After roughly nine years behind bars over a 2017 mobile-home blaze, Detroit man William Whateley now has a fresh shot in court. A Wayne County judge has granted him a new trial, allowed him to leave custody on a personal bond and ordered that he be monitored while he awaits retrial. The decision follows defense claims and a later review that raised questions about the original fire investigation.
Judge Chandra Baker-Robinson signed the order granting a new trial and allowing Whateley’s release on a $50,000 personal bond with a GPS tether; the court also barred him from contacting the alleged victim, as reported by The Detroit News.
Conviction and sentence
Whateley was originally convicted of second-degree arson in connection with the 2017 fire and was sentenced as a fourth-offense habitual offender to 18 to 30 years in prison, according to a Michigan Court of Appeals opinion. That decision and the underlying trial record describe expert testimony that the blaze was deliberately set and note that investigators reported finding an empty gas can and a lighter after seizing Whateley’s minivan, details recounted in the opinion available on Justia.
Defense challenges the fire probe
Whateley’s new trial was granted after his attorneys argued the 2017 investigation relied on flawed, unreliable and scientifically invalid conclusions and said trial counsel failed to consult a fire expert. An independent review in 2024 reportedly flagged numerous errors in the original probe, and defense lawyers told the judge the earlier investigator “had no credentials, he wasn’t certified as a fire investigator,” while prosecutors have said they plan to retry the case and continue to rely on circumstantial evidence. These developments and the judge’s ruling are outlined in reporting by The Detroit News…