Tookie Williams Seeks Stay of Execution

[nofurylike]

Tookie Williams Seeks Stay of Execution

Lawyer for Convicted Murderer Stanley Tookie Williams Asks Court for Stay of Execution

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=1395553

LOS ANGELES Dec 11, 2005 — A lawyer for convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams asked the state Supreme Court to stay his execution, saying the Crips gang co-founder should have been allowed to argue that someone else killed one of his four alleged victims.

-snip-

Wefald's petition argues that prosecutors failed to disclose at trial that witness Alfred Coward was not a U.S. citizen and had a violent criminal history, depriving Williams of the opportunity to argue Coward was the killer in the February 1979 robbery.

Coward is now in prison in Canada for killing a man during a robbery.

"All of the witnesses who implicated Williams were criminals who were given significant incentives to testify against him and ongoing benefits for their testimony," Wefald wrote.

-snip-

***

[JetboyOne]

1. Is there any doubt

that he committed the crimes?

[nofurylike]

2. yes, there is. the article addresses that. thank you! eom

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Thanks for posting the article

in an interview on Tavis Smiley, Mr. Williams talked a bit about this. As I recall, he didn't deny he'd harmed people in the past, but didn't think it fair that he be executed for a crime he didn't commit. He said it was a set-up to get him off the streets.

[nofurylike]

4. thank you. yes, that was an excellent interview, wasn't it? too late at

night, as always.


peace, ayeshahaqqiqa!

[JetboyOne]

6. Because he might not

have killed one of the four?
Where do I get on his bandwagon?

[nofurylike]

8. i'm sorry, i don't understand. but for information on action, please see:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x5563203

thank you!


peace

[pretzel4gore]

9. if you were an inner city black kid in the usa, you'd be a killer too

and so would i. and so would falwel, robertson, cheney, rumsmell, asscrack, swartzenpigfuk, mccain, lindsey graham, rush limbah humbug, geewill, chrles krauthummer, john gibson, geebush, brite hum etc.....

[acmavm]

12. We would? You're sure of that, are you? We'd all be reduced to the

level of killing over drug turf, tennis shoes, whatever?

How come they're not all killers then?

[pretzel4gore]

19. it's a formative experience....

the only real business opportunity in much of the inner cities for real entrepeneur type go getters of the donald trump/bill gates stripe is the drug business, which, as gary webb wrote about in his amazing san jose mercury series on the cia setting up the crack coke industry during regan era, is a result of top level american political choices (basically, pursueing race war using drugs to harm the black american population, to criminalize its most aggressive youth and to demoralize it)
believe me, i repeat, if you or i or indeed anyone who grew up as a black inner city youth knowing the history behind today's situation, we'd all be killers, eom.
ignorant bastards made a world where men with obvious talent like tookie williams finds himself in prison for criminality when his community needed him, and his talent, and all the thousand of other young men who were enraged at life before they knew what caused their destructive rage in the first place (US racism greed and moral perversion)...you think fixing the damaged items after each falls from the conveyor belt, instead of just stopping the conveyor belt, and going after those who set up the 'crime factory' in the first place (ooh, but that take courage and wit!)

[nofurylike]

21. must keep the prison industrial complex the fastest growing "growth

industry" - well, apparently sharing that distinction with the human experimentation industry, also preying on the most underprivileged.

modern slavery. period.


peace

[Aretha]

17. That is easily the most racist, patronizing, ignorant post I've seen

on any of the Tookie threads. That was truly a disgusting thing to say. A vicious insult to millions of decent black people who live in America's inner city neighborhoods.

[nofurylike]

18. i do believe i'd kill or die young if it were me. i am always in awe of

the patience, peacefulness and forgiving or diplomatic nature of so many suffering such incessant despicable injustice.

i just think i couldn't do it.

thank you, pretzel4gore


peace

[pretzel4gore]

23. you're welcome....

if tookie williams knew at 17 what he knows now, he would probably address his problems with long term in mind, much differently...why must some wind up in prison, on death row, to learn what 'normal' people learn during a normal upbringing? That a certain ungodly level of injustice rules life is obvious, and must be accepted, but people shouldn't act righteous when the 'law' is too little, too late, in cases involving african american men, cuz it's phony.....

