Schwarzenegger still undecided on gang leader

LOS ANGELES - California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will not decide today whether to grant clemency to former Crips gang leader Stanley Tookie Williams, who is slated to be executed this week for murdering four people in 1979, his office said.

As Williams awaited the clemency decision, his lawyers sought to prevent his scheduled Tuesday execution with a new petition to the California Supreme Court.

Barring clemency or last-minute court intervention, officials will administer a lethal injection to Williams at 12:01am (9pm NZT) on Tuesday in the death chamber at San Quentin State Prison.

"Mr. Williams has maintained his innocence since the day he was arrested," Attorney Verna Wefald wrote in the petition filed to the state's top court on Saturday.

"Given that the state's case rests on the testimony of criminal informants who had an incentive to lie, not only to obtain benefits, but to hide the truth of their involvement in these crimes, it is imperative that discovery be granted at this critical stage of Mr. Williams' case."

The attorney argued Williams was unable to challenge the credibility of key witnesses against him due to a "substandard" police investigation and evidence suppressed by the prosecutor. Such evidence would have implicated others in the four shooting deaths for which Williams, 51, was convicted and condemned to death in 1981, she said.

The petition called the key testimony of a sheriff's deputy that Williams' shotgun fired the shell found at the crime scene "junk science" and that the prosecution failed to disclose that witness Alfred Coward was not a US citizen and had several prior arrests for violent crimes. Coward is currently serving time in a Canadian prison for killing a man during a robbery.

The Williams case has generated widespread interest and passionate debate over the death penalty in the United States because the prisoner has written a series of books warning young people against gangs and says he has earned redemption.

As a quarter of a century of legal appeals have failed, Williams' lawyers have said in recent days that their greatest hope of saving his life lies with Schwarzenegger, who can commute the sentence to life in prison without parole.

The celebrity governor's office said he would not make a decision on Sunday, meaning that he will do so on Monday. After a clemency hearing on Thursday, Schwarzenegger said the decision was a "heavy responsibility" and he was studying all sides of the issue.

Los Angeles civic and community leaders have urged the public to remain calm whatever the governor decides, out of fears that Williams' execution could spark rioting.

It is unclear whether the latest legal tactics will win a reprieve for the inmate, who has apologized for his gang past but not for the murders, which he said he did not commit.

California's Supreme Court has already recently denied a request to stop the Williams execution.

- REUTERS