Court TV Host: Jami Floyd is here!

Jami Floyd: Hello, all.

Question from chi: Jami, you are so pro-Tookie's clemency -- can you tell us why?

Jami Floyd: funny you think so. I'd be interested in hearing what I said that made you think so. I'm actually not terribly pro-Tookie. I'm rather ambivalent. I don't like the death penalty, but I think there are causes that I'd rather spend my time and effort on. At the same time, I do have concerns about the inconsistent ways in which the penalty is applied (race of defendant, race of victim, gender, location). And then i worry about just plain innocence. Given that nearly 200 people have been exonerated in the last ten years, I just don't think the system is foolproof enough to allow for confident execution of human beings. All that being said, I don't really feel that strongly on this issue. To tell you the truth, when the question of whether we should cover it came up, I was not one of the ones pushing to talk about it all day.

Question from mel: Jami hi , do you think Arnold will grant clemency?

Jami Floyd: On Friday I really thought it was a possibility. But I think, if he were going to do it, he would have done it by now. The closer we get to the appointed time, the worse it looks for Tookie. Bye bye, Tookie.

Question from OldHipSanta: Jami, why has the media not shared that Tookie only sold a few hundred books? This is his major defense that he is "redeemed"?

Jami Floyd: I don't think it's the sale of the books that is cited in the clemency petition. The part I read focuses on the fact that he's writing the books at all. And the other things he's done to try to convince young people to choose the straight life rather than a life of crime. But I see your point. There is all this coverage of his Nobel prize nominations. You'll notice that I didn't mention those ONCE on the air. Anyone can be nominated for a Nobel prize, really. It's not like he won. So the media definitely does pick and choose the facts we report. And we tend to pick according, not to a bias, as people think, but according to what will make the story more compelling. The story of redemption sounds better if he's a best-selling author who has won the Nobel prize. Okay, I'm exaggerating, but you get my point.

Question from ctv_warhorse2: Are there any guidelines the Gov must follow in making his decision on clemency?

Jami Floyd: Not really. He can grant the petition based on anything. He is supposed to consider previous grants of clemency (one by Reagan and 23 by governor Ed Brown) and to read any evidence of redemption/rehabilitation. But in the end he can grant clemency for any reason, and without making any statement as to why. When Reagan granted clemency, the defendant was retarded. So even though he never gave a statement as to why it's always been felt Reagan simply did not think it right to execute a retarded person (a position the U.S. Supremes have since endorsed as a matter of constitutional law). And brown before him was a staunch liberal, so his reasons were rooted in a fundamental opposition to the penalty. But who knows what Arnold is thinking about. Our question for the show today was whether the penalty is for the victims, i.e., retribution. Or whether redemption should make any difference. In other words, should it matter that Tookie has found redemption? After all, the jury didn't give him a sentence of "Death unless or until he finds redemption." Whaddya think?

Court TV Host: Let us know!

Comment from stetx: I think that hits the point very well personally.

Comment from Parrot_claus: Hell, no.  Let him burn. He took four innocent lives.

Question from chi: Jami, don't most death penalty prisoners find God and redemption, should they all get off?

Jami Floyd: I don't know about most. It does seem that many do. Karla Faye Tucker is perhaps the best well-known born again prisoner, but i don't know if anyone has done a study.

Comment from jingle_balls: He should be an example for gangs everywhere and pay for his crimes.

Comment from Harleypoet: The issue is that he was sentenced to death for murder, his actions AFTER the fact should be irrelevant.

Comment from meg: But the sentence is the sentence unless it is found that he did not commit these crimes right?

Jami Floyd: Do you guys remember the old movie Angels with Dirty Faces? Wwhere Jimmy Cagney is this awful gangster and all the kids in his old hood look up to him for his notorious crimes and glam lifestyle.

Question from ctv_warhorse2: IMO redemption plays no part in the carrying out of the death sentence. 10000 good deeds do NOT wipe out just 1 bad deed. The murder victims are still dead no matter what the criminal does afterwards. They should find redemption before the murders.

