Posted on 12/11/2005 1:59:38 PM PST by doug from upland
Jonathan Gurwitz: In Tookie's case, focus on victims
Web Posted: 12/11/2005 12:00 AM CST San Antonio Express-News
Let's begin, for a change, with the victims.
First came Albert Owens, a 26-year-old clerk at a 7-Eleven store in Whittier, Calif. The gunman fired two shotgun blasts into his back as he lay prone on the floor. In prison, the murderer found great hilarity in the sounds Owens, the father of two, made as life poured out of his body onto a convenience store floor.
Then came Yen-I Yang, his wife, Tsai-Shai Yang, and their daughter, Yee-Chen Lin, who ran a motel in Los Angeles. The same gunman shot Yen-I in the chest and abdomen, Tsai-Shai in the back and in the side and Yee-Chen in the face. The assailant fired his shotgun at close range, producing horrific wounds.
This is how the Los Angeles County district attorney's office describes the scene encountered by deputies:
"As they entered, they saw Yen-I Yang lying on a sofa. He was 'soaked with blood,' 'gasping for air, and making gurgling noises.' They also saw the bloodied body of Tsai-Shai Yang. She was making 'gurgling noises' and 'gasping for air,' with 'her knees drawn up under her, and her face down on the floor,' as if she had been forced to bow down before being killed. Lastly, the deputies found the body of Yee-Chen Lin lying on the hallway floor."
The combined take from two robberies and the brutal murder of four human beings: about $220.
Using both the testimony of eyewitness accomplices and physical evidence, prosecutors obtained four capital murder convictions. After the guilty verdict was read, the murderer looked at the jury and said, "I'm going to get each and every one of you mother f------."
The jury sentenced him to death row. He spent most of his first six years there in solitary confinement for assaulting fellow inmates and guards. The California Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court and even the whimsical 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals have all rejected his appeals.
In 1979 when he murdered Owens and the Yang family and in 1981 when he was convicted and sentenced to death, this violent criminal was known as Stanley Williams.
Today he is known amiably as Tookie, the author of children's books that advocate nonviolence and warn of the perils of gang life. Tookie's long-awaited appointment with the executioner on Tuesday mobilized into action his considerable cadre of supporters — including the glitterati of Hollywood and members of academia who have repeatedly nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize — to demand clemency from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
While Williams has apologized for his role in glorifying gang violence, he has never shown any remorse for the four murders nor even acknowledged his guilt.
Remember Williams' victims. And then, only then, consider that we put too many people to death in the United States. The political necessity to appear tough on crime compels prosecutors to seek the death penalty in more cases than is warranted. Compounding this in some cases is the absence of the option for true life sentences, an option prosecutors did have in the Williams case. Prior to this year in Texas, for instance, a life sentence meant eligibility for parole in 40 years.
And the reality is that against these forces, individuals who do not have access to the best legal defense money can buy sometimes improperly end up on death row. Research by Lise Olsen of the Houston Chronicle presents strong evidence that Texas put to death an innocent man in 1993 when it executed Ruben Cantu.
The death penalty should be reserved for the most heinous crimes where guilt is corroborated by every form of evidence beyond a doubt. Do the crimes and conviction of an unremorseful Williams fit that standard? Who will tell the Yang and Owens families otherwise?
"Remember what he did. It always comes down to people saying, 'Well you know, he's done all this stuff, and he's done all of that stuff,' but he's not in prison for writing books," Wayne Owens, Albert's brother, told the Kansas City Star. "That's something that happened because he's in prison."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- jgurwitz@express-news.net
Today he is known amiably as Tookie, the author of children's books that advocate nonviolence and warn of the perils of gang life.
I really wish people would stop referring to this brutal murderer as "Tookie".
His name is Stanley Williams. And hopefully Williams will die tomorrow for his terrible crimes.
After the guilty verdict was read, the murderer looked at the jury and said, "I'm going to get each and every one of you mother f------."
Ah, that just endeared me to him even more.
Good. I wish the MSM focused less on the "plight" of death row inmates, and focused more on those whose lives these monsters cut short.
I just refer to him as a POS.
Too bad they can't inject this POS with Drano, then we could if see this POS gurgles too.
Time check, please.
Doug, you noted that the "hollywood" crowd is rushing to his defence. Did you notice that one of the "hollywood" crowd is NOT rushing to his defense? That is Bill Cosby who lost his son to thugs in Southern Ca.
I made a few converts when I explained this paradigm to people who called for the commutation of Ronnie Halfdahl's death sentence. Halfdahl was a violent criminal and crackhead who killed a cop because he didn't want to get a speeding ticket. During the interval of time between sentencing and execution, Halfdahl had grown grandfatherly and kindly in prison, discovered Jesus, and became close to his only daughter. The disgusting article written about him in the Charleston Post and Courier highlighted all the sad parts--how he missed his daughter's graduation, marriage, and the birth of his first grandchild, etc. Gag.
That was a good enough tear-jerker for some, until I raised the 'mean' fact that the cop had kids too, who probably missed him a hell of a lot on their birthdays and graduations. But alas, no one ever remembers how the criminal got there or the destruction he wrought while on his way.
So what if he had? Good grief, is this all the (California) legal system requires to show remorse? Which in turn, apparently, is a ticket out?
Hang him.
Leg of lamb with garlic/wine sauce
Over fried potatoes
Green beans with cheese sauce
Assorted veggie tray with dips
A nice Merlot (to toast the bleeding heart libs)
Matrimonial (date) squares ala mode for desert
Submitted to and approved by the boss.
After the guilty verdict was read, the murderer looked at the jury and said, "I'm going to get each and every one of you mother f------."
---And Hollywood nut jobs are supporting this inhuman POS?
Tookie was one jacked up jailhouse weightlifter. Arnold Schwarzenegger used to visit prisons back in the 70s and talk about bodybuilding as a rehabilitation tool. I wonder if that experience and Tookies "reformed" physique will influence his attitude towards clemency. I have a feeling Tookie is going to get his stay.
i don't believe they are allowed alcohol
It's my meal not his, I will party.
ah... i understand.
I am a huge supporter of Arnold S. but if grants clemency I'm through.
How funny. I was going to put up a thread about his last meal, hoping people would put up gourmet recipes.
You are missing the point of him not admitting what he did. He cannot have redemption until he has admitted what he did. That and apologizing are the first steps. What he really wants is clemency now, and out of jail later. That is why he won't admit it. I wonder if he will just before the shot.
He was already built up when he met Arnold about six months before he ended up on death row.
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