Damontae Williams being led from the scene of the shooting.
A Beaver County Judge has ruled that prosecutors will not be allowed to show a jury the videotaped confession obtained by police from Damontae Williams, shortly after he allegedly shot Monaca Officer Alan Shaffer last July.
Judge John P. Dohanich decided the confession was inadmissible at trial because officers had violated the defendant’s rights when obtaining it. The ruling was in response to a pretrial motion filed by Assistant Public Defender Kevin Kindred last month on behalf of Williams.
“The police obtained defendant’s audio/video and written statements after the defendant immediately exercised his right to remain silent and was not advised of his Miranda rights until well after the custodial interrogation had commenced during which he made incriminating admissions,” wrote Judge Dohanich, “all in violation of the defendant’s right against self-incrimination and right to counsel.”
Beaver County Controller David Rossi has been subpoenaed to testify as a witness in the case, which is scheduled to begin this week. Rossi, who lives near the scene of the shooting, has told the Beaver Countian that he heard Williams make incriminating statements as he was being led away in handcuffs.
21 Comments From Our Readers
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Guilty
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Damn it police. I know he shot at one of your own, but you still have to do things by the book.
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If he wasn’t read his “miranda rights”, it has to be all thrown out, that’s the law
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Only in Beaver County !!!
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Beaver County has such competent police. They were probably in a hurry to get to a Sheetz or a 7-11 and just too busy to read the guy his rights. What a joke.
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Let me just say that I was on scene shortly after the shots rang out, and none of the officers present appeared to be “in a hurry to get to Sheetz or a 7-11.”
Mistakes will be made in any investigation, and they certainly need to be learned from. But emotions can run high in the aftermath of an officer involved shooting, and what I find important to note is all of the officers who I witnessed that day maintained their professionalism as they carried out their duties.
The courts are now fulfilling their obligations, ensuring this defendant’s rights are protected, and that he receives a fair trial.
2cents
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Pretty big mistake. If you work for the government, you can make big mistakes and not worry about getting fired. Someone should be losing their job over this one. Especially if this guy walks or gets a reduced sentence. But hey, I’m just a taxpayer.
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Hopefully those who will be selected for his jury read this article and will know that he confessed and it’s on video,……..regardless of whether they saw it at his trial or not.
Unfortunately, I don’t have high expectations for his sentence….our judges seem to be in a hurry to put these little punks back on the street.
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I still haven’t figured out why officer Schaffer didn’t return fire….had he done that (which would have been perfectly justified) this little gangbanger wannabe would be dead.
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accordingtome – It’s possible he felt that he did not have a clear shot, or was unsure of what was behind his target. Sounds like a responsible officer who was not willing to put other innocent bystanders at risk…. unlike the NYPD!!
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How does one forget to Mirandize someone? That’s a pretty important step to “forget”.
When he confessed, had they actually placed him under arrest? Or were they having a conversation? If he was free to go and not under arrest, when he confessed, why would he need his rights read?
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Even without the video, there seems to be plenty enough evidence to put the little POS away for a while.
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Told ya!!
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@according to one
@Ryan coborn
If you read prior post you will see that he did numerous dots but didn’t get the punk because it was between vehicles
Sorry didn’t mean post, articles written on times and beavercountian
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Time to vote the judge out of office what about the policemans rights
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Numerous shots
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Hello all. its been a month since my last log on. First off, JP I would like to personally thank you for your true, honest, personal reporting to when you arrived on scene in regards to this Monaca shooting incident and how you perceived the police were taking actions at that time. Very good of you to input your observations and yes, it is now up to the courts! I thank you! I would also like to add that it is so easy for people (the public) to jump to conclusions (on their own perceptions and/or possibly mislead media/3rd party reports) on how the police should act in any instance. First off, every instance is not the same. You learn (from experience) instance from instance on how you could (possibly) react when you arrive on scene to a new instance (call), but no instance is the same. You only have prior experience to go on/ learn from/ react to from those prior experiences. I have seen before and fully agree to the fact that the police have multiple duties throughout their shifts. Daily, they are called upon to be, on each separate call, a ….. and I will shorten this post now and post another continuance as to not bore people with a lengthy post so they don’t just skip over this. I would like to have the other bloggers here to input on my opinion (please be kind). Please, take care all!
And sorry, the continuance will probably be longer. Please READ.
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Continuance.. Police are, call by call, expected to be, foremost, a Law enforcement officer, then, per call specifics, a counselor (general advice, not legal counsel), babysitter, Teacher, Bodyguard, social worker, referee, politician, Medical Aid, caretaker, parent, animal control officer, garbage collector, road kill collector, firefighter, traffic control device, driving instructor and many more situations where they need to “know” what to do, instantly.
Police are called to solve (usually more than two or three times) the problems of repeat callers to solve their life problems caused by years of their own bad choices/bad parenting and ignorance in which the police have had no dealings with??…I.E. Baby daddy (or momma) is out of control, or the child is out of control and the police now have to be their parent.. Why???? Can anyone winder why the police become numb on these calls, but yet still handle them as professionally as possible? Who wants that job?
*And now, in my own opinion, as when it deals with this post and current truthful actions relating to this incident and all other life threatening/split second decision making incidents when the police HAVE to make “that” call, they (police) only have that split second to make a decision! And then.. A defense attorney, has MONTHS to prepare for the case to critique what the police did wrong in their SPLIT second decision! Why do most people blog / comment negatively on what the police did wrong in these circumstances when they (the posters) weren’t there / didn’t have to make that split second decision? Just as an example.. the poster who said the officer should have fired at the alleged actor. My God, what if he did fire back and hit a child? THAT blogger would have been all over the officer for firing his weapon if it miss the threat and hit a bystander! I believe that it was obvious the officer did not fire his weapon BECAUSE it could have possibly injured / killed an innocent bystander…. His life (police officer) taking on fire, saving another because of the situation. Why the F… would you say shoot at the suspect when others could, COULD be in danger. THAT IS something (protecting others) the police are trained in, are prepared to do, willing to die for to do. But yet he is scorned for not shooting. I pray it is never your (anyone’s) child possibly behind that suspect you wish an officer (wounded) decides to shoot upon!
Please all…Take care!
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JP. Please try to keep this post going / commented on. I feel your on scene input has stopped posters from commenting. I feel, (my own opinion) they don’t want to disagree with you and your honest eye witness experience. I’d like to get others input. It is a very important incident that occurred in our county that has affected a lot of people. Thank you!
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@OIC
Mirandizing someone should come as natural as everything you just said. They do wear a lot of hats. That one should never come off.
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Oh, and please do not mistake me. I’m glad Mr. Williams was found guilty on all counts. I’m glad they were able to do it without a confession. I think the police, do what they can with what they have. They put themselves at risk ALL the time. It’s admirable. But most know that going in. Every job/career comes with risks.
What would’ve happened if an even bigger screw up happened? The fact that all these “technicalities” can nearly let people go scotch free, is both a a blessing and a curse. Luckily for the commonwealth this blunder didn’t matter much, because the suspect ( now found guilty) was showboating for witnesses.