Man convicted of stabbing Rochester police officer Denny Wright to get retrial, court rules

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Keith Williams, the man previously convicted of assaulting and attempting to murder Rochester Police Officer Denny Wright in 2019, is now set to get a retrial after newfound evidence and a ruling by a state appellate court.

According to documents from the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division, Williams was diagnosed with bipolar disorder a year and a half after he attacked Officer Wright, but that evidence was ignored during the trial.

Williams’ defense team said the court wrongly barred his psychiatrist from giving testimony on Williams’ mental status. This was despite the psychiatrist saying there was a medical history that proved a history of bipolar disorder in Williams.

Court documents said during a standoff at Williams’ home, Wright found him under the bed. Body camera footage showed him punching and stabbing Wright multiple times in the head, face, eye and body, causing him to become blinded.

Wright retired from the Rochester Police Department earlier this month after nearly 30 years of service. Earlier this year, both the city of Rochester and Monroe County settled lawsuits filed by Wright claiming he was not adequately informed of the danger he was walking into, based on the history of responses to Williams’ home.

Williams’ retrial will allow the new evidence regarding his mental health to be presented in court.

News10NBC spoke with the Rochester police union, the Locust Club, about the decision to overturn.

“We’re disappointed. Obviously, we, you know, we respect the court’s decision, based on whatever circumstances they felt, to overturn it,” said Paul Dondorfer, Executive Vice President of the Rochester Police Locust Club.

“It’s difficult for victims, not just police officer victims, but victims nonetheless to now have to be revictimized and have to go through the criminal justice system again when that chapter of their life was supposedly closed and they were able to move on.”

Dondorfer adds Wright remains committed to the next steps of the trail.

“In typical, Denny Wright fashion, he’s taken everything with a grain of salt,” Dondorfer continued. “He spoke to his family about it. So they all know. And we’re going to revisit this with the district attorney’s office next week and, and kind of see what steps are going to be next.”