Gov. Taking His Time to Make Right Decision

As this is being written Sunday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger still has not announced his life-or-death verdict on Stanley Tookie Williams. And that could mean several things.

It certainly means he is not rushing his decision, but using practically all the time available. Like governors before him, Schwarzenegger wants to be absolutely sure on this. No haunting doubts, no sleepless nights.

And he needs to be able to explain his action, in detail – not only to a public that supports capital punishment but also to family and Hollywood friends who oppose it.

“You just have to have an open mind,” Schwarzenegger told reporters Friday, speaking of clemency decisions generally. “They are very heavy responsibilities.”

As for Williams, he added, “I am studying the whole thing, reading a lot

Former Gov. Gray Davis, who allowed five murderers to be executed on his watch, says that “clemency decisions were the hardest I had to make. I wanted to satisfy myself there was no question of guilt. I’d go through every sheet of paper in the file. And those files were thick as city phonebooks.”

Will Schwarzenegger refuse to block Williams’ scheduled execution in San Quentin’s death chamber one minute after midnight tonight? Or will he spare the quadruple murderer by commuting his sentence to life in prison?

It could be that no news from the governor since Thursday’s clemency hearing has been good news for Williams. The delay might mean that Schwarzenegger is agonizing and on the verge of granting clemency. Maybe this decision has been tougher than expected.

But I’d still be very surprised if Schwarzenegger issued California’s first death row commutation in 38 years, dating back to Gov. Ronald Reagan.

For one thing, here’s a coldblooded killer who’s begging for mercy while refusing to admit his guilt. He isn’t expressing any remorse for blowing away four innocent, helpless people with a shotgun in two cheap robberies 26 years ago.

In recent years on death row, Williams has co-written some anti-gang children’s books and preached against gang thuggery. But co-founding the bloody Crips, as he does admit, is not why a jury sentenced Williams to death. It was for murdering a young father of two and an elderly couple along with their daughter.

Williams maintains his innocence, but rather weakly, because the evidence against him is strong. It has been upheld by appellate courts.

This makes it tough on a governor weighing clemency: The condemned man won’t say he’s sorry for killing his victims. And there’s no real doubt of his guilt.

“Clemency is very difficult to earn,” says former Gov. Pete Wilson, who permitted five killers to be executed. “If you’ve been guilty of a brutal murder, it seems to me you’re called upon to pay for it with your life.

“There is a very slippery slope that would encourage simulated redemption and good works to escape that penalty.”

Another reason clemency would be surprising is this: If there is one thing Schwarzenegger seems to firmly believe in, it is that a governor should follow the people’s will.

Californians in 1978 voted to reinstate capital punishment, fitting it with new Supreme Court guidelines. And they still overwhelmingly favor it.

Schwarzenegger probably isn’t consciously pondering the political ramifications of his decision, but he is aware of public support for the death penalty. The last survey by the Field Poll on capital punishment, in March 2004, found that 68% of California voters favored it. That included 54% of Democrats and 87% of Republicans.

Historically, Californians’ support for the death penalty has ebbed and flowed. In 1956, 49% favored it; in 1971, 58%; in 1985, 83%; in 1997, 74%. Same poll question, different events in the news.

One event that softened support nationally for capital punishment was Illinois Gov. George Ryan’s granting clemency to all 167 death row inmates in 2003. The Republican asserted that Illinois’ judicial system was flawed in determining guilt and who among the guilty should die. That raised doubts everywhere.

But California is not Illinois. This state has extraordinary safeguards. Nobody can cite an innocent person’s ever being executed here in modern times.

A candidate for statewide office – especially governor – is still better off supporting the death penalty. Schwarzenegger does. So do both Democratic gubernatorial hopefuls: Treasurer Phil Angelides and Controller Steve Westly.

If Schwarzenegger were to grant clemency to Williams, says Republican consultant Kevin Spillane, “he’d dramatically lose support from conservatives. And he wouldn’t make up for it with new support from liberals or Crips gang members.”

The governor must have pleased conservatives last week, however, by appointing a raft of judges with prosecution backgrounds, including a new state Supreme Court justice, Carol A. Corrigan.

One result of dragging out his decision – if Schwarzenegger does deny clemency – is that there’ll be less time for Williams’ attorneys to file last-ditch court motions seeking a stay of execution.

The delay already may have meant less worry time for prison officials about security. Normally, San Quentin’s roughly 6,000 inmates are “locked down” – confined to their cells – for 24 hours before an execution. But because of rumblings about violence if the gang icon isn’t spared, a quicker decision might have required a weekend lock-down.

In the end, the public won’t care how much time Schwarzenegger takes to render his verdict – only that he gets it right.

 *

George Skelton writes Monday and Thursday. Reach him at george.skelton@latimes.com.