Court Denies Stay of Execution for Tookie Williams, Fate Lies with Gov. Schwarzenegger

We look at the case of death row prisoner Stanley Tookie Williams. 51 year-old Stanley Williams will die by lethal injection at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday unless California Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger intervenes and grants clemency. On Sunday, the California Supreme Court unanimously denied an emergency request by his lawyers to halt his execution. Williams is a convicted murderer and the co-founder of one of the country's most notorious street gangs, the Crips. But since his incarceration he has also become a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, children's author and a vocal advocate against gang violence.

Stanley Tookie Williams' life rests in the hands of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who has the power to commute the death sentence. Last Thursday, Schwarzenegger heard presentations from Williams" attorneys and Los Angeles County prosecutors about whether to grant Williams clemency. An international campaign to save his life has also grown over the last few weeks. Hip hop star Snoop Dogg and actor Jamie Foxx participated in the Save Tookie Day last week, reading excerpts from Williams" books. Foxx starred in a film about Tookie's life titled Redemption. To date over 32,000 people have signed online petitions calling for Schwarzenegger to commute the death sentence.

The story of Tookie Williams begins in the streets of Los Angeles in the early 1970s. At the age of 17 he started the Crips street gang with his friend Raymond Washington. The gang would expand across the country and even overseas. In 1979 Williams was arrested in connection with four murders. _He was convicted of shooting dead a 7-Eleven clerk named Albert Owens and of robbing and killing a Taiwanese motel owner along with his wife and daughter. He was sentenced in 1981 to four death sentences. Tookie Williams has always maintained his innocence and claims he received an unfair trial, in part, because he was convicted by an all-white jury. In 1993, Tookie began speaking out against gang violence. With the help of his main advocate, Barbara Becnel, Williams soon began writing children's books and speaking with young people about the gang life. He also helped orchestrate truces between gangs.

Linda Owens, the widow of Albert Owens, issued a statement on Friday in support of Williams" efforts to bring an end to gang violence. She said, "I invite Mr. Williams to join me in sending a message to all communities that we should all unite in peace. This position of peace would honor my husband's memory and Mr. Williams work."

Judges who have reviewed the case have conceded that there is a strong case for clemency. In 2002, a three-judge panel on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his death sentence but in a rare move urged then-Governor Gray Davis to consider commuting the death sentence. The judges praised Tookie Williams for his "laudable efforts opposing gang violence" and his "good works and accomplishments since incarceration." We recently spoke to Tookie from death row in San Quentin prison.

* Stanley Tookie Williams, Democracy Now! interview, November 30, 2005.
Go to the full interview

We speak with journalist Barbara Becnel.

* Barbara Becnel, journalist who helped Stanley Williams find a publisher for his books. She is also the co-author, with Stanley Williams, of the book "Life in Prison."

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