By KIM CURTIS
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO- The petition to save the life of condemned former gang leader Stanley “Tookie” Williams reads more like poetry than a legal document - beginning and ending with a plea for the governor to carry out “an act of grace” and stop next month’s scheduled execution.
“We seek clemency for the man Stanley Williams has become, for the good work he has done, and for the good work he will continue to do,” his lawyers wrote in the 13-page document delivered Tuesday to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. “Stanley Williams stands in the shadow of death. We seek an act of grace.”
Last month, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge set a Dec. 13 execution date for Williams, 51, who was sentenced to death in 1981 for fatally shooting Albert Owens, a Whittier convenience store worker. He also was convicted of killing two Los Angeles motel owners and their daughter during a robbery.
His appeals were exhausted in early October after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case. However, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals suggested in a 2002 decision that Williams was a good candidate for clemency.
Williams, a founding member of the Crips street gang, decided to change his life during six years in solitary confinement, according to the petition.
“He dedicated his life to doing whatever he could, from where he was, to end gang violence to warn others of the errors of the path he had followed,” the petition says.
He decided in 1993 to write children’s books. Ten books, including Williams’ “Tookie Speaks Out Against Gang Violence” series and his autobiography, “Blue Rage, Black Redemption,” were included with the petition. Lawyers also sent a copy of the television movie about Williams’ life, “Redemption: The Stan ‘Tookie’ Williams Story,” starring Jamie Foxx.
The money from the sale of his books is used to support at-risk youth programs and to continue his appeals, his lawyers said.
Excerpts from letters and e-mails sent by young people, parents and teachers also were included in the packet sent to the governor. His lawyers called them “a testament to the power of his message and the value of his life.”
While his lawyers plan to file a motion with the California Supreme Court asking for the reexamination of evidence, the clemency petition also addresses the question of Williams’ guilt. He has long maintained his innocence. The petition mentions the absence of physical evidence, the testimony of questionable witnesses, a nearly all-white jury and a prosecutor who, in his closing argument, compared Williams to a Bengal tiger, equating a black man from South Central Los Angeles to an animal found in the jungle.
“The district attorney may say Stanley Williams does not admit guilt and therefore deserves no mercy. This cannot be the standard,” the petition says.
It also questions whether clemency remains of any value because it hasn’t been granted since 1967. If a condemned inmate who has turned his life around, who has done recognized good works _ even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize several times _ doesn’t deserve clemency, who does? the petition asks.
“What message is sent by the execution of a man who has worked so hard and so effectively to persuade others of the futility and wrongness of the life he once led,” his lawyers wrote. “The death of Stanley Williams will send a message of despair. ... Clemency for Stanley Williams will send a message of hope to those who live with little hope, and will demonstrate what we believe to be true _ that the state and its governor recognize their plight and care about their future.”
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office has until Nov. 17 to respond to the request for clemency. Williams’ lawyers will have four days after that to make a final argument. The governor has no deadline to respond, but it’s likely he’ll schedule a clemency hearing before making a decision.