[nofurylike]

25. 'normal'? "injustice... must be accepted..."? i may be misunderstanding

your points, and i'm sorry i can't give this particular discussion the concentration it deserves, at this time.

seems like it would be an important discussion of its own some time, though.

thank you!


peace

[jaysunb]

26. not neccessarily...

only 1 percent of the youth are committing crimes, but they DO get 100% of the attention.

Please reconsider your thinking on this. Most people, regardless of race or socio-economic level are not lawbreakers. Just because one is trapped in a poverty stricken community doesn't automatically make them criminals.

[justasoldier]

29. I disagree

You are not just a product of your environment - unless you choose to be.

Growing up I lived in LA, Sacramento, Las Vegas, Seattle, Aurora (suburb of Denver), amongst other cities. Always had to scrounge to have clothes for school (usually got my friends worn out shoes and stuff). I took care of myself and my brother and sister (parents always working). I saw plenty of crap. I chose to not get involved in drugs, gangs, or other criminal activity. I went to school with people who are now in prison, dead, or living the life that they wanted. In the end it is up to you.


justasoldier

[tx_dem41]

30. Why do you think so little of inner city black kids? n/t

[pretzel4gore]

37. as noted, most black kids do try to exist within the rules...

we can't do anything for them until there's a change in attitude towards the 'criminals'....no community in the world has lived with the unending horror that black america has, and that horror, white racism, still monkeys around behind the scenes, giggling and puking and retching and hating and depraved beyond salvation....the monkey is goddam lucky the majority of inner city black kids try to coexist with them; but there are alot that don't and often the circumstances (recently some mentally challenged guy released from jail after spending 33 years for stealing a tv set, just another monkey chuckle) when looked at honestly explain the 'criminals' actions, if not exxonerate him completely...the american people were unable to stop these monkeys from killing kennedy, or to punish the punks did it, or even to investigate it properly to wall off the mass disinfo ie foxnews specialists from burying it.....the same jolly jokers (the american people) unable to stop a cheap thug murdering crook from stealing their highest elected office, and even after facts known, can do nada about it! yet these same fukkers expect tookie to miss at point blank range! fukkem....
i care nothing about 'crips' they are fools for all their toughness, they do the monkey's work and they entertain the giggling monkey, at the expense of their own people, but fact is the monkey murdered off the black panthers while soft soaping the emergence of the 'crips' drug gangs (win win win eh monkey?) and this shows how tookie williams isn't the guy should be on death row.....
Williams shouldn't have been there in the first place....he should have been head of biz group, or senator or doctor or something. That's a fact. And that the present situation exist at all represents a huge investment of our money, by the monkey

[tx_dem41]

38. Its like you read the first half of the Autobiography of Malcom X and then

got bored and didn't read the second half.

You see black kids as empty vessels with no innate humanity. You see black kids as having no capability to do anything good on their own for no other reason other than its beneficial to them and to others. You see black kids as having no sense of self-awareness or self-responsibility. You see black kids as being incapable of overcoming adversity. These qualities that you don't see are the very qualities that make people human. Quite frankly, IMO, you see them as nothing but animals, and I find that appalling.

[pretzel4gore]

39. to read it that way is appalling....

i agree. But what stirs my blood is the 'other,' from the black kids; it's the 'other' whom i understand and despise.....i entered this thread to say tookie williams made mistakes no matter the details of why he's on death row, and from that i say the larger society, with its greater resources and generations of wisdom etc plotted and schemed and worked hard to create the world tookie made his mistakes in, to the everlasting pleasure and lust of certain elements of the larger society.....it's the racist pig whom i judge, and your suggestion i'm not articulating a positive place for the black kids within the argument is due to the fact it might be too much to both defend tookie's right to live w/out skipping over the reality that most kids in tookie's position did find a way to live w/out making tookie type 'mistakes' (even suggesting 4 lives destroyed as mistkes isn't right, but im just pointing direction here, not refining in an essence) I'm encouraged by some of the angry reactions to my post, and don't really try argue them. It's near impossible to argue for Tookie Williams using his background to explain at least his situation in a exculpatory manner w/out dragging innercity 'black kids' into the focus, and i'm not a very smart person, or good explainer of stuff etc...

