Gay couple's killer gets restitution fines reduced
A California appellate court made modifications yesterday to James Tyler Williams' sentence in the 1999 hate crime slayings of a Happy Valley gay couple. Gary Matson, 50, and Winfield Mowder, 40, were murdered as they slept on July 1, 1999. The three-judge panel of California's Third Appellate District corrected a clerical error and lowered restitution fines imposed last year by Shasta County Superior Court Judge William Gallagher. Potential fines were not outlined in Williams' plea agreement, the appellate court found, so when Gallagher imposed two restitution fines of $5,800, one of them suspended pending successful completion of parole, Williams had a right to withdraw from the agreement. The appellate court ordered that each of the fines be reduced to $200, but Williams' 29-year-to-life sentence stands.
Redding.com
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