Posted on 12/12/2005 12:58:46 PM PST by Born Conservative
SAN FRANCISCO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger refused to spare the life of Stanley Tookie Williams, the founder of the murderous Crips gang who awaited execution early Tuesday in a case that stirred debate over capital punishment and the possibility of redemption on death row. Williams, 51, is set to die by injection at San Quentin State Prison after midnight for murdering four people in two 1979 holdups.
Hollywood stars and death penalty opponents mounted a campaign to save his life, making him one of the nation's biggest death-row cause celebres in decades. His supporters argued that the founder of the murderous Crips gang had made amends during more than two decades in prison by writing a memoir and children's books about the dangers of gangs.
Prosecutors and victims' advocates contended Williams was undeserving of clemency from the governor because he did not own up to his crimes and refused to inform on fellow gang members. They also argued that the Crips gang that Williams co-founded in Los Angeles in 1971 is responsible for hundreds of deaths, many of them in battles with the rival Bloods for turf and control of the drug trade.
Williams stands to become the 12th California condemned inmate executed since lawmakers reinstated the death penalty in 1977 after a brief hiatus.
Williams was condemned in 1981 for gunning down a clerk in a convenience store holdup and a mother, father and daughter in a motel robbery weeks later. Williams claimed he was innocent.
The last time a California governor granted clemency was in 1967, when Ronald Reagan spared a mentally infirm killer.Schwarzenegger _ a Republican who has come under fire from members of his own party as too accommodating to liberals _ rejected clemency twice before during his two years in office.
Less than 12 hours before the execution was set to take place, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals said it would not intervene because, among other things, there was no "clear and convincing evidence of actual innocence."
In his last-ditch appeal, Williams claimed that he should have been allowed to argue at his trial that someone else killed one of the four victims, and that shoddy forensics connected him to the other killings.
Williams was convicted of killing Yen-I Yang, 76, Tsai-Shai Chen Yang, 63, and Yu-Chin Yang Lin, 43, at a Los Angeles motel the family owned, and Albert Owens, 26, a 7-Eleven clerk gunned down in Whittier.
Among the celebrities who took up Williams' cause were Jamie Foxx, who played the gang leader in a cable movie about Williams; rapper Snoop Dogg, himself a former Crip; Sister Helen Prejean, the nun depicted in "Dead Man Walking"; Bianca Jagger; and former "M A S H" star Mike Farrell. During Williams' 24 years on death row, a Swiss legislator, college professors and others nominated him for the Nobel Prizes in peace and literature.
"If Stanley Williams does not merit clemency," defense attorney Peter Fleming Jr. asked, "what meaning does clemency retain in this state?"
The impending execution resulted in feverish preparations over the weekend by those on both sides of the debate, with the California Highway Patrol planning to tighten security outside the prison, where hundreds of protesters were expected.
A group of about three dozen death penalty protesters were joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson as they marched across the Golden Gate Bridge after dawn Monday en route to the gates of San Quentin, where they were expected to rally with hundreds of people.
At least publicly, the person apparently least occupied with his fate seemed to be Williams himself.
"Me fearing what I'm facing, what possible good is it going to do for me? How is that going to benefit me?" Williams said in a recent interview. "If it's my time to be executed, what's all the ranting and raving going to do?"
Mr. Coward explained that when they arrived at the 7-Eleven, Mr. Owens was sweeping the parking lot. (TT 2145-2147, 2186). The men exited their respective vehicles, at which time Williams put his shotgun to Mr. Owens and forced him into the back of the store. (TT 2145-2154). Coward described how Williams forced Owens to the floor, shot out the security monitor, and then shot Owens twice in the back with the shotgun. (TT 2157-2164).
Mr. Coward also explained how Williams laughed about the murder of Albert Owens. (TT 2195-2197). Specifically, Mr. Coward heard Williams say "you should have heard the way he sounded when I shot him." Williams followed this comment by making growling noises and then laughing hysterically. (TT 2195-2197).
"Yes, but they were all bad." Like Tookie.
Yes...I agree with that.
Very old news. Like they were EVER going to keep this jerk alive? Those on this forum who thought they might...might want to reconsider how they look at issues. They were so wrong!
He is going to die...for his sins. All those people who thought he wouldn't...heh
Very old news. Like they were EVER going to keep this jerk alive? Those on this forum who thought they might...might want to reconsider how they look at issues. They were so wrong!
He is going to die...for his sins. All those people who thought he wouldn't...heh
Fair enough. I agree that violent rapists deserve death; I was just pointing out that there are utilitarian reasons to let them live.
Roll eyes here...there are no reasons to let him live. Let me come murder your grandchildren and then see how you feel.
Give me a break...this guy is responsible for THOUSANDS of deaths. Give me a freakin break. Ever heard of gand violence?
Have shotgun, will travel... to a cold, dark hole in the ground! Have a nice trip, Took! Don't forget to write!
LIVE FROM SAN QUENTIN ---
Connect here for KFI's on site at San Quentin braodcast.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1538718/posts
But you have no authority to forgive on behalf of his victims or on behalf of the state. I don't believe you gain any points with God by raging against man's justice in this instance.
Personally I think execution is too good for Tookie. What we should really have done was ship him to the Saudis or Pakis for use in training the security forces. But torture seems to be disfavored these days, so I guess this is the next best alternative is the needle.
That poster is already banned.
"I suggest for Tookie's next book, he write "DEATH In Prison," but he'd better write fast."
I am afraid that the last chapter might remain incomplete....LOL.
You have misread my post. I was not talking about Tookie Williams - I was talking about the crime of violent rape, and I repeat: "If the penalty for rape with murder is the same as the penalty for rape without murder, then all rapes will end with the victim being murdered so as not to be able to testify."
And no, I have never heard of "gand violence."
Advise.............thanks.
Gand gang - smartie...you know what I meant :)
Lethal injection is probably the least painful of the execution methods. In fact, it's much less painful than being shot in the back with a shotgun.
http://people.howstuffworks.com/lethal-injection4.htm
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