TOLEDO, Ohio — A Toledo man has been granted a new trial based on the court's determination that his rights were violated by jury misconduct.
A Lucas County Common Pleas judge determined Thursday that Ahmad Williams, who was convicted of murder and felonious assault on Aug. 11, 2023, in the death of his infant son, is entitled to a new trial after a violation of the U.S. and Ohio constitutions by the jury.
Williams, now 24 years old, claimed his son's death was an accident on Aug. 1, 2022, where he had dropped the infant, according to court records. The infant, who had a fractured skull, died from a fatal brain injury which the state said was caused by abuse.
Medical professionals testified during the trial including the coroner, who offered an opinion that the injury was caused by abuse but also acknowledged it could have been caused by a fall of "approximately four feet or more" which is a possibility consistent with Williams' claim of an accidental drop, the motion states.
The jury found Williams guilty after "approximately two and a half hours."
Sentencing was scheduled for Aug. 31, 2023, but one of the involved jurors contacted the court and said that she was swayed during deliberations and only found Williams guilty when another juror, identified as Juror 3, stated he was an emergency room nurse and the injuries were "definitely due to brain trauma."
Under Ohio law, registered nurses are prohibited from making a medical diagnosis.
The juror who contacted the court implied other jurors relied on Juror 3's information and background as a nurse for the basis of their decisions to find Williams guilty.
The court turned the letter over to the state and defense, and Williams filed a motion on Aug. 24, 2023, for a new trial, "on the basis that this juror introduced extraneous prejudicial information into the jury's deliberations," court documents state.
Jurors were then interviewed regarding the deliberations. Many stated they were "impressed" by Juror 3's knowledge, with one describing deliberations as a "question and answer session" with Juror 3 giving answers. Another recalled that Juror 3 "had some experience with shaken baby syndrome."
Juror 3 did not deny that he offered his opinion on the medical cause during deliberations, and multiple jurors said he offered a "definite opinion as to whether the victim's injury was the result of abuse" due to Williams.
Court documents state that as a registered nurse, Juror 3 was not qualified to make statements that diagnose a condition or opinion of medical causation as he did by saying the injuries to the infant must have been due to abuse or shaken baby syndrome.
Because Juror 3 "paraded his medical experience and opined for the jury during deliberations on a matter proper only to licensed physicians and testifying expert witnesses," the court determined Williams was denied his right to a trial by an impartial jury under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Sixth Amendment and the Ohio Constitution.
Judge Stacy Cook approved the motion for a new trial for Williams, and the state has 30 days to file an appeal following the court's decision.
MORE FROM WTOL 11 NEWS: