Crosblog

That's the first question.

Second question - should the Governator grant him clemency?

Stanley "Tookie" Williams is the founder of the Crips, a career criminal, and a convicted multiple murderer who has never expressed any remorse for the killings he was convicted of. He is also an author of children's books, a Nobel Prize nominee, a crusader against gang violence, and a dude who effectively combines the biceps of Triple H with the hair of Pippi Longstocking. Oh yeah, he also says he was framed by a racist prosecutor in front of an all-white jury for a crime he did not commit.

First question - innocent, or not? Here's the state of the case presented against Tookie from the perpsective of the defense:

The case rested on the testimony of claimed accomplices and admitted informants, including a notorious jailhouse informant, all of whom were facing substantial prison time and even death for various offenses, and all of whom received either freedom or vastly reduced sentences in exchange for their testimony. The only physical evidence against Stanley Williams was a shotgun in the possession of one of the informants, but registered to Stanley Williams. The prosecution's gun expert found the initial tests he ran comparing the shells from this gun to a shell taken from the scene of one of the murders to be inconclusive. Even after being asked by the prosecutor to run additional tests, he testified that only 2 of 18 test shells had similar markings to the crime scene shell.

This is taken from the clemency petition itself. There is also a "fact sheet" available, that restates the claim that a cabal of thieves, knaves, and murderers were the only source of evidence against the Tookster. (Oddly enough, the fact that Williams' book club and Sunday School class were nowhere to be found doesn't register. It's not like criminals tend to associate only with criminals, right?) Also, it was an all-white jury who tried the case, and the prosecutor is a well-known racist. All of these claims have recently been made by Williams himself in a recent interview.

The DA has posted their response to the clemency petition, which does radical things like cite the trial transcript, and if it is accurate, Williams' version of the facts is...shall we say, incomplete. It is pointed out that the jury was advised of every deal and every shady background of Williams' accomplices and friends, that multiple details of the accomplice/informant testimony is corroborated by witnesses without this baggage, that Williams gave an incriminating statement he later tried to disavow, and as to the supposedly shaky ballistics:

At trial, a firearms expert testified that the expended twelve-gauge shotgun shell that was recovered by investigators at the Brookhaven Motel, trial exhibit 9E, was fired from Williams’ shotgun, trial exhibit 8, to the exclusion of all other firearms. (TT 1522-1523).

That's for one murder - here's the take on the other:

Although these two shells lacked sufficient identifying characteristics to be conclusively matched to Williams’ shotgun, the firearms expert testified that they were consistent with having been fired from that weapon. (TT 2301-2310). Moreover, the firearms expert did not find any dissimilarity that would exclude trial exhibits 9C and 9D from having been fired from Williams’ shotgun. (TT 2301-2310).

Also, the all-white jury thing isn't true either.

You also may have heard Jesse Jackson opine on the subject.

"His reputation as a gang leader was on trial, not the evidence," Jackson said.

That's one theory. Here's another.

His lawyers were able to keep all of his prior gang affiliation out of court...In the late 1970s, when these crimes occurred, the Crips were still a relatively small problem. It wasn’t until the mid-1980s when crack cocaine hit, that the Crips and Bloods became known in Las Angeles and it wasn’t until the late 1980s, that anyone outside of Los Angeles knew who the Crips and Bloods were.

Long story short...OK, too late for that, long story not as long as it could have been, the case for Williams' guilt is much stronger than his defenders have been inclined to admit.

OK, so he did it, and he won't own up to it. He's still done a bunch of stuff since. He has been nominated for the Nobel Prize every year since 2001. Of course, virtually anyone can secure a nomination, and Yassir Arafat actually won the damn thing, but hey, I haven't been nominated yet, so let's give the man his props. He has written and spoken out against gang violence, and apologized for...well, not too much specifically (some of those statutes of limitations can be long), but for his role in the creation of gang culture and encouragement of violence. Many, many people have said Williams' words have changed their lives. (Of course, let me just say, if his execution sparks a riot, maybe his message didn't take as much as he'd like us to think it did.) Still, his words have had an impact, and if left alive, he could continue to have an impact - a positive result, even if you think he's human sewage for his refusal to own up to the acts that put him where he is. Of course, one should remember, every instance where Williams is portrayed as heroic or courageous is salt in the wounds to the families of Albert Owens, Thsai-Shai Yang, Yen-I Yang and Yee Chen Lin, who get to hear that the guy who killed their loved ones is really a good guy now, and doesn't have to pay the price a jury gave him (and appellate courts have affirmed over and over again), even though he refuses to even address the suffering he caused. (Remember, he's innocent. He's the victim here.)

Williams' clemency bid is helped by his claims of innocence - weighing on the very real fear of executing an innocent man. Such things, of course, cannot be undone. (BTW - the whole idea that Tookie's refusal to apologize shows he's innocent, because it hurts his clemency bid - B.S. An apology at this point (or any point in the last several years) would appear contrived and have no credibility. Also, this way, he can claim every possible reason for clemency - remorse (albeit for different crimes), rehabilitation, and the possiblity of innocence. Every condemned killer should practice asserting their innocence with a straight face - even the ones caught on video.)

On a somewhat related matter - could someone remind me - Kenneth Starr is a hack who puts partisan goals ahead of the pursuit of justice, right? In any event, he's an effective one. Someone should see if he's available.

Gov. Schwarzenegger has scheduled meetings with Williams' lawyers, prosecutors, and victims' families for Dec. 8. Williams will be executed Dec. 13 unless something happens.

Tips - Volokh; Malkin; Dunphy (NRO)

Update - since the link from Ace means people will actually be reading this (gracias), I fixed a link to the Tookie fact sheet. Let it not be said that both sides are not presented. (OK, maybe one side will be presented with snarky asides, and one without, but the point is, they're both presented.)