Stan Tookie Williams was the co-founder of the Los Angeles Cripps in 1971 and was convicted in 1981 of killing four people.
His trial was based on circumstantial evidence and the testimony of several witnesses, all of whom were facing a range of felony charges, including fraud, rape, murder and mutilation. Even the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals stated in a September 10, 2002, ruling that the witnesses in Stan's case had "less-than-clean backgrounds and incentives to lie in order to obtain leniency from the state in either charging or sentencing."
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Tookie is now on death row. He is scheduled to be executed (killed) on December 13, 2005. A clemency hearing was heard today by California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. We do not yet know the results of that hearing. It is interesting to note that the evening before the hearing that Arnold Schwarzenegger was taken to the hospital for a "rapid heart beat," also known as trachea cardia .I have personally experienced trachea cardia. It is generally a result of caffeine, nicotine, and stress.
I could relate to you all of the good things that Tookie has done since he has been on death row. I could tell you about all of the books for children he has written discouraging them from violence and gangs. I could tell you about the numerous times he has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. I could tell you that he received a metal from Bush for his work with children. I could tell you that he has "seen the light," and should not be killed.
What I would rather tell you is that capital punishment is abhorrent. The United States is one of the few so-called "enlightened" countries that still has a death penalty. Most of Europe does not have a death penalty. Now, I know that we are a fairly new country in the overall scheme of things, but can't we get over this "eye an eye and a tooth for a tooth" mentality?
Send an e-mail to Arnold and ask him to commute Tookie's sentence. At the very least, we might give him another attack of trachea cardia. You KNOW in your heart that I am right!