The Maine Supreme Judicial Court has rejected Jessica A. Williams appeal, following her Dec. 20, 2022 conviction for the depraved indifference murder of her three-year-old son Maddox. Williams was sentenced to serve 47 years in prison. 

Williams was convicted by jury trial, which was overseen by Justice Robert Murray in the Waldo County Judicial Center. 

The appeal is partially based on evidence challenges, including challenging the admission of evidence related to a, “prior bad act and testimony and arguments regarding her lack of communication with police officers,” according to the ruling. Williams also contended that the trial court erred in denying her motion for a judgment of acquittal at the close of evidence during her trial.

The final aspect of her appeal is that if none of the aforementioned reasons is individually sufficient to warrant a reversal of her conviction, the cumulative effect of all three is a violation of her rights to due process. 

The Maine Supreme Court reached its decision after reviewing factual background information, including Maddox’ history with both his mother, father, and paternal grandmother.

Maddox, who was born Jan. 9, 2018, lived with his father and paternal grandmother until Feb. 12, 2020, when his father was arrested and Maddox was returned to Williams. 

Once visitation resumed with Maddox’ father, he and Maddox’ paternal grandmother noticed that he would occasionally have bruises, primarily to his face and forehead. Following months of abuse, Maddox succumbed to injuries sustained while at his mother’s residence. Emergency room staff reportedly tried for an hour to resuscitate Maddox without success.

An autopsy of Maddox’ body revealed he had multiple contusions and abrasions on his head and body, and a laceration on his ear; injuries that were covered by temporary tattoos; lacerations of the mouth consistent with blunt-force injury to his lips; three missing teeth, with one tooth socket fractured; brain hemorrhages; hemorrhages and lacerations in the abdomen and internal organs; and a transection of his pancreas, among a list of injuries. 

It is noted that the loss of teeth was inconsistent with the normal loss of baby teeth, which typically occurs several years later in a child’s development, and were instead consistent with blunt-force trauma. 

The Maine Supreme Court justices found that the trial court’s admission of evidence of a prior bad act, consisting of her having thrown Maddox out of a bathroom during a trip out of state, was admissible. 

The justices wrote that, “although the evidence establishing that Williams threw Maddox was prejudicial to her, because it provide evidence of her prior violence toward Maddox, the trial court limited any unfair prejudicial effect by providing a limiting instruction informing the jury that the evidence could not be used to infer that Williams had acted in conformity with that prior act.” 

The justices determined that no error was made when allowing prosecutors to mention Williams’ silence to police officers following the incident during their closing arguments. 

“The State’s closing argument also focused on Williams’ flight and not her silence, as the State argued that Williams, “fled the emergency room;” “concocted” a story; “hid out… to avoid detection;” and “was trying to hide from the police to avoid arrest.” The admission of the evidence concerning Williams’ flight was not an obvious error,” according to the finding. 

Williams’ argument that there was insufficient evidence that she had caused Maddox’ injuries, and that therefore the trial court’s denial of her motion for a judgment of acquittal was made in error, was also refuted in the ruling. 

Regarding the accumulation of the supposed errors made by the trial court, noting: “We [the Maine Supreme Court] have yet to clearly define the parameters of a test for the cumulative-error doctrine, and instead review allegations of multiple errors “cumulatively and in context to determine whether the defendant received receive an unfair trial that deprived him or her of due process.”

Williams' conviction has been upheld, and she remains behind bars at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham. She is to remain incarcerated until at least May 1, 2062.

View the justices complete findings regarding Williams’ appeal.

Erica Thoms can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com