One Last Post About the Bastard, Then We’re All Moving On

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At around 1 PM yesterday, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger made public his decision regarding 51-year-old Stanley “Tookie” Williams: there would be no clemency.

At one minute after midnight, Williams was given the injection. He did not request a “last meal” nor did he have any “final words.” He was declared dead at 12:35 AM as nurses had trouble locating an appropriate vein in Williams’ arm due to his hypertrophic condition. The difficulty was with the second IV in his left arm. Williams asked: “You doing that right?”

At 12:35 they did it right.

Predicted rioting did not occur indicating that, finally, the ’70s are indeed dead along with Mr. W.

Governor Schwarzenegger issued a five-page Statement of Decision (click here for full text) regarding his denial of clemency. The governor wrote:

In all, Williams’ case has been the subject of at least eight substantive judicial opinions.2 Prior to the filing of the clemency petition, the state court habeas process was completed on June 21, 1995 when the California Supreme Court denied Williams’ fourth state habeas corpus petition.3 The federal court habeas process was completed on October 11, 2005 when the United States Supreme Court denied Williams’ writ of certiorari.

This is the governor saying: his case has been vetted to the Nth degree.

The claim that Williams received an unfair trial was the subject of this extensive litigation in the state and federal courts. The courts considered the sufficiency of his counsel, the strategic nature of counsel’s decisions during the penalty phase of Williams’ trial, the adequacy and reliability of testimony from informants, whether Williams was prejudiced by security measures employed during his trial, whether he was competent to stand trial, whether the prosecutor impermissibly challenged potential jurors on the basis of race, and whether his jury was improperly influenced by Williams’ threats made against them.

There is no need to rehash or second guess the myriad findings of the courts over 24 years of litigation. The possible irregularities in Williams’ trial have been thoroughly and carefully reviewed by the courts, and there is no reason to disturb the judicial decisions that uphold the jury’s findings that he is guilty of these four murders and should pay with his life.

The governor’s statement then hit the proverbial nail on the proverbial head:

The basis of Williams’ clemency request is not innocence. Rather, the basis of the request is the “personal redemption Stanley Williams has experienced and the positive impact of the message he sends.”4 But Williams’ claim of innocence remains a key factor to evaluating his claim of personal redemption. It is impossible to separate Williams’ claim of innocence from his claim of redemption.

The statement concludes:

Clemency decisions are always difficult. But the constitutional power of the Governor to grant clemency does not stand in isolation. It must be balanced with the Governor’s constitutional duty to see that the laws are faithfully executed. Here, Williams is clearly guilty, and the evidence and clemency materials supporting Williams’ claim of personal redemption are equivocal.

Therefore, based on the totality of circumstances in this case, Williams’ request for
clemency is denied.

DATED: December 12, 2005
Signed: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

_____________________________________

And that’s enough on this.

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11 thoughts on “One Last Post About the Bastard, Then We’re All Moving On”

  1. Justice has been served.

    ….and you have been tagged! 🙂

    If you don’t know the rules, they are posted on My Republican Blog. As I was tagged, I had to post and then tag five other people.

  2. Okay, I’m still not sure I understand fully the “tag” thing — does that mean I return the kindness, or does it mean that AND something else?

    Please excuse my Blogosphere ignorance. Heck, Gyrobo had to hold my hand as to how to make a doggone LINK in a comment section!

  4. BZ, what is done is done and I’m moving on to something else as well. Like I said, I won’t shed a tear for the guy but I’m still against CP.

    Heck, both my fantasy football teams lost the past weekend and I still haven’t found a replacement for T. Owens.

    There’s a debate for you. How does a man who is paid to play a GAME can’t keep his mouth shut in order to collect millions of dollars?

    By the way, I do appreciate you allowing me to rant on this issue. I know I disagree with most of your posters but you’ve been cool about it. You have a nice blog.

  6. BZ, don’t feel bad. I still haven’t figured out how to make a link that works in either the comment section or the post itself!! Duh! Any help would be appreciated.

  7. Gayle & LMC: I’m glad A.S. came through and we can ALL move on.

    James: T.O. — he’s like some people I know who simply cannot understand the great life they’ve got and insist on crapping on their own sheets. It has a great deal to do with maturity which, (though he has millions) T.O. has not.

    Also, James, thanks for the considerate comments on the viewpoints and the blog.

    Gayle: here’s how to make a link:
    Look on the Blogger toolbar on the screen where you would write your post. Look at the far left icons — you’ll see a “b,” for bold, an “i,” for italics, the “T” for color of font — see the green “link” like a chain? That’s the icon to make a link in the text of your post.

    Here’s what you do: highlight a word or words you want to make a link to. Once highlighted, click on the link; a box will open up. Put the URL of the link you want in that box. Click “OK” and bingo, you’ve made a link and the word or words are now highlighted. In your post, people will see the link.

    To make a link in the comments section (THANKS Gyrobo!!), you’ll have to write some HTML.

    Write (in the comment section):

    (then insert the words here)

    I know, it’s weird, but if I CAN do it, then YOU can do it!

    Hope that helps a little.

  8. Dammit, sorry Gayle, in the process of making a link in my comment section, I actually MADE the link in my comment section.

    Now the comment section won’t let me do it. So, check out my previous post, read the comment section, and let Gyrobo show you how. It let HIM do it, but it won’t let ME show you!

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