NY appeals court grants new trial for defendant who attacked RPD officer

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A New York appeals court has ordered a new trial for a man convicted of attempted murder of a Rochester Police Department officer.

Defendant Keith J. Williams was convicted in June 2022 before state Supreme Court Justice Alex R. Renzi, of attempted aggravated murder, attempted second-degree murder, aggravated assault upon a police officer or a peace officer, and first-degree assault.

In a decision released Friday, the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court, Fourth Department, unanimously reversed the convictions and granted a new trial.

According to the decision, Williams’ grandmother called 911 to have him taken to the hospital due to his abnormal behavior and mental health concerns.

The responding police officer, Denny Wright, coaxed Williams out from under a bed, but Williams attacked Wright, repeatedly punching and stabbing him with a knife, causing severe injuries, including permanent blindness, according to the decision.

Williams’ appellate attorney, Gregory Salmon, argued that Renzi committed reversible error by granting the prosecution’s pretrial motion to preclude the testimony of Williams’ proposed psychiatric witness.

“We agree,” the Fourth Department wrote.

The prosecutor argued that the psychiatrist’s post-crime diagnosis of Williams was irrelevant because the psychiatrist could not testify to defendant’s mental disease or defect or state of mind at the time of the crimes.

“We agree with defendant that the court abused its discretion by granting the People’s motion to preclude defendant from calling his proposed psychiatric witness at trial on the ground that the psychiatrist’s prospective testimony was not relevant,” the panel ruled.

“Although the psychiatrist did not treat, observe, and diagnose defendant until approximately 1½ years after the incident, the psychiatrist’s diagnosis was not based solely on his observations; rather, it was based on a comprehensive review of defendant’s medical history, including a prior mental health admission that occurred not long before the crimes and during which defendant exhibited behavioral problems similar to those observed by the psychiatrist,” the court wrote.

“The preclusion of the psychiatrist’s testimony effectively prevented defendant from mounting his affirmative defense and severely undermined his ability to separately argue that he lacked the requisite mental state to commit the charged offenses,” the court ruled.

In a statement sent to the news media, Monroe County District Attorney Brian Green called the Fourth Department’s decision “deeply disappointing.”

“While we respect the appellate process, and the court’s ruling, there is no question that this decision forces Officer Wright and his family to relive an incredibly painful chapter in their lives,” he wrote.

“I am now in the process of reviewing both the trial and appellate files, and this office will be prepared for our next court date before Justice Renzi, likely sometime in the coming weeks. We will update the community as additional information becomes available,” he wrote.

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