Stay of execution denied for Stanley "Tookie" Williams

[Dangerous A 0]

From CNN.com ...

 

 

SACRAMENTO, California (CNN) -- California's Supreme Court late Sunday rejected an emergency request to stay the execution of convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams, who is scheduled to be put to death early Tuesday.

 

Jonathan Harris, an attorney for Williams, confirmed the court's decision.

 

Williams' team of attorneys had asked the state Supreme Court for a stay to allow for new arguments to be presented.

 

Earlier Sunday, attorney Verna Wefald said the legal team was asking for a stay on the basis that Williams should have been allowed to argue that someone else killed one of the four people he was convicted of slaying.

 

Williams also is awaiting California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision on clemency, which would commute his death sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Schwarzenegger's office said the decision would not come before Monday.

 

On Friday, the governor described his looming decision as "a very heavy responsibility."

 

Williams -- who would turn 52 on December 29 -- is to die by lethal injection.

 

He co-founded the Crips street gang in Los Angeles and was convicted of killing four people in 1979, but has become an anti-gang crusader while on death row.

 

He has denounced gang violence and written children's books with an anti-gang message, donating the proceeds to anti-gang community groups. He said he was trying to prevent young people from making the choices he did, which led to a life of crime and a sentence at San Quentin State Prison.

 

Celebrities, teachers and anti-death-penalty advocates have spoken on his behalf.

 

Prosecutors maintain Williams should die for what lead prosecutor John Monaghan called "extremely brutal crimes." Monaghan noted that despite his anti-gang activism, Williams has consistently refused to take part in a debriefing with authorities to provide them potentially valuable information about the Crips gangs.

 

Williams was convicted of killing a 26-year-old Los Angeles convenience store clerk in February 1979, shooting him twice in the back with a 12-gauge shotgun while the victim was face down on the floor.

 

Less than two weeks later, jurors concluded, he shot and killed an immigrant Chinese couple and their 41-year-old daughter while stealing less than $100 cash from their motel.

 

Both cases were handled in a single trial, and Williams was sentenced to death in 1981.

 

 

Thoughts? Comments?

 

I live in the Bay Area and on a Sunday night talk radio show on the biggest hip hop station in the Bay Area (KMEL 106.1) there were threats of rioting and looting if California goes through with the execution. While I don't think that kind of threat holds water in the Bay Area, I wonder if it's a real possibility down in LA where rioting occurs about once every 10-15 years or so.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Considering he, to this point, has refused to co-operate with the courts and give up any information he posseses on the gangs.........good.

 

Fuck "snitchin'", he's aware that divulging said information would probably save his life and he's chosen to remain silent. I fail to see how any of his defenders can do so now.

[Dangerous A 0]

That is a point I haven't thought of there, LOTC.

 

Also, very surprised at your stance because I had you pegged as a hippie

[Lord of The Curry 0]

I just want to see some riots break out in Cali. You guys are long overdue.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

The only thing about that--him not divulging information or whatever--is that he's been in prison for 25 years. How much is he going to know that's even relevant?

 

His efforts have made him a productive member of society at this point, so I hesitate to say "go ahead" when the country could probably get another 20-30 years of anti-gang efforts out of him if he gets clemency. Four people and indirectly many more makes that tough to swallow, though.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Very good point as well, Edwin. I'm totally aware that he's done a lot of good for gangs, including brokering a peace treaty between the bloods and crips. But like you said, the amount of emotional damage that Tookie and his followers have caused is immeasureable.

[Sass 0]

It looks like his 6 years in the hole "humbled" Tookie.

 

Being stuck in jail for the rest of his life is cool with me if he gets clemency. Plus, yeah, I really do believe the race war could start up down here in LA (again...) if Tookie's killed/executed and Arnie's probably taking this into consideration as well. The "HE REFORMED!!!" cries would be heard throughout the county while half of LA's burning down.

 

I believe Tookie *should* die since he was sentenced to. However, if Arnie grants him clemency, I won't care. Tookie's one of the few crooks who I wouldn't have a problem footing the bill for until he dies in prison.

