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Tookie Williams Seeks Court Stay of Execution

By Jeralyn, Section Death Penalty
Posted on Sun Dec 11, 2005 at 09:14:07 AM EST
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Lawyers for Stanley "Tookie Williams" have gone back to the California Supreme Court with a habeas petition to stay his execution. The grounds are:

  • Tookie was drugged through his trial as a form of behaviorial management and incompetent to stand trial
  • The prosecution withheld critical evidence about one of the witnesses against him who is now serving time for a different murder. Had the proseution disclosed his violent and criminal past, Tookie would have been able to argue that he, not Tookie, was the killer of one of the four victims.

The petition argues:

"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.

"This type of testimony is the leading cause of wrongful convictions in murder and capital cases in the United States," she wrote, citing a study from Northwestern University Law School's Center on Wrongful Convictions.

The petition will be withdrawn if Gov. Schwarzenegger grants clemency.

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    Tookie Williams Seeks Court Stay of Execution | 4 comments (4 topical)
    Re: Tookie Williams Seeks Court Stay of Execution (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:53 PM EST
    Considering the US is supposed to be the leader in humanities, how come you still have antiquated laws that allow executions?

    Re: Tookie Williams Seeks Court Stay of Execution (none / 0) (#2)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:53 PM EST
    I am against the death penalty and would like to see Mr. Williams spend the rest of his life in prison. But really, why do the weirdos of the hollywood left have to elevate every Black murderer to the status of hero and international peacemaker. Mr. Williams is a cold blooded murderer who has not really taken responsiblity for his crimes. Can't we reserve hero status for the men who work, support their families and decide that it really would be a bad idea to run drugs and kill? Hello-if we don't want the "looney left" moniker to stick, we could get in touch with reality here.

    Re: Tookie Williams Seeks Court Stay of Execution (none / 0) (#3)
    by Ernesto Del Mundo on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:53 PM EST
    Can't we reserve hero status for the men who work, support their families and decide that it really would be a bad idea to run drugs and kill? Yeah right, we can't even pay them a living wage for chrissakes.

    Re: Tookie Williams Seeks Court Stay of Execution (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sat Dec 17, 2005 at 01:06:54 PM EST
    agent.... Hello-if we don't want the "looney left" moniker to stick, we could get in touch with reality here. AMEN!!!

    Tookie Williams Seeks Court Stay of Execution | 4 comments (4 topical)