After Williams, a new dilemma for governor - Next: Gravely ill and blind man, 75, scheduled to die

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 12/14/5 | Jim Doyle

[SmithL]

Clarence Ray Allen, the next inmate scheduled to die in San Quentin State Prison's execution chamber, may pose a quandary as vexing for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger as Stanley Tookie Williams.

Allen, who has spent more than a quarter-century on Death Row, is slated to die by lethal injection Jan. 17. He would be the oldest and most infirm prisoner executed in the United States since the death penalty was restored in 1977, according to his lawyers.

Allen, who turns 76 on Jan. 16, uses a wheelchair. An advanced case of diabetes has left him legally blind. He suffered a heart attack Sept. 2.

His lawyers filed a 33-page petition for clemency Tuesday with the governor's office in Sacramento.

"He's the oldest inmate on California's Death Row. ... He's enfeebled," Michael Satris, one of Allen's lawyers, said in an interview. "No prisoner in the state of California has ever been executed at that age.

"It's almost unprecedented worldwide," Satris said. "There hasn't been an execution in this country for more than 50 years of someone as old as Ray Allen."

Several condemned inmates at San Quentin are in their 70s, and more than two dozen are in their 60s.

The state says Allen's deteriorating health is irrelevant.

"He was tried, convicted and sentenced to death, and the law requires that his sentence be carried out regardless of his age or health,"

[SmithL]

I've got a simple solution. Let him share a cell with Dorthea Puente, and send him a Social Security check.

[mnehring]

Just an update, 1 1/2 days after Tookie died, he still hasn't committed another crime. Seems the death penalty has worked to deter him from committing more crimes as of now.. will keep everyone posted if anything changes.

[sittnick]

Gee, if he was in the Netherlands, the same people who hold vigils would applaud his euthanization!

[ikka]

SO because he is near death, it is especially cruel to execute him? Is that an example of liberal "logic"?

[Rio]

Allen, who ran a security company in Fresno, was linked by prosecutors to a series of armed robberies in the Central Valley. He was sentenced to life in prison for ordering the murder in 1974 of his son's girlfriend. From behind bars at Folsom Prison, prosecutors said, he masterminded the murders in 1980 of three witnesses from his previous trial and conspired to kill four other witnesses.

[pgyanke]

He's too sick to die!

[Rodney King]

"He's the oldest inmate on California's Death Row. ... He's enfeebled,"

So? What does that have to do with anything?

[nuconvert]

"The state says Allen's deteriorating health is irrelevant."

Yes, it is.
Next

[E Rocc]

1 1/2 days after Tookie died, he still hasn't committed another crime.

A new personal best?

-Eric

[Patrick1]

What dilemma?

[GVnana]

What dilemma?

[SoFloFreeper]

I guess we ought to quit letting these guys sit on death row for decades. Execution should be within three years of sentencing. Sounds pretty fair to me.

[KC_Conspirator]

I am going to predict something; there will be no liberal protest because this guy is white.

[econjack]

If you read the rest of the article, you learn that he was serving time for murder and then he thought it would be a good idea to murder three more people while he was in jail. Seems to me his current age has little import as a defense.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

Ain't that the truth!

[TCats]

Yeah, this logic escapes me. First they delay the punishment for 20 odd years and then, when it's finally here, they argue that he's too old and enfeebled to be punished. Just more of the Left's obstructionism and sowing of chaos to cripple the decisions of the large majority.

[TheBigB]

Hmmm...well, this really wouldn't be an issue if we didn't keep these pieces of trash alive on death row for 20, 30, or 40 years through endless appeals!!!

Just my opinion, of course.

[One Proud Dad]

I say fry him and save on the medical bills we would have to pay to keep him alive. In his present state shouldn't take much in the way of chemicals used for lethal injection to finish the job so he can fifnsh his trip to Hades.

[dead]

Another media-manufactured "dilemma" for a Republican.

The man is sentenced to die. For once, it looks like they'd be doing the condemned a favor.

[Joe 6-pack]

"SO because he is near death, it is especially cruel to execute him? Is that an example of liberal "logic"?"

I would think Michael Schiavo and George Felos would show up to starve him into euphoria...