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Yeah. Ultimately, even considering his accomplishments while incarcerated, I think I'm going to have to lean towards carrying out the sentence. In the current climate, we have the death penalty as a punishment, all debates on its effectiveness as deterrent aside. Within the current legal vision of the U.S. this is really an open-and-shut case. Change the laws--perhaps even as a result of this case, though I highly doubt it--and then maybe you can partly commute the sentence of a quadruple murderer and make room for reform. The fact that Williams has seemingly reformed and made a positive impact on several lives and programs is quite disconnected from the crimes he committed and the punishment assessed to him.

[dubq 0]

Fuck him. The piece of human waste killed four people in cold blood. This douchebag deserves his injection.

[Paul Stanley 0]

Clemency Denied. Next Please.

[Darthtiki 0]

Press Release

 

 

 

OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

 

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

GAAS:582:05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

12/12/2005

 

Governor Schwarzenegger Denies Clemency to Convicted Murderer Stanley Williams

 

 

 

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued the following statement today following his decision not to grant clemency to convicted murder Stanley Williams:

 

"Clemency cases are always difficult and this one is no exception. After studying the evidence, searching the history, listening to the arguments and wrestling with the profound consequences, I could find no justification for granting clemency. The facts do not justify overturning the jury's verdict or the decisions of the courts in this case."

 

When the hills of los angeles are burning

Palm trees are candles in the murder wind

So many lives are on the breeze

Even the stars are ill at ease

And los angeles is burning- Bad Religion

[Secret Agent 0]

I just don't see how you reform from 'cold blooded murder'. Anyway, he killed four people so I'm glad Arnold didn't grant clemency.

[Darthtiki 0]

Also, when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds your sentence, you done gone and fucked up.

[Downhome 0]

People need to stand up and applaud Governor Schwarzenegger for this decision. A lot of pressure has been put on him over all of this, and he didn't give in. It's also the right thing to do in my opinion.

[ant_7000 0]

Im on the fence, because he's done some good with trying end gang violence, then again he did killed 4 people, and won't "snitch" out entirely on what went down. I guess I would be ok if the Govenator gave him clemency, because he's a type person that would be able to reach a troubled youth because he could relate to that person.

[Guest]

He shouldn't have gotten clemency and he didn't. Good.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

I am against the death penalty altogether. But it is the law in California, I don't believe that someone should be able to get off from a sentence that has been upheld through multiple appeals because of quasi-celebrity status. If they can use him to fight gang violence, then sure, but otherwise, no.

[Guest]

I'm for it in some cases, and this is definitely one of them. Also, if he had something to say about it, he should have and he probably would have had a better chance of receiving clemency.

[Special K 0]

I just don't see how you reform from 'cold blooded murder'. Anyway, he killed four people so I'm glad Arnold didn't grant clemency.

 

You sit in a cell for years and years, and you get to feeling sorry for yourself, and maybe start getting interested in religion. Too bad you couldn't have a little empathy for the people you killed.

[ant_7000 0]

http://www.bet.com/News/tookie_malv...77E4249C5FB7%7D

 

By Julianne Malveaux

 

Posted Dec. 12, 2005 – You won’t find my name on any petition to save the life of Stanley “Tookie” Williams. Nor will I be among those standing in a vigil outside the prison, or spouting fiery rhetoric at a microphone in Williams’ defense.

 

While I have opposed the death penalty as long as I have been aware of it, the media attention generated by the Tookie Williams case has left me with more ambivalence than outrage, raising issues for me about the death penalty, the so-called criminal justice system, gang violence, and the peculiar manner by which Black leaders set priorities.

 

Advertisement

 

On the Death Penalty

 

Stanley Tookie Williams is just one of the 3,415 people on death row in the United States, just one of nearly 650 on death row in California. More than 40 percent of those awaiting execution are African American, even though we are less than 13 percent of the nation’s population.

 

The death penalty isn’t fair – too many death row inmates have been unrepresented or inadequately represented. Too many have been convicted on faulty circumstantial or eyewitness evidence. Too many mistakes have been uncovered after conviction, so many that the state of Illinois has suspended executions indefinitely.

 

We should simply eliminate the death penalty, especially as there is no evidence to suggest that it deters commission of crime, and since it is so unevenly applied. Those who are convicted of killing White people are far more likely to get the death penalty than those convicted of killing people of color.