Jami Floyd: At the very end the priest (Pat O'Brien) convinces him to go to the death chamber and scream and yell for his life like a coward so the kids will no longer respect him. It's a fabulous scene. You never know if he's really a coward or if he's redeemed and doing the right thing for these kids. Anyway, thought of it today when i reading up on Tookie.

Comment from Sandee: Jamie, if he has truly changed and has been rehabilitated, isn't his a good story to get out to the public. A success story?

Comment from petersonnut: I'd like to know how they say he is a so-called changed person and can benefit by writing kids books, why should we save him even if he is a changed man?

Comment from chevy2: It's good that he found redemption.....(if he has).but the victims didn't have a chance at anything.

Comment from Lori: what else do DR or LIfers have to do in prison? They either find god or a higher power, and the obvious. Lift weights and work out.

Comment from tookiesupporter: jami- although Tookie was found guilty, I think deciding whether or not he deserves clemency should be based on the facts of his trial seeing how all the evidence found didn't match up.

Comment from Joyful-n-TRIBEunphant: I oppose the death penalty, normally. But this case angers me. Tookie's arrogance...refusal to admit his crimes, shows he cannot be redeemed. And celebrities who support his clemency do so for ratings.

Jami Floyd: Petersonnut has a good point. Even if he is redeemed, even if he has written books, and done good works, he can still be executed and send a message that way. That's why I mentioned the old Cagney film. It points up the fact that this attention he's received may have actually done him more harm than good. If Governor Arnold could have quietly commuted the sentence, he might have done it. But no way with all of this political pressure. Now he'll want to make an example of Tookie.

Jami Floyd: Tookiesupporter has an excellent point -- but one that is different from clemency. There is a real question as to Tookie's guilt in the case. The key witnesses were all very bad criminals who received and continue to receive favors from the state. There was not direct evidence that Tookie was involved in either robbery. While I think there are better innocence cases (like the ones Scheck takes on) this goes back to my point about execution in general. It's not so much because I feel sorry for these guys. But I do think the state shouldn't take that which it cannot give back upon second thought - life. My question for Tribe is this: why should he admit the crimes if he didn't do them. There is always that possibility. This is always the tension for defense attorneys trying to get our clients to cop to things they haven't done.

Question from ctv_warhorse2: There are rumors that the Crips will riot if Williams is executed. Do you know if the police have taken any extra measures?

Jami Floyd: Yes, there is great concern in LA. We are scheduled to have Bill Bratton on tomorrow's show, the LA chief of police. But yes, Beth's reporting and mine, has found that there is great concern about rioting in downtown and east LA, as well as at San Quentin. This is another reason, some are speculating, that the Gov. is waiting to announce his decision. If it's last minute, at 11:55 pm, there will less reaction and less time for opponents to let loose.

Question from Andrea: Hi Jamie! Do you think that the Gov is worried at all about his reputation with his fellow Hollywood actors. I have heard speculation that either way he will be "the bad guy".

Jami Floyd: First, let me say that I've only met him once so I don't know the Gov. at all. Anything I say is pure speculation. But hell, that's never stopped me before so here goes... I think this governor is more receptive to Hollywood activists than others would be. This includes Bill Clinton when he was governor and refused to commute Ricky Rector's sentence (Rector was the retarded kid who asked what his meal would be that night just before he was killed). And i know previous California republicans (like Pete Wilson) had no interested in the glitterati and their views on the DP. I know Arnold is still very much a part of the world and will have greater respect for those folks and their views, therefore. At the same time, I think he is less interested in re-election that your average career politician. This is evidence by his recent pick for Chief of Staff (a left-left Democrat) and other choices he's made that have left his Republican supporters unhappy. So yes, I think he will give his Hollywood colleagues a real hearing. But in the end I think he will do what he thinks is right, without regard to either side.

Question from stetx: OK, but how many appeals has he gone through? Doesn't that mean anything? If there was new or missing evidence, should it have come up then?

