The man charged with attempted murder and aggravated assault on a Rochester police officer had been sentenced in July to eight months in jail on a separate case…and he was arrested in June after a two-hour standoff with police for shooting and wounding another man. But he was out of jail last Friday when the stabbing took place that injured officer Denny Wright.
Keith Williams was being held on $15,000 bail for the shooting, but he was released without posting bail after serving half the eight months on his earlier sentence for violating an order of protection.
According to a statement from Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley, they weren’t able to hold WIlliams on the shooting/assault charges because the victim and witnesses would not cooperate with police. Doorley says that made it impossible to present the case to a grand jury at this time. The bail requirement had to be dropped.
That left WIlliams in jail on the eight month order of protection charge. But under state law, Williams got credit for jail time he previously served, and his sentence was further reduced for “good behavior” in jail, also under state law.
That put him out of jail to have his confrontation with the officer.