Governor Didn't Believe Williams Had Reformed

Over the last decade, Williams had become famous based on his account of how he went from a gang leader to an anti-gang crusader who had written books aimed at steering young people away from crime. That life story was at the heart of Williams' request for clemency.

Schwarzenegger rejected it entirely, suggesting Williams' redemption claim was "hollow."

The governor laid out his case in a five-page statement that was unusual for the length, detail and blunt tone in which it dismissed Williams' claims. Aides said the statement was largely drafted by Andrea Hoch, Schwarzenegger's legal affairs secretary, and her predecessor, Peter Siggins. Schwarzenegger announced last week that he was appointing Siggins to a state appellate court.

Aides to the governor, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the governor's deliberations, said Schwarzenegger was reviewing drafts of the statement as late as Monday morning. It was officially released shortly after noon. He reviewed as many as half a dozen drafts, asking detailed questions, the aides said.

In the days leading up to the deadline, Schwarzenegger had said that he was approaching the decision with "dread" and that deciding another man's fate was a governor's most difficult task.

But "there is nothing in the tone of the governor's decision that suggests it was a close call or agonized over," said USC law professor Jody Armour.

Instead, Schwarzenegger said there was no question that Williams had murdered four people in 1979. Williams' repeated refusal to admit that became, to the governor, a powerful factor against clemency.

"Stanley Williams insists he is innocent, and that he will not and should not apologize or otherwise atone for the murders," Schwarzenegger wrote. "Without an apology and atonement for these senseless and brutal killings there can be no redemption."

The evidence of guilt, the governor's statement said, included testimony from two of Williams' accomplices, ballistics evidence linking Williams' shotgun to the murders and testimony from four people that Williams had at different times confessed to one or both murders.