52 year-old Sean Williams entered a plea for not guilty yesterday afternoon during his arraignment for his Second Superseding Indictment and a trial has been set for March 2024.
Williams made it to court after his suicide attempt in the Blount County jail Tuesday, where he reportedly had a puncture type wound. He entered the federal courtroom for his initial appearance with a slight smirk on his face as he walked to his seat, a covered wound on his neck, short hair, handcuffed at the waste, and with shackles around his feet. He was accompanied by U.S. Marshals, with several in the courtroom during the hearing.
Before his arraignment, Magistrate Judge Cynthia R. Wyrick spoke to the public and explained that Williams has a separate hearing with his lawyer, who filed a motion to withdraw from his case. Since the motion filed by his lawyer was sealed, the Magistrate Judge asked everyone in the courtroom to exit. The public was shortly after allowed to join the courtroom for the start of the Superseding Indictment Hearing. This indictment is due to Williams attempting to escape at the Washington County Detention Center on July 23, and because of his escape on October 18th.
Williams was asked by the Magistrate Judge if he was in well enough condition to proceed with the hearing. Williams did say he hadn’t had sleep in four days but that he was able to comprehend and proceed. After a few more questions from the judge, the court did learn that Williams only had a 7th grade level of school education.
Since Williams previous lawyer withdrew from his case, he was asked if he could afford legal counsel, he responded no. He was then appointed a new lawyer, Joseph McAfee, who will be handling his case moving forward. McAfee stated he needed more time to look over the discovery for the case and Williams indictments, however Williams was ready to enter a plea of not guilty.
Magistrate Judge Wyrick said he could face up to 5 years for each count of the Second Superseding Indictment, not including his additional charges. Both cases for his Superseding Indictment were merged and a trial was set for March 19th, 2024.
A separate trial for additional charges relating child pornography, was rescheduled for March 26th, 2024. U.S. Marshal David Jolley attended the arraignment yesterday and said there is an investigation regarding Williams suicide attempt. He said his job was to make sure Williams showed up, without any drama occurring. He said Williams is lucky that authorities were able to get to him so quick when he attempted to harm himself on Tuesday. He also stated Williams has a lot of victims and he wants to make sure Williams faces all of them.
