Judge makes killer’s plea stand

PALMER — A judge on Thursday refused to let a Wasilla man take back a murder plea he made three years ago after setting his mother’s house on fire.

Timothy Weys, 28, argued through his lawyer during two hearings that his case was rushed through the system and that he didn’t realize exactly what he was doing when he accepted a conviction on a felony murder charge. He testified that he was very distraught over the death of his mother and had mentally checked out from a number of the proceedings.

“That’s really a very terrible Greek tragedy-type of thing for anyone to have to deal with,” Superior Court Judge Beverly Cutler said in explaining her ruling. “I just don’t see any manifest injustice in not allowing him to withdraw his plea.”

Weys was sentenced in March of 2006 to 75 years in prison for the fire, which claimed his mother’s life and burned their home on Willow Drive in the Cottonwood Shores subdivision in July of 2005. Police at the time claimed that not only did Weys set the blaze but he barricaded the stairs of the home, preventing his mother’s escape. Weys has denied blocking the stairs and claimed he only wanted to burn the home so his mother could collect the insurance money and improve her living situation.

His attorney, Doug Miller, argued that the case was rushed. Weys, he pointed out, went from being arrested in July to accepting a plea deal in November.

Though usually they are initially scheduled to wrap up in the amount of time Weys’ case did, it’s typical for wrangling between the prosecution and the defense to delay a murder case for more than a year.

Miller said most defense attorneys know, “not to take the first offer that comes in from the state.”

Indeed, he pointed to an e-mail from Weys’ attorney at the time, Diane Foster, saying the deal Weys eventually agreed to was terrible.

“There was not anything in particular to be gained by taking this plea,” he said. Though his client seemed intent on pleading to felony murder, rather than first-degree murder, “what was not explained to Mr. Weys was that the court was likely going to treat the charge the same as a first-degree murder.”

On the other side, Assistant District Attorney Rick Allen argued that Foster is a very competent attorney who came to the case with numerous years of trial experience including multiple murder cases.

And, he said, Weys hadn’t checked out as fully as he claimed. He pointed, as evidence, to Weys’ repeated insistence on taking the plea deal and to audiotapes of court hearings from the time. In the tapes, Allen said, Cutler clearly and repeatedly explained to Weys exactly what the consequences were of taking the plea agreement. Indeed, Allen said, he’d never seen a judge be so thorough.

“Those tapes completely discredit Mr. Weys’ contention that he didn’t know what he was doing,” Allen said.

He said Miller was also incorrect when he asserted that Weys had nothing to gain with his plea. Allen pointed out that unlike in the first-degree murder charge, a felony murder doesn’t have an intent to kill as one of its elements.

“He got to continue to deny that he intended to kill his mother,” Allen said.

Cutler, in explaining her decision, noted that while attorneys are tasked with advising their clients, the final decision on whether to take a plea deal always rests with the accused.

“You’re not the client’s guardian,” she said. “You’re not the client’s decision-maker.”

With apologies to Weys and anyone else she might offend, she described the claims he raised as, “the revisionist history of the pathological criminal.”

“Mr. Weys really wanted to do this,” she said. “The defendant was really very clear in his desire.”

As for whether the case was rushed through the system, Cutler said she didn’t think that was the case.

“It’s almost ironic that we sit back and think if a felony murder case goes to trial on time that’s shocking,” she said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.