[brentspeak]

10. He's guilty

He murdered the four people. His own fellow murdererers pointed the finger at him. Forensic evidence shows it was him. Everything.

[justasoldier]

28. +1

[geomon666]

11. The only doubt I see there is coming from his lawyer. n/t

[Endangered Specie]

22. No, there isnt...

just about all the 'evidence' that tries to suggest he is innocent comes from tookies own website.

[slackmaster]

33. Not a REASONABLE doubt

There is always a POSSIBLE doubt, e.g. the murders were committed by some godlike alien entity who went to great lengths to make everything look like Mr. Williams did them.

[Helga Scow Stern]

5. Any word yet on Schwarzennegger's decision?

I heard it might come as early as 3 pm today.

[nofurylike]

7. not that i've seen. checking. interesting you heard that, Ojai Person.

please us know anything more you hear?

thank you!


peace

[nofurylike]

16. Governor Postpones Decision on William's Execution

3:22 PM PST, December 11, 2005
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-121105tookie_lat,0,3725230.story?coll=la-story-footer&track=morenews

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will not act on Stanley Tookie Williams' request for clemency today, his office announced this afternoon.

The action means that the governor will likely issue his decision on Monday...

***


peace

[Jim__]

13. I am against the death penalty.

But I especially don't believe that we should execute anyone if the only witnesses against him have been, essentially, paid for their testimony. If Wefald's statement:



is true; then Tookie should not be executed. Bought testimony just doesn't rise to the level of trust that is definitely required before executing someone.

[nofurylike]

20. important point, Jim. that is now known to be a leading cause

of erroneous capital convictions.

thank you


peace

[WindRavenX]

14. The Tookie Williams case is playing on people's emotions

Regardless of the magnitude of his crime, I am against the DP. It is nothing more than an emotional response--not a response of justice.

[nofurylike]

24. i agree, WindRavenX. thank you posting. eom

[bluestateguy]

15. Schwarzenegger will not give clemency

It will only alienate his white male conservative base.

Meanwhile people on the Left will continue to oppose him and criticize him.

[fortyfeetunder]

27. Which brings up a"what if" question...What would Grey do?

If Grey Davis was governor today...would he have granted clemency?

[slackmaster]

34. I suspect he would not have granted clemency

Davis did allow a few executions to proceed during his term.

[Psephos]

40. Davis never granted a stay of execution

the last California guv to do that was Ray-gun

Peace

[slackmaster]

35. 2/3 of Californians support the DP for violent offenders like Williams

I'm in the minority that opposes capital punishment.

Schwarzenegger will go with the will of the majority. Williams will become somewhat like Willie Horton in the next gubernatorial campaign.

Schwarzenegger's campaign will say something about how his girly-man opponent supported clemency for one of the most vicious repeat offenders in the history of the state.

[HuffleClaw]

31. hmmmm

since its been proven time and again that the death penalty is reserved (mostly) for non-white poor people and that police have been caught repeatedly faking and lying about evidence in such cases, is it so hard to believe this case is any different? another disgusting aspect is how the groppinator has been making political hay out of it, oh, and how the press has been playing some sort of 'fear the darkie backlash' game as the day approaches.

[lynne]

32. CA SUPREME COURT DENIES STAY OF EXECUTION

From todays CNN:

"California's Supreme Court has rejected an emergency request to stay the execution of convicted killer and Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams. Williams is scheduled to be given a lethal injection shortly after midnight local time."

[meisje]

36. a buh bye