I am very torn about this story. I do not oppose the death penalty and I feel that his crimes warrant it, but....he has done so much good lately. But I would not want him back on the street? This one is tough.
Calif. Court Denies Clemency for Williams By DAVID KRAVETS, Associated Press Writer
document.write(getElapsed("20051201T065614Z")); Thu Dec 1, 1:56 AMUPDATED 9 HOURS 58 MINUTES AGO
SAN FRANCISCO - The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to halt the scheduled execution of convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, the Crips gang founder who became an anti-gang activist while in prison and whose supporters claim has redeemed himself.
In a last-ditch legal move, defense attorneys petitioned the high court earlier this month, alleging shoddy forensic testing and other errors may have wrongly sent Williams to San Quentin State Prison, where he is scheduled die by injection Dec. 13.
Lawyers for Williams, author of a series of anti-gang books for children, wanted to re-exam ballistics evidence that showed his shotgun was used to kill three people during a 1979 motel robbery.
The defense claimed the forensic evidence was "junk science," but prosecutors said that allegation was "based upon innuendo, supposition and the patent bias of (Williams') purported expert."
"The extraordinary relief Williams sought is reserved for those cases which have legal merit," said Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer.
The high court voted 4-2 without comment to deny the inmate's petition, with Chief Justice Ronald George voting to reopen the case.
"We think the chief justice's dissent highlights the seriousness of the issues raised," defense attorney Jonathan Harris said. He was unsure whether he would ask the federal courts to intervene again.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could also still intervene. He has agreed to hear Williams' clemency petition, and if clemency is granted it would commute the inmate's sentence to life without parole.
"What I want to do is make sure we make the right decisions, because we're dealing here with a person's life," Schwarzenegger said Wednesday.
The high court's ruling came as death penalty opponents rallied around the state urging the governor to spare Williams' life because of his apparent turnabout on death row.
"We're all remaining optimistic. We're all remaining prayerful," Bonnie Williams-Taylor, Williams' ex-wife and the mother of one of his sons, said at a rally in Los Angeles.
Nathan Barankin, spokesman for Attorney General Bill Lockyer, expressed satisfaction with Wednesday's ruling. "The extraordinary relief Williams sought is reserved for those cases which have legal merit," he said.
Williams, condemned in 1981, has maintained his innocence. Among his claims is that fabricated testimony sent him to death row. He also says prosecutors violated his rights when they dismissed all potential black jurors from his case.
The California Supreme Court, federal trial and appeals courts, and the U.S. Supreme Court have already ruled against him in earlier appeals.
Williams was condemned for killing Yen-I Yang, Tsai-Shai Chen Yang and Yu-Chin Yang Lin in the motel robbery, and for gunning down Albert Owens, a 7-Eleven clerk, in a separate crime.
While in prison, Williams has campaigned for an end to youth gang violence while co-authoring anti-gang books for youngsters. Supporters have nominated him several times for the Nobel Peace Prize.
Williams and a high school friend started the Crips in Los Angeles in 1971 and it grew into one of the nation's most notorious street gangs. really turned his life around and has done good things.
I disagree Ruby. Somethings are wrong, and they are always wrong. Murder is wrong and it is always wrong. The choices we make today, dictate the life we lead. He is in the position he is in because of choices that he made, plain and simple. No clemmency.
I agree CP, but he has really changed his life- for whatever reason. I think only if the families of the victims were ok with his stay, that might work? Just tough!
The only hard part for me in this is that it has taken so long to get through all of the appeals and such to get to this point. In a way, that is a good thing because it did give Tookie Williams the opportunity to do something worthwhile with his life, but you do have to consider his whole life:
This guy founded the Crips... those guys don't exactly sit around discussing literature and philosophy all day. Based on that alone, he is either directly or indirectly responsible for not just the 3 murders he was convicted of but also every other murder and/ or crime that has been committed under the Crips banner. Had he not been convicted and had 20 or so years to think about his actions and the actions he inspired, do you really think he would have done all of the wonderful things that got him nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize? Obviously we will never know for sure, but my guess is no... he would have continued down the same vile path he was on and certainly would have killed more people, not even thinking once about trying to fight the monster he helped to create.
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MM
That which does not kill me postpones the inevitable.
I believe in rehabilitation...but one must pay the price for the crimes one has committed. It's great that he decided to change his life. Congratulations to him for that. He didn't have to change and he should get credit for that. BUT he was found guilty of murder. A jury decided that it was such a heinous crime that he was given the ultimate penalty. Sorry, sir. You should have changed your life BEFORE you did the crime. Then you wouldn't be in the predicament.
Carla Faye Tucker was the lady in TX. She got religion after having committed a horrible murder that she confessed to. Again, congratulations to her for her conversion...but it was too little too late.
