- Mark Martin, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau - Friday, December 9, 2005

Sacramento -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger spent more than an hour with lawyers for Stanley Tookie Williams and prosecutors pushing for his death sentence Thursday, hearing final arguments before he makes a decision on Williams' bid to avoid lethal injection.

Schwarzenegger now has fewer than four days to weigh Williams' past as a convicted four-time murderer and gang leader against his present work as an anti-gang crusader. Williams, who has written eight children's books from his Death Row cell, is pleading for clemency based on his value as "a unique voice'' against street violence, one of his attorneys said.

The hearing, in which both sides made their case to Schwarzenegger and four lawyers who work for the governor, took place in private. The governor was handed a letter from Williams during the meeting.

Schwarzenegger made no public appearances Thursday, and while attorneys held press conferences in front of more than 25 television cameras and dozens of reporters, no one would divulge details of the meeting held in the Ronald Reagan Cabinet Room inside the governor's suite of Capitol offices.

Williams' case has received worldwide attention and his notoriety and scheduled execution at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday has California prison officials preparing for potential violence inside facilities. Celebrities have been drawn to Williams' cause -- he met privately with rapper Snoop Dogg Wednesday and with actor Jamie Foxx Thursday at San Quentin State Prison.

In the Capitol, a deputy district attorney from Los Angeles made the case against clemency, declaring that Williams was guilty of "extremely brutal crimes against people who were defenseless.''

"Very simply, in our opinion, there are certain murders -- not every murder -- where an individual's conduct is just so abhorrent, where the crime is so brutal, it simply justifies the ultimate punishment,'' said John Monaghan, who presented the Los Angeles district attorney's case to the governor.

Williams was convicted in 1981 for the 1979 shotgun deaths of Albert Lewis Owens, Tsai-Shai Yang, Yen-I Yang and Yee-Chen Lin during two separate robberies. Monaghan noted that Williams shot Owens, a 7-11 clerk, while he lay on the floor of the store, and the three other victims during a motel robbery that "netted him less than $100.''

Williams' lawyers, however, argue that their client is more valuable to society alive than dead. Williams, who helped found the Crips street gang, has denounced gang life and spent the last 13 years writing about its perils. Williams connects to kids in ways others can't, argued Peter Fleming Jr., one of two New York-based attorneys who presented Williams' case to the governor.

"Stanley Williams has been where these at-risk children are,'' Fleming said. "And the whole thrust of his message is, 'don't do what I did. What I did was despicable. Reject violence, find purpose.' ''

Williams has maintained that he did not commit the crimes that landed him on Death Row, which Fleming acknowledged Thursday has hurt his case for clemency. Fleming said he told Williams when they first met that it would help his clemency bid if the former gang leader apologized for his crimes.

In speaking with reporters, Monaghan said prosecutors also oppose clemency because Williams has refused to speak with prison officials about his gang activity, a process called "debriefing,'' which Williams has dismissed as "snitching.''

By not debriefing, Williams has shown "he hasn't turned his back completely'' on the Crips, Monaghan argued.

Support for Williams came from an unlikely source Thursday.

Linda Owens, the former wife of Albert Owens, issued a brief statement praising Williams.

"I, Linda Owens want to build upon Mr. Williams' peace initiative. 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."

Owens' statement was released by Williams' attorneys, and she refused to speak with the media and elaborate on whether she actually supported his bid for clemency.

Other members of the family, including Owens' daughter, have opposed clemency.

As Schwarzenegger met with the lawyers, about 75 people rallied outside the Capitol in support of Williams and against the death penalty. Included among the speakers were two former California Death Row inmates -- one was exonerated and another released on parole after the death penalty was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972. It was reinstated in 1976.

Also speaking was 13-year-old Jeremiah Espanol of San Francisco, who said Williams' books helped him steer clear of a gang on Sixth Street in downtown San Francisco where he lives.

"Stanley Williams messed up, and he understands that he did," the teenager said. "Why can't the government?''

Administration officials would not say when Schwarzenegger will release his decision, noting only that he will issue a written statement sometime between today and Monday.

In the meantime, prison officials are preparing for what would be a high-profile execution. Forty-five media outlets requested a spot inside Death Row to view the execution. There is room for 17.