 

If public agitation could prevent use of the death penalty, then I’d like to see folks rally to 38 state capitols to put a stop to death penalty executions. I chafe at celebrity clemencies, that some death row inmates attract celebrity protestors while others die without notice.

 

The Legacy of the Crips

 

It would be refreshing if the Tookie celebrity coalition would take a moment to talk about the bloody legacy of the Crips gang, a legacy that cannot be washed away by uplifting children’s books. Infants were killed in drive-by shootings. Children were executed, sometimes by “mistake”. Potential witnesses against brutal murderers died or disappeared. The fabric of community in South Central Los Angeles, and in other parts of the country, was shredded in the face of the brutal gang warfare between Crips and Bloods that claimed thousands of innocent victims.

 

Police brutality escalated during the gang wars, and far too many homes of decent law-abiding people were raided and destroyed in the police frenzy to find gang members. To some, the “boys in blue” were no better than the Crips and Bloods. They hid behind their badges and also claimed innocent lives. The natural antipathy between Black folks and so-called law enforcement officers increased during the gang wars, and that antipathy remains.

 

Tookie and Redemption

 

We serve a God of second chances in a country where yesterday’s White felons become tomorrow’s civic leaders. Why deny a brother the same opportunity to repent, be forgiven, and move on? After all, no one is suggesting that Tookie be let out of jail, just that he be spared to write more peace-promoting books, to save more gang-busting lives.

 

Still, those who ask for clemency for Tookie must ask if he has really repented and apologized for his crimes. Yes, he exhorts young people to avoid his mistakes, but perhaps his legal culpability keeps his statements vague, since word on the street in South Central L.A. is that Tookie Williams may have killed more than the four people he is charged with killing. Indeed, it is a peculiar feature of America’s racism that Tookie Williams is being held accountable for the deaths of Whites and Asians, but not of the African Americans whose lives he and his Crip colleagues turned into a living hell.

 

I wonder how Tookie Williams would fare if the people of South Central Los Angles had input into Arnold Schwarzenegger’s clemency decision. The rumors that some have threatened violence if Williams is executed ought to make folks wonder whether Tookie’s message of anti-gang violence is actually being heard.

 

Setting African-American Priorities

 

The people who have gathered to support Tookie Williams are a truly impressive group of actors, leaders, and activists. Do they really think this Tookie case is the most pressing issue for African Americans? Will they use the same energy and force they are spending on Tookie to tackle a series of far more pressing issues.

 

This Tookie Williams case should galvanize us to oppose the death penalty, and also to look at the root causes of inner-city violence. Where are our decent schools? Educational opportunities for young Black men? Rehabilitative opportunities for those who have lived outside the law? Jobs and housing in our inner cities? Our civil rights organizations would make a great contribution if they would tackle these issues.

 

Tens of thousands of Katrina survivors still need help. Thousands still have not found permanent housing; only six schools have opened in New Orleans. FEMA says it will stop paying hotel bills on Jan. 3. Will the Tookie coalition speak up for them?

 

Is Tookie more worthy of mercy because he has written children’s books and been nominated for a Nobel Prize? Many other death row inmates are unable to write. Some are so mentally impaired they have no idea what they have done, or to what they have confessed. These cases aren’t riveting enough to get people excited.

 

Despite my ambivalence, I think Tookie Williams should be spared, not because he has written children’s books or taken a belated stand for peace.

 

He should be spared because he is a human being whose life is sacred. He does more good to us in life than he does as a martyr, reminding those who would emulate him as a gang leader that brutality has consequences.

 

But other death row inmates should also be spared. And if Black leaders and celebrities are now in the habit of lifting their voices, they ought to lift them to combat some of the other ills that plague Black America.

 

Well, its obvious that she against death penalty and effecting opinon on the subject. Good read thou.

[Guest]

We should simply eliminate the death penalty, especially as there is no evidence to suggest that it deters commission of crime, and since it is so unevenly applied. Those who are convicted of killing White people are far more likely to get the death penalty than those convicted of killing people of color.

Are there any hard statistics on that? You can't just write shit without numbers.

 

We serve a God of second chances in a country where yesterday’s White felons become tomorrow’s civic leaders. Why deny a brother the same opportunity to repent, be forgiven, and move on?

Comparing a thief or someone who commits fraud to a murderer is wrong.

