‘Fifth and Final Warning’: Court appoints new attorney for Sean Williams

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — A judge granted Sean Williams’ request for a fifth court-appointed attorney ahead of his federal child porn trial, but warned Williams that if he can’t get along with his new attorney, he will have to represent himself again.

In an order filed Thursday, Greeneville U.S. District Court Judge Ronnie Greer appointed Mark E. Brown of Knoxville as Williams’ new attorney and also granted Williams’ request to push the trial back, which is now scheduled to start Oct. 22.

The judge also relieved Ilya Berenshteyn as Williams’ “elbow counsel.”

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Greer’s decision to appoint a new attorney comes after he determined ahead of Williams’ escape trial last month that Williams had “waived his Sixth-Amendment right to court-appointed counsel by ‘set[ting] out on an intentional path to stymie these criminal proceedings through his lack of cooperation with and his unreasonable demands of his court-appointed attorneys.'”

In Thursday’s order, Greer outlined his concerns about Williams representing himself in his upcoming trial on three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor.

“While the Court does not question its ruling that Mr. Williams — in the face of the Court’s repeated warnings about the high-stakes need for him to work with his attorneys and hazards and disadvantages of acting pro se — has waived his right to counsel through his conduct, the Court has developed concerns about how his pro-se status could affect the administration of justice in his impending trial,” Greer’s order states.

Each count of sexual exploitation of a minor carries a potential prison sentence of up to 30 years.

“The stakes for Mr. Williams are high,” Greer wrote.

Greer said the potential lengthy prison sentence combined with the nature of trials for such charges, which often involve “reams of digital forensic evidence and expert-witness testimony,” is daunting for any defendant, but even more so for a defendant without counsel.

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Williams represented himself during his escape trial last month and often clashed with Greer and violated courtroom procedures. In Thursday’s order, Greer said Williams’ “lack of legal knowledge and courtroom procedure, were painfully obvious” and should compel Williams to “think long and hard” about the court’s prior warnings about the potential downfalls of representing himself.

Last month’s escape trial ended with a jury convicting Williams of one count of escape related to his Oct. 18, 2023 escape from a prison transport van. The jury also found him not guilty of one count of alleged escape related to a separate incident at the Washington County Detention Center on July 23, 2023.

Greer said the split verdict was not the result of Williams’ legal prowess, but rather the prosecution’s failure to meet its high burden of proof.

“Mr. Williams’s clumsy — and near-calamitous — approach to trying his prior case, the potential life sentence that awaits him if convicted of the child-exploitation charges in his pending case, the surplus of digital and forensic discovery that confronts him, and the fact that he has not yet retained an expert for his defense all lead the Court to conclude that the efficient and effective administration of criminal justice necessitates the appointment of counsel at this time,” Greer’s order states.

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The granting of Williams’ requests for a new attorney and a later trial date also came with a “fifth and final warning.” If Williams can’t work “harmoniously” with his new attorney, he will once again have to represent himself and “will be on his own.” Greer also warned that he will not push back the trial date, which has already been delayed more than once, if Williams has a falling out with his new attorney.

“In short, Mr. Williams must be ready for trial on the newly set date, whether by way of his new attorney’s representation or his own.”

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