And Todd Slosek, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, said officials have heard rumors of potential violence within institutions should Williams be put to death.

"We are investigating several potential threats and will take every precaution we need to ensure the safety of staff and inmates,'' Slosek said.

Inmates at San Quentin are always locked in their cells during executions, but Slosek said such lockdowns could be extended to other prisons to prevent trouble.

E-mail Mark Martin at .

• Click here forn Stanley "Tookie" Williams case information

URGENT EMERGENCY APPEAL: STOP THE CALIFORNIA EXECUTION OF STAN TOOKIE WILLIAMS ON DECEMBER 13!

STAN TOOKIE WILLIAMS IS INNOCENT. ALL AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE BARRED FROM HIS JURY. HIS EXECUTION IS IMMINENT

Please join the online campaign to STOP THE EXECUTION OF STAN TOOKIE WILLIAMS!

He is scheduled to be executed by the state of California TUESDAY DECEMBER 13.

YOUR EMERGENCY ACTION IS NEEDED NOW!

Send emails to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, President Bush, Congressional leaders and Senators and Representatives from Texas, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Anan and your senators and representative, DEMANDING that Tookie's execution be stopped IMMEDIATELY Go to: https://www.iacenter.org/tookiewilliamscampaign.shtml

to send your own message or have the following email sent in your name:

Governor Schwartzenegger, President Bush, Secretary-General Annan, Senators and Representatives: On Tuesday, Dec 13, 2005, Stan Tookie Williams, an innocent man convicted by prejudicial prosecutorial misconduct, is scheduled to be executed by the State of California.

I appeal to you to grant clemency to Stan Tookie Williams and to take immediate action to reverse the miscarriage of justice in his case.

Stan Tookie Williams is innocent. No physical evidence tied him to the crimes. Blatantly discriminatory conduct by the prosecutor barred all 3 prospective African Americans from the jury. The same prosecutor has been censured twice by the California State Supreme Court for unconstitutionally striking Black prospective jurors in two other capital cases. Major witnesses against him were themselves criminals who had charges dropped or received lesser sentences in exchange for their testimony, according to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Stan Tookie Williams has devoted his time while on death row to writing books aimed at ending gang violence and helping youth avoid gang involvement. He has been nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace and Literature prizes. This summer he received a service award from President Bush for his work with youth.

Stan Tookie Williams execution would be a continuation of the war on African American youth that can be seen in the government's negligent response to Hurricane Katrina, and the overwhelming numbers of African American youth in jail around the country. His conviction was the product of racist discriminatory prosecutorial misconduct. His execution would be a crime against justice, African Americans and African American youth in particular, and all justice-loving people everywhere.

STOP THE EXECUTION OF STAN TOOKIE WILLIAMS!

Associated Press Unless the governor grants clemency to Stanley "Tookie" Williams, the convicted murderer is scheduled to die at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison.

Scores of death penalty foes, black leaders and Hollywood celebrities who have rallied to his cause insist Williams is a redeemed anti-gang author who is a powerful voice in steering youths away from violence.

Law enforcement officials and some relatives of Williams' victims call him a manipulative, unrepentant murderer.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger listened to both sides during an hour-long hearing yesterday as he weighed a petition from Williams' lawyers to grant clemency to Williams, who is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Tuesday. Schwarzenegger has said he'll make his decision known by Monday.

The petition is unusual for a recent death penalty case, experts say, because it doesn't argue Williams is innocent, or that there were major problems with his trial. Instead, it calls on Schwarzenegger to recognize that Williams has been redeemed by his anti-gang work, and to show him mercy by commuting his sentence to life in prison without parole.

After yesterday's clemency hearing, Peter Fleming Jr., a lead counsel for Williams, said, "Stanley Williams has been where these at-risk children are, and the whole thrust of his message is, 'Don't do what I did. What I did was despicable. Reject violence. Find purpose.' "

However, John Monaghan, assistant head deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County, said Williams is guilty of "extremely brutal crimes committed against people that simply were defenseless," and deserves to die for those acts.

Fleming suggested Wednesday that clemency is probably his client's last legal recourse. Williams, on death row since 1981, insists he didn't commit the four murders for which he was convicted, but an appeal to federal court would have to provide evidence of his innocence, and "we're not in a position to do that," Fleming said.

