So I've been researching the Tookie Williams case, and trying to determine what the real story is.
The State says that the evidence is strong, and overwhelming. Tookie and his team have claimed for 25 years that he was framed, as a pretense for getting him behind bars, and that the only evidence against him is false or incredible.
So, what is it, guilty or not guilty?
In my mind, this is essential. I do not support the death penalty. I would see it abolished. However, if we are going to have a death penalty and a clemency process, I would agree that it is essential that the convicted be not just redeemed for his lifestyle but remorseful of his or her crimes. Not regret, not sympathy to the victims, and not denying guilt.
Tookie claims he was framed, and the prosecutor played on racism to secure a conviction.
Here is what it says on the Save Tookie fact sheet from Save Tookie:
Fingerprints were found at both crime scenes, but they were not Stan's. These fingerprints have never been identified
A bloody boot print left near the victim at one of the crime scenes was not Stan's. This boot print has never been identified.
A shotgun shell found at that crime scene was said to be from a gun purchased by Stan five years earlier. But the gun was, in fact, found under the bed of two people - a husband and wife facing felony insurance fraud charges and who were also under investigation for murdering their own crime partner. This husband-and-wife crime team did not serve any prison time and their murder investigation was dropped after they testified that Stan "volunteered" a confession to them.
The "star" witness at Stan's trial - a white man and longtime felon who was placed in a nearby cell while Stan awaited trial and was years later discovered to have been a paid police informant - also testified that Stan "volunteered" a confession to him. But nearly 20 years after Stan's trial it was discovered that a Los Angeles police officer had left a copy of the police murder file involving Stan's case in this informant's cell for overnight study. The next day the murder file was picked up by that same officer, and the informant informed the police that Stan had volunteered a confession to him. In return for this testimony, the informant - who himself was facing the death penalty for rape, murder and mutilation - was given a lesser sentence that allowed him the possibility of parole and freedom.
These are some big, big charges.
So, I wanted to investigate each and everyone.
I referred to the LA District Attorney's site for a rebuttal to the clemency request, provided here. After reading it, there are some points that stick out to me.
First, you learn that to the fingerprints, both crime scenes were public places. One was a 7-11. One was a motel. So, the reality here is that fingerprints in and around the crime scene are all that interesting.
Second, the bloody footprint. This isn't addressed anywhere, in any source. I can't find a photo or it, it's not in any court documents that I have found. Anyone have more info on this?
Next, about the gun and confession. Tookies take on the gun is that the gun was found under the bed of a husband-wife team of criminals. What he doesn't mention is that these were his roommates. The wording of the paragraph is meant to suggest that the ownership of the gun found is in question when it's not. The serial number, description, etc of the gun recovered and matched 100% to the shell found at the crime scene is that of a gun purchased by Williams. James Garrett, the roommate, was a low level criminal, waiting to be sentenced for "Receiving Stolen Property". He was pending trial on an extortion charge.
The wife, Ester, also testified against Tookie. The conversations with both were interesting because, at the time they were interviewed by police, both knew details of the murder that could only have come from the murderer: details like the amount money taken, how the killer didn't leave any shells behind on the motel murder (the killer missed one, the shell that was matched to Tookie's gun), and how they had a test-run at different conveience store.
In fact, the report from the DA shows there is a ton of testimony that is pretty strong and overwhelming. The jail house informant, for example, is corroborated by handwritten notes made by Tookie. Thrown into this is a self-incriminating sets of notes that Tookie passed planning an escape by murdering a guard during transport to court. Regardless, even without this testimony, the case is as strong as ever. Describing George Oglesby as a "star witness" is not accurate.
But the biggest two pieces of evidence are from accomplices. Al Coward and Tony Sims. Coward was given immunity. Sims was not. Sims was convicted seperately and sentence to life. In 26 years he has never changed his story that the three acted together, and that Tookie was the trigger man. Coward, likewise, has always provided the same testimony. Sims testified at his trial that Tookie was with them, and used his shotgun to shoot the men he didn't want any witnesses as well as a general hatred because of their respective colors (White, and Asian).
On top of that two deputys testified that Tookie made incriminating statements during his questioning - he revealed that he knew the number of shots fired in the motel killing.
The biggest two things in my mind that favor Tookieis the conduct of the prosecutor. He did strike 3 black jurors from the jury pool. We don't really know what reason, he didn't have to give one. It is, though, untrue that the jury was all white. There was one black man as well as a hispanic on the jury. Second, the prosecutor does have a history of racially charged remarks during trials and to the jury. These are big problems in the conviction. They don't affect the evidence, but the due process issues raised are serious.
So, what's the deal, kossacks? Am I wrong to believe the prosecution, that Tookie was the trigger man on both killings?
Guilty, or not guilty?