Hearing continued in imprisonment case

A sentencing hearing was continued midway through testimony Tuesday after two Carson City deputies subpoenaed by the defense failed to appear in court.

Carson City District Judge Jim Wilson continued the sentencing hearing for Robert Williams, 48, when deputies Ben Veader and Tara Collier failed to appear in court after allegedly being served with subpoenas by the defense.

Robert Williams pleaded guilty to a gross misdemeanor charge of false imprisonment. He was initially charged with two counts of child abuse and two counts of felony neglect for the alleged mistreatment of his two young sons.

According to court records, Williams and his wife, Linda Williams, were jailed Oct. 6, 2009, after Collier went to the Williamses' Clear Creek mobile home on a welfare check called in by a Reno veterans administration employee. The employee reported seeing Williams with his sons, then ages 3 and 5, one who had two black eyes and the other a large infected scab on his cheek.

In her report Collier wrote that Robert Williams kept the little boys locked in a bedroom with the windows boarded up. She also stated there were no toys in the home, and two potty chairs in the bedroom were full of urine.

But testimony during a preliminary hearing, and again on Tuesday, indicated the only window boarded up in the room was one directly next to the top bunk of the bed. The other window may have appeared boarded because a large juniper bush outside the house obscured it.

On Tuesday Robert Williams' attorney Public Defender Noel Waters also disputed Collier's police report that indicated a Dutch door leading into the boys' room had a sliding bolt on the outside to keep the children locked inside.

Photographs taken by Veader of the door do not show a bolt of any kind on the outside of the door, said Waters.

Waters said he wanted to question Veader on when he took the photographs and he wanted to question Collier on her observations at the time of the arrest.

Williams could be sentenced to up to a year in jail.

Instead, on Tuesday, Waters called three defense witnesses - a child protective services worker, a neighbor and a co-worker - to testify to the condition of the Williams home.

"I'm trying to put this offense in some perspective," said Waters when Deputy District Attorney Michael Bolenbaker questioned the purpose of the testimony since Williams had already pleaded to the charge.

CPS social worker Ron Souter testified that he was called out to the Williams home on the day of the arrest.

Souter said he saw toys in the boys' bedroom and potty chairs three-quarters full.

Neighbor Maria Rojas testified that her son would play with the Williams children.

"They would play outside with my son or go over to my house with my son," said Rojas. She said the backyard had a swing set, bicycles and cars the boys would play with frequently.

Robert Williams' co-worker Lynn McConnell testified that she'd been to the Williams home on several occasions, once during a scheduled meeting with the couple who worked as certified nursing assistants and more often unannounced.

On one visit McConnell recalled the oldest child bringing her a toy.

"The children were very happy. The oldest was climbing all over his dad's lap and the youngest one was climbing in his mom's," she said.

McConnell said she saw nothing on any of her visits that "caused alarm."

Testimony will continue Nov. 9.

Linda Williams pleaded guilty to gross misdemeanor false imprisonment and was sentenced to one year in jail.

Also in Carson City District Court this week:

• John Emmanuel Lara, 25, was sentenced to 19 to 48 months in prison on a charge of domestic battery with choking.

• Brian Christopher Ohl, 30, pleaded guilty to grand larceny for allegedly stealing his sister's ring and pawning it. He will be sentenced Dec. 7.

• A two-day jury trial was set for Feb. 27 for Paul Timm, 36, on charges of possession of a controlled substance.

• Thomas William Hinsen, 51, pleaded guilty to possession of a prescription drug without a prescription. He will be sentenced in December.

• Matthew Karl Bryant, 21, was sentenced to 12 to 30 months in prison for failing to register as a sex offender. ⵰