Reuters With fellow Los Angeles County deputy district attorneys Patrick Dixon (left) and David Walgren beside him, assistant head deputy district attorney John Monaghan discussed the case of Stanley "Tookie" Williams after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's hearing yesterday.

His case has become a cause célèbre among many African-Americans, some of whom have called his impending execution a "lynching." The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has waged a high-profile campaign to spare Williams' life, conducting news conferences around California and lending its name to newspaper ads touting his efforts to warn kids about the dangers of gangs.

"Whether he did or did not commit the crimes is not the issue," Bruce Gordon, president and CEO of the NAACP, said at a rally in Los Angeles this week. "If you've got a person sitting on death row today who has proven over and over again his ability to positively influence the lives of others, why would we choose to take his life?"

"Stan is a subject-matter expert on gang warfare, on youth crime," Gordon added, and the NAACP wants to distribute his writings and use telephone conferences with him in prison to persuade youths not to join gangs.

But Lora Owens scoffs at talk of Williams being redeemed.

"He's just manipulating to try to get out of his execution," said Owens, the stepmother of Albert Owens, one of the four people Williams was convicted of killing.

JEFF CHIU / Associated Press Mo Kashmiri (left) and Lakshmi Sridaran took part in a rally in front of the Capitol in Sacramento yesterday that urged clemency for condemned killer Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who would be the 12th inmate executed since California reinstated the death penalty.

"That was a big piece of our heart, our life, that was destroyed," she said. She believes only the execution of Williams will enable her to finally put Albert to rest.

"Across all these years, I can still hear that boy's voice saying, 'It's not right!' " Owens said. "All I'm asking of the governor is that he take this case very seriously. Look at the facts."

Williams, 51, co-founded the Crips gang in south Los Angeles in 1971. Ten years later, he was convicted of committing four murders during two robberies in the Los Angeles area that netted a total of less than $200.

Albert Owens, 26, a night clerk at a 7-Eleven, was sweeping the store's parking lot when Williams and three accomplices drove up at 4 a.m. on Feb. 27, 1979. Williams, high on PCP at the time, ordered the young clerk into a back storage room, had him lie face down on the floor and shot him twice in the back with a shotgun, according to prosecutors.

Less than two weeks later, Williams broke down the door of a motel and shot the two owners, Yen-I Chang, 76, and his wife, Tsai-Shai Yang, 63. When their daughter, Ye-Chen Lin, 43, came out of a nearby bedroom, Williams fatally shot her, too.

After being sentenced to death, Williams was sent to San Quentin and by all accounts was a rebellious inmate until 1993, when he shared with a visiting journalist his vision of writing books that would warn of the dangers of gangs. The journalist, Barbara Becnel, has since partnered with Williams to publish nine books, including a series aimed at children.

In one book in the series, "Gangs and Weapons," Williams drew on his gang experiences to write, "Kids think they have lots of reasons to carry guns. But there are no good reasons. They all lead to violence, death and sadness . . . the only thing violence does is get you shot, killed or put in jail."

Although Williams maintains his innocence in the four murders, he has repeatedly apologized for the damage and mayhem he and his legacy of the Crips have caused.

Prison officials emphasize Williams has never agreed to be "debriefed" – describe details about the criminal activities of his former gang cohorts. Jonathan Harris, a member of Williams' legal team, said Williams feels becoming an "informant" would ruin his credibility with the kids he's trying to reach.

Beginning in 2000, death penalty foes have nominated Williams for Nobel Prizes for peace and literature. But California Attorney General Bill Lockyer says that Nobel Peace Prize nominations average more than 140 annually, and in the past have included Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.

Williams and his supporters also argue the prosecutor at his trial inappropriately eliminated several prospective jurors because they were black, leading to a conviction by an all-white jury. However, Lockyer's office, while claiming that Williams and his lawyers did not raise the issue of racial discrimination by the prosecutor until 13 years after his conviction, has offered proof that one of the jurors was black and another was Latino.

"There are some racial dimensions to this case," said Loyola Law School professor Laurie Levenson. "And there are questions raised as to whether he was actually guilty. The prosecutors relied on accomplices and informants."

Nevertheless, she added, "this case comes down more to, 'Can someone have redemption on death row?'

"It's a tough case."