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view archive LIES SO pervade the campaign waged to "save" convicted killer Stanley Too kie Williams that Williams and company don't even bother to cover their tracks when they say things they know aren't true. Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant him clemency, the Death Row inmate claimed in an interview Monday with MSNBC's fatuous Rita Cosby that he w as convicted by an "all-white jury." In fact, Williams' own clemency lawyers have stipulated that the jury tha t convicted him in the 1979 murders of Albert Owens, Yen-I Yang, Tsai-Sh ai Yang and Yee Chen Lin during two armed robberies was not all-white. I n the clemency petition, Williams' latest set of lawyers argued that pro secutor Robert Martin had kicked all African Americans off the jury. Whe n prosecutors produced a death certificate that showed that juror Willia m McLurkin was black, the lawyers noted in a reply that it doesn't matte r if McLurkin was black or part-black, because he "looked Filipino."
com) feat ures a fact sheet that, while asserting that no African Americans were o n the jury, stipulates a Filipino and Latino served on the jury. Why did Williams say something that he knew wasn't true? In the MSNBC transcript of the Cosby interview, Williams, a co-founder of the Crips gang in South Central Los Angeles when a teenager, said, "I n ever ordered, nor have I initiated, any killings on my part, period." The not-guilty-of-murder quote flies in the face of the clemency petition 's "atonement" claim. To wit: Williams "has accepted responsibility, rep ented and done whatever he could, from where he is, to atone." No: Williams has done whatever he could to seem to apologize while dodgin g any consequences of admitting his crimes. Let me add a few things you may not know: The not all-white jury convicte d Williams after his alibi defense crumbled. Also, jurors had learned of Williams' plans for an armed escape from jail. The jury foreman testifi ed that when the guilty verdict was announced, Williams mouthed this thr eat to the panel: "I'm going to get each and every one of you mother -- ." Over the years as he appealed his conviction, his appellate lawyers claim ed that Williams did not receive adequate counsel because his trial lawy er did not use a diminished capacity defense, as Williams was brain-dama ged -- due to drug abuse, mental illness and head injuries. An appellate judge weighed in, "A mental-state defense would have contradicted (the alibi) defense by conceding petitioner's presence at the scenes of the m urders." Despite numerous appeals, various courts -- including the liber al Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals -- continued to uphold his conviction. His lawyers now laud Williams because he "refuses to make a false confess ion, knowing it could benefit him penally, (which) shows the strength of his character." What, then, of his character on the brain-damage dodge -- an odd defense for a man whom supporters hail as a jailhouse philosop her and co-author of children's books? Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo told me he sees Williams' lega cy as one of "death and violence" -- with more than 300 gang-related hom icides in Los Angeles alone each year. "No matter how he tries to distan ce himself from violent gangs, he helped create them," Delgadillo noted. Crediting Williams for denouncing gangs is sort of like praising tobacco companies for their anti-smoking campaigns. Delgadillo said: "I think the justi ce system has done its job and a jury of his peers found him guilty." Consider ing Williams' many claims to MSNBC's Rita Cosby that he is "innocent," a nd that "being able to live, it would allow me to prove my innocence." T hat can only mean one thing: That after the execution is stayed, William s will spend years filing more appeals. Back in 2000, when Swiss legislator Mario Fehr nominated Williams for the Nobel Peace Prize, Fehr told me over the phone that Williams "might not even have killed those four people. Fehr, you see, wanted to send the message to young people "that no matter what mistakes you have made in your life, you can change for the better." The Tookie-philes are so filled with their own uplifting message that the y are participating in a campaign to free a convicted killer. They can't really care that Williams gunned down four innocent people -- not when they are willing to embrace his lies and abet a cold-blooded killer's bi d to go free.
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