's prior juvenile record of
aggravated assault for firing at police officers during a separate
incident in 1991.
McKinney, prosecutors stressed, had had a second
chance through parole in 1997 — and he blew it. According to prosecutors,
parole had done nothing to rehabilitate McKinney.
Although he chose not to testify during the guilt
phase of his trial, McKinney testified during his sentencing hearing
that he was not Williams' shooter and asked jurors to spare his life so
that he can prove his innocence.
McKinney also denied responsibility for his previous
crimes of aggravated robbery and aggravated assault. But during cross-examination
Thursday, prosecutor David Henry, incredulous at McKinney's claims,
repeatedly pointed out to the defendant that he pleaded guilty to crimes
that he now claimed he did not commit.
Henry also focused on undermining McKinney's alibi
for Williams' shooting: that he was sleeping at his girlfriend Debra
Kimble's house at the time of the shooting. Williams was shot at
approximately 2:35 a.m. Kimble lived a short distance away from Crumpy's
Comedy Club and prosecutors believe McKinney had enough time to leave
the club, go to Kimble's home, retrieve the murder weapon (which was
never recovered) and return to shoot Williams.
But McKinney insisted on the stand that he was with
Kimble during the shooting. He said that he had sex with her shortly
after arriving and then slept on the living room couch. According to
McKinney, he left early that morning because his mother was paging him,
and he told Kimble that he had to attend to the matter in person because
Kimble did not have a phone.
During the trial, Kimble did not support McKinney's
story. The witness did not mention having sex with McKinney and claimed
he slept on the couch. She said he was gone by the time she woke up
around 11: 30 a.m.; she did not hear him leave her house. McKinney
claimed that she was lying on the stand because she did not want to be
further involved in his case.
Henry also pointed out to McKinney that he hid his
car in the back of Kimble's house and took the plates off his car to
avoid police. Still insisting that he did not kill Williams, McKinney
admitted taking the plates off his car because he knew police would be
looking for him because of his previous altercation his Williams.
However, Henry asked McKinney why he would run away from a crime scene
if he did not do anything wrong.
McKinney also may have undermined a possible
mitigating factor as jurors consider the death penalty against him.
Through the testimony of previous defense witness clinical psychiatrist
John Ciocca, there were suggestions that McKinney was under the
influence of alcohol and marijuana at the time of the shooting. McKinney
admitted smoking marijuana that night but said that he was only "a
little tipsy" from alcohol. He denied being "stumbling drunk," prompting
prosecutor Henry to point out that McKinney was sober and clear-minded
enough to drive his car.
In addition to first-degree murder, McKinney was
convicted of attempted second-degree murder on Williams' partner,
Officer Frank Lee. He will be sentenced for that crime on a later date.
Club patron
convicted in Memphis police murder case
By Jeff Gamble and Aldina Vazao Kennedy -
CourtTV.com
July 15, 1999
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (Court TV) — After
deliberating for two and a half hours, jurors found Timothy McKinney
guilty of first-degree murder in the December 1997 shooting death of
police officer Don Williams outside a Memphis, Tenn. comedy club.
The defendant, who was on parole for an aggravated robbery
conviction at the time of the murder, may face the death penalty.
McKinney was also found guilty of attempted murder in the second
degree of another officer, Frank Lee, who testified against the
defendant during the trial.
The penalty phase of the trial begins Thursday
morning. McKinney faces three possible sentences for murder in the first
degree: life in prison with the possibility of parole after 51 years;
life in prison without parole; and death. McKinney also faces a sentence
of 6 to 12 years in prison for attempted murder in the second degree.
McKinney's defense, which rested its case without
calling any witnesses following the defendant's decision not to testify,
is expected, however, to call witnesses in the penalty phase. The
defense will call members of the defendant's family to the stand as well
as a psychologist and a witness who will review the defendant's school
records.
The prosecution is expected to call a witness to
testify to the defendant's prior record. The state will also introduce
victim impact testimony from Williams' family.
McKinney shot Williams after an altercation outside a
Memphis nightclub, Crumpy's Comedy Club, in December 1997. In the early
morning hours, McKinney was thrown out of the club and was unable to
locate his car. Thinking that his car had been stolen, McKinney soon
became involved in an altercation outside the club and began threatening
the custodians. (It was later revealed that one of McKinney's friends
had moved his car without his knowledge.)
Williams approached McKinney and asked him to leave
or be arrested. McKinney allegedly responded, "I just got out of jail.
Going to jail doesn't mean anything to me."
According to prosecutors, McKinney left only to
return a few minutes later, trying to get back into the club. But
Officers Williams and Lee thwarted his attempts, and McKinney falsely
accused Williams of throwing a punch at him. McKinney allegedly left a
third time, but returned and shot Williams at point-blank range from
behind.
During closing arguments Wednesday, prosecutor Jerry
Harris called the killing a "cowardly act" and the result of McKinney's
vengeful state of mind. McKinney's vengefulness prompted him to return
three times to Crumpy's Comedy Club after the initial confrontation with
Williams and fatally wound the off-duty officer that night, the
prosecutor told jurors.
"The proof in this case is overwhelming," Harris said,
referring to the identification by witnesses and circumstantial evidence.
The prosecution emphasized the testimony of their key witness (and
Williams' partner) Officer Lee, who chased the shooter down an alley
after the crime and identified the shooter as McKinney, despite the fact
that the killer's face was partially covered.
Prosecutor Harris also stressed the testimony of
Joyce Jeltz, an eyewitness to the shooting who said the shooter wore
dark pants, dark clothes, and a gold vest apparently worn by McKinney
that night. Officer Lee, however, did not remember seeing a vest on the
shooter.
The prosecution tried to explain the differences in
their two key witnesses' testimony by arguing that eyewitnesses often
focus on different items relating to the perpetrator and that this alone
does not negate what they see.
In his closing, defense attorney James Ball
unsuccessfully attempted to put reasonable doubt in the minds of the
jurors.
"My client is as innocent as anyone in this courtroom,"
said Ball. The defense attorney reminded jurors that the prosecutors had
the burden of proving its case beyond reasonable doubt — which, he
claimed, they had not done. Ball attempted to pick apart the testimony
of Lee, saying that his identification of the shooter was weak because
he saw the gunman in bad lighting after an intense gun battle.
The defense also noted the conflicts between the
testimony of eyewitness Jeltz and Lee over the gold vest. Ball then
attacked the credibility of Jeltz, who had not spoken of the vest in her
initial police statements.
Despite his request for
a chance to prove his innocence, jurors imposed the death penalty on
Timothy McKinney. (Court TV)
