Photo: Joshua Kahn Williams
A man was found guilty of theft of property and forgery charges by a Baxter County Circuit Court jury Monday for selling a vehicle he did not own for scrap.
The jury recommended a sentence of three years probation on the forgery charge and 30 days in the county jail on the theft of property charge.
Circuit Judge John Putman accepted the recommendation and pronounced sentence.
Twenty-two-year-old Joshua Kahn Williams and his twin brother, Jordan Bryce Williams, were arrested as the result of an investigation launched in mid-September 2019 based on a missing vehicle report.
Joshua Williams’ trial was first up.
The case came down to two very different versions of what happened to a 2007 Pontiac G6.
The version prosecutors told jurors was the victim had been allowed to park the car at the home where the Williams twins lived. After a time, she had checked on the vehicle, found it was missing and reported it stolen to the Mountain Home police. During the investigation, it was determined that Joshua and Jordan Williams had sold the vehicle for scrap and had been paid $120.
James Wallace, the attorney representing Joshua Williams, had a different version. He said the car had been left at the Williams’ home for an extended period of time and that the family had been warned by police to do something with the “junked car” on their property. He said the car was sold and towed away so the Williams’ family could avoid being fined
The female victim, who testified during the trial, said she intended to park the car at the Williams’ residence until she could make arrangements to have it towed.
She said she knew members of the Williams family and was a regular visitor to their home.
She told police when she went to check on the vehicle, it was missing. She said everyone she talked to in the house – including Joshua William – said they were unaware of what had happened to her car.
The investigators allege Joshua Williams had contacted John Turner who purchases vehicles for salvage on Sept. 5, 2019 to inquire how much he could get for the vehicle.
When Turner and his helper arrived to tow the car, they met with both Joshua and Jordan Williams. A price of $120 was agreed on and paid in cash.
No title to the vehicle could be produced. Instead, a “bill of sale” was executed by Joshua Williams, according to the probable cause affidavit. The forgery charge stemmed from his signing the bill of sale attesting the vehicle was his property.
Jayson Williams, the father of the twin brothers, said the Mountain Home police had tagged the Pontiac as “a junk car” and said it had to be moved within a specified time or Williams as the property owner would be subject to a daily fine.
He told the court he wanted to get it off his land to avoid being fined.
Deputy prosecutor Kerry Chism asked the victim while she was on the stand if she had ever gotten notice from Joshua Williams that her car had to be moved from the Williams’ family property or told it had been sold.
She said she had received no notice, and when she asked the Williams about the car face-to-face after finding it missing, they had denied knowing what happened to it.
After finding Joshua Williams guilty of the two charges, the jury was tasked with recommending a sentence for him.
Both Chism and Wallace told members of the jury before they deliberated the sentence that probation appeared to be the proper sentence on the forgery charge and time in the county jail on the theft of property charge.
The amount of victim restitution has yet to be determined.
Before being taken to the Baxter County Detention Center, Joshua Williams told the court he planned to appeal the decision. He said that everything defense witnesses had said from the stand was true and should have led to an acquittal.
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