Here are more witnesses who testified against Tookie Williams in his murder trial:
Armando Dominguez
On February 28, 1979, at approximately 4:30 a.m., Mr. Dominguez was driving to his place of employment. As he drove along Whittier Boulevard, he passed the 7-Eleven. As he did so, he noticed a station wagon in the parking lot, and two people standing at the counter area of the store. (TT 2051-2056).Mr. Dominguez was not an accomplice, he was not a jailhouse informant, he was not facing prison time or death, and he was not granted freedom or a reduced sentence for his testimony. Like Johnny Garcia, he was an uninvolved citizen witness who was able to corroborate some of the relevant facts testified to by Alfred Coward.
Dale Coates
Dale Coates worked the night shift as a truck driver. On February 28, 1979, he drove past the 7-Eleven on Whittier Boulevard sometime around 4:30 a.m. As he did so, he noticed two cars in the parking lot. He remembered one of the cars was a light-colored car and the other car was darker and longer.He also testified he saw a thin white male walking toward the store entrance, while being followed by two black males wearing three-quarter length jackets. As the white male walked, he looked over his shoulder at the two black males behind him. (TT 2058-2065).
With the testimony of Mr. Coates, the prosecution again corroborated statements made by Alfred Coward. Mr. Coates corroborated the approximate time of the crime, he corroborated the vehicles used, and he corroborated the sequence of events at the time Williams walked up behind Mr. Owens and forced him into the store.
Contrary to the claims made in Williams' petition, Mr. Coates did this despite the fact he was not an accomplice, he was not a jailhouse informant, he was not facing a lengthy prison term or death, and he was not granted freedom or a reduced sentence for his testimony. Instead, he was a completely uninvolved citizen witness who was able to corroborate some of the relevant facts testified to by Alfred Coward.
George Oglesby
Although George Oglesby can be characterized as a jailhouse informant, the jury was fully informed of this. In fact, defense counsel for Williams conducted a lengthy and aggressive cross-examination of Mr. Oglesby on this very issue. Much of what George Oglesby testified to, however, was corroborated by handwritten notes written by Stanley Williams himself.Not only did George Oglesby identify these notes as being written by Stanley Williams, but Deputy Matthews recognized the writing from having previously received notes from Williams. (TT 2382). In addition, Stanley Williams personally handed a note to Deputy Lichten that was subsequently used for comparison purposes. (TT 2535-2536, 2551).
Herbert Campbell, a court-qualified handwriting expert, then compared the handwritten note passed to Deputy Lichten to the escape notes, and determined that all the notes were written by the same person. (TT 2548-2556).
Next: Testimony of Tony Sims
