By Lolly Bowean,Chicago Tribune

CHICAGO – With only two days left before the scheduled execution of Stanley “Tookie” Williams, the Rev. Jesse Jackson made another appeal for California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to spare the life of the reformed gang leader Saturday.

Jackson said Williams had changed dramatically while in prison, worked to discourage troubled youths from joining violent street gangs, and could serve humanity better if allowed to live. Williams’ execution is scheduled for 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Jackson also used the news conference at his Rainbow/PUSH headquarters on the South Side to call for an end to the death penalty.

“We must kill the idea of killing as a solution,” he said. “The eyes of the world are upon us.” Jackson stood with death penalty opponents and a Chicago man who was exonerated after spending nine years on Death Row for a crime he didn’t commit.

“Redemption does matter,” Jackson said. “We hope our voices will be heard. Do not martyr him or kill him. Let him use his fame to redeem others.”

Williams was sentenced to death for murdering four people in two incidents in 1979. Prosecutors said he killed his first victim while robbing a convenience store, then killed an elderly couple and their daughter less than a month later while breaking into a hotel.

Williams, 51, co-founder of the Crips, a Los Angeles street gang, is imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison.

Since his conviction, Williams has written eight books that warn children about the dangers of gang life. The royalties go to nonprofit agencies that help troubled youths. Williams was also the focus of the film “Redemption” starring Jamie Foxx.

His case has garnered national attention recently as supporters, political leaders and celebrities have rallied to have his death sentence commuted to life in prison without parole.

Victims’ rights advocates oppose granting Williams clemency because of his crimes.

Jackson said he visited Williams in prison last month. The two men prayed together, and since then Jackson has been advocating clemency.

Jackson said Williams had exhausted nearly all of his appeals, and added that he may have been wrongly convicted but unable to prove it. Williams’ jury didn’t include minorities, and there were no witnesses and no substantial evidence to prove he committed the crimes he was convicted of, Jackson said.

Jackson said it is wrong to sentence inmates to death in an unfair legal system.

“We know if you are (Robert) Blake or O.J. (Simpson) with a dream team of lawyers, you walk free,” he said. “If you don’t have a dream team of lawyers, you will die.”

Williams has not acknowledged guilt or remorse about the crimes. But former Illinois Death Row inmate Darby Tillis said he and many other inmates ended up with overburdened attorneys who couldn’t devote enough time to their cases, and they ultimately had no way of fighting the system. Death is too stiff a penalty, especially when there are so many cases where inmates are wrongly convicted, he said.

“Once they execute you, there is no coming back,” he said.

Tillis was convicted and sentenced to death for armed robbery and the deaths of two men in 1977. About 18 years ago, he was released from prison when another person admitted to committing the crime, he said.

“If we can save (Williams’) life, we’ve saved a great man,” he said. “He’s been dealing with the agony and pain of death coming every single day. Yet he’s been able to reach out to others. This man has been a blessing to many people. He’s given hope to so many people that had lost hope.”

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(c) 2005, Chicago Tribune.

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AP-NY-12-10-05 2111EST

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