Posted on 12/11/2005 8:15:22 PM PST by doug from upland
You'd die for a table at the most exclusive diner in all California
LA Notebook by Chris Ayres
THE MOST exclusive restaurant in California is located a few miles north of San Francisco and has been in business since 1852. It is exclusive because patrons can request in advance exactly what they want to eat, thus avoiding the inconvenience of a menu, and because it has served only seven customers — yes, seven — in the past decade. There is, however, one significant downside to the cachet of eating at this establishment: the after-dinner cocktail is served in a syringe, while the patron is strapped tightly to a hospital trolley. Welcome, dear readers, to the Final Meal canteen at San Quentin State Prison.
I have been fascinated by the last meal requests of death-row inmates ever since I discovered the page on the California Department of Corrections’ website that lists each pre-execution menu in course-by-course detail, as though it were part of some bizarre new Martha Stewart cookbook.
It is hard not to study each item in search of clues about the nature of the inmate’s alleged crime, his guilt (or lack of) and his state of mind. Why, for example, did Darrell Rich, the prolific rapist/murderer, order only tea and broth, while his fellow inmate and murderer Stephen Anderson requested two grilled cheese sandwiches, one pint of cottage cheese (plain, no fruit), corn mixture, one slice of peach pie, one pint of chocolate chip ice-cream, and radishes?
To be honest, I’m surprised San Quentin publishes these oddly compelling menus, as reading them tends to humanise the condemned. Many requests, after all, are for comfort food — a reminder that the murderer was once a child; or that the rapist once owned a teddy bear. Take Robert Massie, who managed to escape his first death sentence because of a Supreme Court ruling, then found himself on death row again for the murder of a man during an off-licence robbery.
Massie was a violent idiot, unsympathetic in every way, apart from his choice of last meal, which included two large vanilla milkshakes with “extra crispy” French fries.
In terms of garnering sympathy, the milkshakes were right up there with the request by Tom Thompson, another rapist/murderer, for a hot fudge sundae. Those two images — rapist/murderer, and hot fudge sundae — are so incongruous as to be almost comic.
Yet there comes a point when the scale of the final pig-out can dehumanise the prisoner. Personally, I can barely force down a piece of toast before a job interview. So how come William Bonin (the “Freeway Killer”) managed to tuck away two large pepperoni and sausage pizzas and three pints of coffee ice-cream before his lethal injection?
But if appetite equals guilt, what should we make of Donald Beardslee, the first (and only) death row inmate so far executed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? All he consumed before his death was a glass of grapefruit juice. Yet he was no less of a killer than Bonin.
I mention all this because of the execution scheduled for a week today of Stanley “Tookie” Williams. Williams, who co-founded the Crips street gang in 1971, is fast becoming another public relations disaster for Arnold, the Governor.
In jail the gang leader has authored children’s books that preach non-violence; gained the support of celebrities and politicians; been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize; and become the subject of a TV movie starring Jamie Foxx.
The Governor has called for a clemency hearing on Thursday, a voluntary move that suggests he is thinking seriously about it.
My own instincts are against the death penalty, for reasons that include the current transformation of Williams into a cult hero, and the terrible psychological burden put upon those who carry out the killings.
Let’s also spare a thought for the poor old death-row cook: preparing a family turkey at Christmas is bad enough; imagine the pressure of grilling someone’s final rib-eye.
But if the death penalty is going to be enforced, there seems no better candidate than Williams. If the founder of the Crips can be granted clemency, then surely no one deserves the needle and the trolley.
My only plea to Mr Schwarzenegger is to keep the details of the final meal private. It is hard to will a man to die when all he wants is a vanilla milkshake.
Shotgun blasts to the head and torso. One whole family killed while helpless so that the noted humanitarian Tookie would leave no witnesses.
Gee, I don't think I read any of his books to my child - or ever will.
The cook would have no remorse for cooking the last meal for the inmate. They are not conducting the execution. This author is an idiot.
But if the death penalty is going to be enforced, there seems no better candidate than Williams. If the founder of the Crips can be granted clemency, then surely no one deserves the needle and the trolley.
Pig's Feet
Red Beans and Rice
African Green Pepper And Spinach
Sweet Potato Pie
Might be too good for him but, heck, Christmas is coming.
As for the last requests of the inmates. Who cares.
I mean really, who cares !!!
Murders have the exact same taste buds as the rest of us. They can chose whatever they want as a final sensation.
But we will execute them for the crimes they comitted. If they wanted a life of sundaes, they wouldn't have done the crime.
So tell this idiot to shut up already.
"Individual Responsibility" is a foreign concept to those people. "Victimization" is all they know, and all they want to see.
A skinny runt playing bulked up hulk, could it be to protray Williams as normal person?
LOL!
I was going to post-
So how come William Bonin (the “Freeway Killer”) managed to tuck away two large pepperoni and sausage pizzas and three pints of coffee ice-cream before his lethal injection?
Oh my goodness- that's terrible for the arteries.
Madonna writes children's books, too, so that is not saying much.
"See Dick. See Jane. See Dick blow Jane's face off and make remarks about the gurgling sound she makes as she lays dying..."
Fry him...
The cook would have no remorse for cooking the last meal for the inmate.
______________________________________________________
I had a really twisted thought. Do you think the cook ever spits (or worse) in the last meal?
I love Red Beans and Rice. Made some the other night- with some good smoked sausage cut up into it.
______________________________________________________
Statement of Governor Haley Barbour Arnold Schwarzenegger on Clemency Request of John B. Nixon, Sr Stanley "Tookie" Williams:
On Saturday, I made the decision to deny the request for clemency made by and on behalf of John B. Nixon, Sr. Stanley "Tookie" Williams, who was convicted in 1986.1981 in Rankin County Circuit Court Los Angeles County Circuit Court of a heinous murder four heinous murders. I made this decision after a careful review of the records provided on his behalf.
I will not presume to substitute my judgment for the judgment of the Rankin County Circuit Court Los Angeles County Circuit Court and the jury, which heard the evidence in the case, returned a guilty verdict and set the punishment; nor will I presume to substitute my judgment for the decisions of the Mississippi California Supreme Court, the United States District Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Ninth Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. Those courts have reviewed the legal issues and determined that this defendant's legal rights were protected at every stage. His various appeals over all these years were repeatedly heard and consistently denied.
As governor I take the obligation of reviewing a request for clemency very seriously. And, upon review, I find nothing to convince me that clemency is justified in this case.
The real tragedy is that justice in this case has been delayed for more than 20 25 years. A delay of this length greatly reduces the deterrent effect of the death penalty.
______________________________________________________
So there you go Arnold. You're all set.
Yeah. Juice.
I'll pull the switch and spare anyone else the burden of being a mature adult and doing what has to be done for the good of everyone. Just give me a website to go to and a confirmation dialog box. "Please click Next to execute this murderer"
Tookie is nothing but filth who would have been absolutely unpenitent if he hadn't got caught.
If I had any imput with Tookie's execution, right after the IV drip is started, (and Took is layin' there "waiting"), over the "very substantial" loud system I had installed in the execution room AND the "observation room"( just special for Tookie's "visit")would emit the following at a "very substantial" volume:
Jules'(Samuel Jacksons')voice giving his Ezekiel 25:17 "speech" from Pulp Fiction.
Ezekiel 25:17
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.
-ccm
I thought they strapped on a depends or stuffed his tailpipe with cotton to deal with that.
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