 

 

He should be spared because he is a human being whose life is sacred. He does more good to us in life than he does as a martyr, reminding those who would emulate him as a gang leader that brutality has consequences.

What good has Tookie done? On the local news, I've seen and heard that Tookie has sold a grand total of...................................................300 books. Wow, he's sure done a whole lot for the community.

[NoCalMike 0]

I don't agree with the death penalty. I think with the issue of the death penalty you either have to say yay or nay, and not be gray about it. Sure I won't be crying when some are executed, nor will I hold rallies to oppose it, but I don't think the death penalty accomplishes anything it is "supposed" to.

[CBright7831 0]

Hasta La Vista, baby!

[Guest]

3 more hours. Tomorrow I'm expecting no riots.

[Big Ol' Smitty 0]

Hasta La Vista, baby!

 

You're a douche.

[CanadianGuitarist 0]

I don't agree with the death penalty. I think with the issue of the death penalty you either have to say yay or nay, and not be gray about it. Sure I won't be crying when some are executed, nor will I hold rallies to oppose it, but I don't think the death penalty accomplishes anything it is "supposed" to.

 

I second all you said, except for the first sentence.

 

Is it a detterrent? No, but:

 

Are there some people that just won't change or should just eb put to death? Yep.

 

Also, and this answer surprises a lot of people:

 

I've also felt that while criminal stances should be toughened, lets agree that at worst, most of them have at least a mother who would rather see them die with a little dignity than get their ass kicked upon leaving prison.

 

Double underline the "Hippies who are pro-penalty" and tag me with LOTC.

[MrRant 0]

If only there was some way to sell off the clothes he was executed in on eBay as memorabilia to recoup the money we have spent on this asshole.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

The way I see it, his execution fits as a perfect theme to his anti-gang messages that he espoused while incarcerated.

 

"Do what I did and you'll get imprisoned and executed."

[Special K 0]

Despite my ambivalence, I think Tookie Williams should be spared, not because he has written children’s books or taken a belated stand for peace.

 

He should be spared because he is a human being whose life is sacred. He does more good to us in life than he does as a martyr, reminding those who would emulate him as a gang leader that brutality has consequences.

 

But other death row inmates should also be spared. And if Black leaders and celebrities are now in the habit of lifting their voices, they ought to lift them to combat some of the other ills that plague Black America.

 

 

See there's an opinion that I disagree with, but respect. People that are fundamentally against the death penalty, I can understand, though I may disagree with them. This whole "he's redeemed himself" nonsense is what pisses me off. Fuck, with a couple years of nothing to do, and an author's help, I could write a couple good kid's books. Does that mean I get to kill people and escape the chance ofthe death penalty? If Jim Henson had been a serial murderer/rapist, would his contribution to society (which is 1000x more pervasive than "Tookie") be spared the death penalty? Nevermind Tookie founding an evil fucking gang of hoods who probably have killed thousands of people since his involvement.

 

He's had more than ample time to argue his conviction. Yet, he's been convicted. Yet he's never admitted to his crimes. He's never shown remorse for his specific actions, just the ways of his life.

 

Also, even sick fuck serial killers sometimes develop a conscience after 20 years in jail. That might make them pitiable, when they come upon a moment of clarity, and realize the monstrosity of their life. It must be horrible. Almost as horrible as when their innocent victims realized they were going to die for no good reason. Tookie should die.

Edited December 13, 2005 by Special K

[Dogbert 0]

If Tookie Williams was white, nobody would care. 95% of the protesters who are currently parked outside the prison, all the while hoisting signs and chanting slogans accusing the Governor and anyone else involved of being Nazis or KKK members, would not be there. There would be no expected rioting in California. It'd be just another execution.

 

However, since Tookie Williams is an African-American (a term which I find to be more disrespectful and offensive than "black," but which I use anyways, 'cause I know I'd be crucified if I didn't), it's the biggest scandal since Rodney King.

 

People must look past the colour of his skin and realize the real reason why Stanley "Tookie" Williams' life will end in half an hour's time: because he killed four persons in cold blood, and was found guilty of these actions by an impartial jury of his peers. Not because Arnold's a Nazi, and not because the Supreme Court are members of the Klan; nay, it will happen because the system worked.