Jami Floyd: Well, this clemency petition is COMPLETELY different from the appeals process. Clemency is at the last minute and it is for the governor to consider whether to spare a mans (or woman's ) live on the eve of execution. It doesn't really have to do with guilt or innocence. You are correct that Tookie has had five appeals wind through the courts, all arguing that he did not do the crimes. But that is a separate matter.

Question from Joyful-n-TRIBEunphant: What do you know about this new witness the defense for Tookie people have claimed is now coming forward?

Jami Floyd: I know that the defense team presented the new witness to the California Supreme Court and they rejected it as grounds for an appeal. The new witness, they said, would not have made a difference in the outcome/verdict even if he had testified at the trial. That's the harmless error standard we always talk about on CTV. The court said any error in Tookie's case was harmless (i.e., didn't make a difference) and therefore his conviction stands. No new trial. Which means his only hope is for clemency from the Gov.

Question from Clown: If, Tookie is granted clemency will he remain in prison?

Jami Floyd: Yes, he will receive life in prison without the possibility of parole. At that point the only way he would get out would be if some new evidence emerged that proved him innocent. Not likely since this isn't a DNA case and he has been investigating the possibilities since 1980. So he'd live out his days in the maximum security prison -- San Quentin or Folsom most likely.

Question from wendellr: Q) for Jami: Who is responsible for deciding in which cases the death penalty is sought?

Jami Floyd: That's a great question. The prosecutor on the case, in consultation with the elected District Attorney for the jurisdiction and the victims. That is of course when the law of the state allows for the death penalty. So it has to be a death-eligible offense before a DA can seek death. But they don't always even when the crime would allow them to. They exercise discretion based on the facts, the record, what the victim wants etc.

Question from janet21: My father was executed for the murder of my mother, we had forgiven him after 13 years...but just 3 weeks ago, were re-victimized in losing another parent. No one benefited from this execution, only hurt the victims, which were me and my siblings.

Jami Floyd: I've heard victims say this before. And I've heard them say that the period between verdict and execution is excruciating because they cannot begin to get closure. Also they say that witnessing the execution (even when it isn't a family member) does not give them a sense of satisfaction as they expect it to. It leaves them feeling empty. Interestingly, Joe Brucia who lost his daughter to that awful abduction and murder told prosecutors that he didn't want the death penalty for Smith. He wanted life because he wanted smith to suffer in prison for decades. Death, he said, would be too good for him. And finally, many convicted killers say they'd rather die than live with their demons. So often the penalty does not accomplish what it seeks to accomplish for those closest to the case, even if the larger society feels some sense of retribution.

Question from Boughs-of-Lolly: Jami, can Arnold just delay his execution for an amount of time w/o granting clemency right now?

Jami Floyd: Clever, but no. A judge has issued a death warrant for Tookie Williams to be executed on December 13th. That's why it's called an execution, btw. execution of the death warrant. Anyway, by law Tookie must be executed on the 13th. He is set to go at a little past midnight, but if the governor does nothing, the state will wait the full 24 hours of that day, until 11:55 pm on the 13th. St that point, inaction by the Gov. is deemed to be a denial and Tookie will be executed. So the most the Gov. can delay with no effect is just about 24 hours from the date the warrant goes into effect.

Question from jingle_balls: Why won't Tookie give info on the Crips? Honor? That's bull...

Jami Floyd: Well, he says he will not become a snitch. We glorify Mafiosi who are loyal to the family. This is the same thing. Look, the guy isn't Socrates. He's a former gang member who found religion and got a little education. I don't know how enlightened we can expect him to be. But I will agree with you that if he's made that choice he has to be prepared to pay the price. Let us know, btw, what you think of the coverage. We're trying to play tape of old famous death cases. The alternative today and tomorrow was to play a trial on tape that has aired before. Always curious which viewers will prefer. And as always, thanks for the chat. it is my favorite part of the week.

Court TV Host: Thank you, Jami!