Sills: Holsey only suspect

By Payton Towns III - The Union-Recorder

JACKSON - A man convicted of killing a Baldwin County sheriff’s deputy in December of 1995 was the only suspect implicated, said Howard Sills at the state habeas hearing for Robert Wayne Holsey.

The hearing’s testimony for Holsey, who was found guilty of killing Deputy William E. Robinson IV, ended Tuesday in Butts County Superior Court.

The hearing was a continuance from June when Neal Dickett, a Superior Court judge from the Augusta Judicial Circuit, heard from Holsey’s witnesses but did not hear from the respondent. The hearing includes testimony from the petitioner (Holsey) and the respondent (the state).

According to officials, the Clerk of Court has 60 days to finish the transcripts of the five-day hearing (three days in June, two in December). After that, the petitioner had 60 days to send a brief to the judge and the respondent. The respondent then had 60 days to send a brief and the petitioner has 30 days for a rebuttal brief. After that, a date for an oral argument would be set.

The judge should rule on the case in the late part of 2004.

Holsey sat at the petitioner’s table in a white state prisoner’s uniform, while his sister watched the proceedings a few rows behind him. Robinson’s father, brother and friends attended the hearing.

Howard Sills, Putnam County sheriff, then chief deputy, testified about his involvement in the case. Sills talked about an original BOLO (Be On the Lookout) that was sent out not long after the shooting. The first lookout had law enforcement looking for two black men in a red Ford Probe.

Sills said lookout information changed as the investigation progressed. He added that they brought in suspects in a Ford Probe but its license plate did not match the one Robinson called in before he was shot.

Sills testified that Holsey was found between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. He knew Holsey because the defendant had been an inmate at the Baldwin County Jail. In fact, Holsey was a trustee at the jail, he said.

When Holsey’s lawyers - Thomas Dunn from the Georgia Resource Center in Atlanta and volunteer lawyer James Harrington from New York, presented their evidence in June, they put up doctors who said Holsey was mentally retarded. Sills disagreed.

“He didn’t appear to be retarded,” Sills said. “I never had a problem with him while he was a trustee.”

Sills testified about interviewing Holsey after he was arrested, how the murder weapon and clothing was found.

“No evidence suggested that no one other than Holsey murdered Will Robinson or robbed the store,” the sheriff said.

When talking about witnesses’ testimony, Sills said “one person” was seen leaving the murder scene in a red Ford Probe. Sills named the witness and every time the sheriff said “one person,” he pointed at Holsey.

Fred Bright, district attorney of the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit, testified that the Holsey case was not only the longest death penalty case he’d worked, but the longest trial.

“This is the longest death penalty or case I’ve been involved in,” Bright said. “This case had the most witnesses put up for the defense that I’ve been a part of.”

Bright also talked about Holsey’s trial lawyer, Andy Prince. Mitchell P. Watkins, assistant attorney general from the State Attorneys General Office, asked Bright about the way Prince acted during the trial. The DA said he had done at least three other cases with Prince.

“He was the same Andy Prince from the first trial we had together … if not better,” Bright said. “I felt he was better because of his experience when we tried the Holsey case. (Prince) was thorough and fair.”

According to Bright, Prince filed many motions before the case.

“He was very well prepared,” the DA said. “… We devoted a lot of time for this case and I know (Prince) did too. We talked daily. As we got to the trial, we talked on a daily basis. … At the trial, they put up some witnesses we didn’t know about.”

In June, Prince testified that he was drinking during the trial. Bright said he was close to him throughout the trial.

“We had bench conferences … and talked about everything,” he said. “I did not smell alcohol. I’ve read the newspapers and saw where he said he was drunk. … If Andy had come in reeking drunk, I’d bring it to the judge’s attention. I did not smell any odor of alcohol.”

On cross examination, Dunn asked Bright about his office giving every piece of evidence they had to the defense.

“We went through great pains because I knew how much was riding on this case,” he said. “We gave everything to (the defense). … Everything we got, we gave to the defense counsel.”

Ricky Horne, BCSO chief of detective in 1995, who currently works at the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office, testified how the blood from Holsey’s shoe was found and taken into evidence.

The responders also showed three videotapes of Horne shooting the same type of handgun as the one Robinson used that night. The tape was to demonstrate the unpredictability of where the shell casings would land on a hard surface.

“It would be difficult to tell what happened during the shootout,” Horne said. “There were so many variables going on that night.”

Holsey, 38, was convicted of malice and felony murder in the Dec. 17, 1995, death of Robinson and the armed robbery of a convenience store that same day. Dunn and Harrington are seeking his release from death row.

Payton Towns III covers law enforcement, the court system and Baldwin County education for The Union-Recorder. He can be reached at (478) 453-1456 or by e-mail.

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