By Eshita Seshadri
SACRAMENTO, CA – Several police officers testified on Friday in Sacramento Superior Court regarding Chezvauan Williams, who is accused of attempted murder, aggravated battery and domestic violence after an alleged attack broken up by a bystander.
According to Sacramento Police Officer Brett Gorell’s testimony, a man was in his room with his girlfriend last March 24 when he heard a woman scream from outside. He then went outside to see a male and a female in a carport, noting that it looked like that woman was “fighting for her life.”
In Officer Gorell’s direct examination, he stated Williams, or the suspect in this case, was on top of the victim and the witness had told him to stop but he would not. The witness told police he then proceeded to hit Williams multiple times.
The witness had also told the officer that at this point Williams yelled, “I’m going to kill you all,” and allegedly continued to punch the woman and pull her hair. Then, the witness held the suspect down until the woman got up and eventually ran away.
Williams had also allegedly gotten on top of the witness and started “hitting his face and grabbing his genitalia.” The witness reported he had lacerations on his hand, bruises on his face, a swollen eye, redness to both hands and scratches on his right knee.
In cross-examination, the officer revealed that he did not recall if Williams had been knocked unconscious during the fight and that the other man/witness who came out to help the woman had also called his roommates to help hold Williams down.
Officer Gorell also stated that the man had struck Williams with a weapon, but when asked what that weapon was, the man said that he did not remember. The officer did, however, said he did find a weight lifting bar in the grass at the scene.
The prosecution argued it was attempted murder because the man/witness who intervened believed the victim was fighting for her life along with how she had been strangled to the point of losing consciousness and strangled again after.
Assistant Public Defender Charles Templeton, on the other hand, argued that it was an act of self-defense as a result of the man intervening and that there was no evidence that he fought with force likely to cause great bodily injury.
Following such arguments, the judge ruled that there was sufficient evidence to find defendant Williams guilty of attempted murder and other charges, and set arraignment for Dec. 3 prior to setting trial.
