RSS Feed
September 6th, 2011 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Updated
Matthew Johnson, 38, has pleaded not guilty.
A jury has been played prison video of the bashing death of Melbourne gangland identity Carl Williams.
Williams was bludgeoned to death in the maximum-security Acacia Unit of Barwon Prison in April last year.
Fellow inmate Matthew Johnson, 38, is standing trial for his murder.
In the graphic video footage, Williams can be seen seated at a table reading a newspaper before Johnson attacks him from behind with the stem of an exercise bike.
Prosecutor Mark Rochford, SC, described the bike stem as “an ideal weapon”.
The video shows Williams slumping to the ground, where Johnson continues beating him before dragging his body by the ankles through a door at the back of the exercise yard.
Johnson does not deny he carried out the killing but pleaded not guilty to murder on the grounds he acted in self-defence, with defences lawyers telling the jury he acted out of fear for his own life.
Johnson’s lawyer Bill Stuart told the jury there were two sides to Williams: one, a cherubic, smiling family man; the other, a business side of “utter ruthlessness”.
‘Kill or be killed’
Mr Stuart said Williams called the shots in and out of jail and that Johnson had acted out of “absolute necessity” in a kill-or-be-killed situation.
The jury was told Williams was planning to ambush Johnson with a sock filled with billiard balls, and Johnson believed he would die first if he did not act.
Prosecutors, however, said Williams was killed in prison because he was assisting police.
Mark Rochford, SC, told the jury Johnson killed Williams because he knew he was talking to police and he did not like it.
Fifteen jurors were chosen but only 12 will deliberate on the verdict.
Justice Lex Lasry has instructed them to disregard any prior information they may have heard about the killing and focus on the evidence in court.
He has reminded them it is up to the prosecution to prove the four elements of murder, including that Johnson’s actions in causing Williams’s death were conscious, deliberate and voluntary, and that he intended to kill or cause very serious injury.
Justice Lasry has told jurors to consider the reliability and credibility of witnesses, and urged them to avoid jumping to conclusions if a witness appears stressed or nervous.
The trial is expected to last four weeks.
murder-and-manslaughter,
courts-and-trials,
lara-3212,
melbourne-3000
First posted
-
Print page
-
Email this -
Permalink
-
Related posts:
Views: 0
Posted in 
Tags: 
