The fact that Ronell Wilson functioned well enough to become the leader of a violent Staten Island drug gang and later became the kingpin of his prison block made no difference to U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis
What a backhanded slap in the face of all cops and the families of slain NYPD detectives James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews. The two cops were executed by Ronell Wilson during an undercover gun buy in 2003. Even though U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis expressed doubts that Wilson was actually intellectually disabled, he ruled that a 2014 Supreme Court decision changed the standards for mental retardation, and as a result Wilson’s limited intellectual capacity made him no longer eligible for the death sentence he received in 2013.
Just how limited was Wilson’s intellectual capacity? For starters, Wilson functioned well enough to become the leader of a violent Staten Island drug gang. Later he became the kingpin of his prison block. While he was imprisoned for the cop killings, Wilson impregnated a prison guard and had a child with her. Intellectually disabled? Not in my book! Wilson sure was a lot smarter than the correctional officer he knocked up.
DEATH PENALTY STRICK DOWN FOR KILLER OF TWO COPS
By John Riley and Nicole Fuller | Newsday | March 16, 2016
NEW YORK -- The widow of slain NYPD Det. James Nemorin said Tuesday that double cop killer Ronell Wilson “won again” after a federal judge in Brooklyn struck down the death penalty for his 2003 execution of her husband and Det. Rodney Andrews on Staten Island.
“He won again because when he killed him he won,” Nemorin-John, now remarried, said. Then, she saiJud, Wilson impregnated a prison guard and had a child with her after he was imprisoned for the murders. “He had a baby in jail, now he got out of the death sentence. He won again.”
U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis said a 2014 Supreme Court decision changed the standards for mental retardation, and as a result Wilson’s limited intellectual capacity made him no longer eligible for the death sentence he received in 2013.
The judge described it as a close case, with most of Wilson’s IQ tests placing his mental functioning at a level that would allow him to be executed, while applying a large margin of error put the low end of two tests below 70, the benchmark for intellectual disability.
“To be candid, the court harbors doubts as to whether Wilson would be considered intellectually disabled by most clinicians,” Garaufis wrote. “However, the Supreme Court’s decision . . . strongly suggests that the legal standard for intellectual disability . . . has become more protective than the clinical standard.”
Nemorin, of Baldwin Harbor, and Andrews, of Middle Village, each were shot in the head during an undercover gun buy that went bad on Staten Island, and their bodies were dumped on the street.
The ruling marked the second time Wilson, 33, had a death sentence overturned. A previous trial ending in a death sentence in 2006 was overturned by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals due to an improper argument by the prosecution.
Nemorin-John, in an interview at the door of her Bellmore home, said she was “very sad to hear” of the decision, and felt “just numb” after hearing what Garaufis had done. She said Nemorin’s three children — now 20, 18 and 14 — continue to miss him.
“He was a very good detective,” she said. “I don’t know when he’s going to rest in peace. He needs to rest. This is too much for us, for his family.”
At his penalty retrial in 2013, prosecutors hammered on the fact that Wilson functioned well enough to become the leader of a violent Staten Island drug gang and later became the kingpin of his prison block. He wrote a song about himself while briefly on the run.
The judge seemed regretful at his ruling. “Having presided over this tragic case for more than a decade, the court quite frankly finds it impossible to muster any sense of sympathy for this defendant,” Garaufis wrote in the 76-page decision.
“The court also recognizes with great sadness the pain that this decision is likely to cause for the families of James Nemorin and Rodney Andrews,” he added. “Regardless of one’s views on the death penalty, these families have suffered enough.”
After the ruling, a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney Robert Capers in Brooklyn — who in theory could appeal Garaufis’ decision — declined to comment, but others in law enforcement were quick to denounce the ruling.
“The judge’s decision is extremely disappointing and I respectfully disagree,” said Michael Palladino, president of the NYPD Detectives Endowment Association. “An awful lot of calculated thought went into Wilson’s coldblooded actions as well as his attempt to avoid capture. That hardly spells out mental incapacity.”
“In doing their jobs, these two heroes made the ultimate sacrifice in service to this city and Ronell Wilson should pay the ultimate price as punishment for his crime,” Staten Island District Attorney Michael McMahon said. “We respectfully disagree with the decision.”
Wilson had been the first person to get the federal death penalty in New York in 50 years.
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