Prosecutor asks for death penalty in fatal stabbing
Willie Green's lawyer urges mercy
April 09, 2002
By Glenn Chapman STAFF WRITER
Defense attorney James Giller appealed to the jury's compassion, and urged them to spare the convicted murderer whose life's story is a tale of a dangerous career criminal.
Jurors were delayed from returning to the courtroom after Green reportedly urinated on their stairway during a break in closing arguments in Judge Philip Sarkisian's courtroom Monday afternoon.
The jury's delay allowed a janitor to clean the stairs, which jurors use to go back and forth to an upper floor reserved for the panelists.Chronology of crime
In a Powerpoint presentation, Deputy District Attorney Michael Nieto displayed a chronology of ferocity and lawlessness by Green that dates back to 1978 and includes robbery, theft, weapons possession, and killing.
"That is a lifetime of crime," Nieto assured jurors as the penalty phase of Green's trial neared its close. "That is a resume that qualifies him for a job on death row."
Last month the jury found Green guilty of murdering 27-year-old Charles Hass and trying to murder Aaron Merritt after the pair stepped out of a Peralta Street liquor store on Jan. 27, 2001. Green stabbed Hass in the heart and knifed Merritt in the lung during a failed attempt to rob Hass, according to evidence presented by Nieto.
Nieto discredited the defense experts who contended Green's behavior should be viewed in the context of his paltry intelligence and his harrowing childhood. Nieto dismissed the findings of the paid witnesses as scripted, unfounded and "$24,000 worth of distraction."
Nieto told jurors that sentencing Green to life in prison instead of execution would be "giving him a gold card to continue his behavior on inmates and jail staff." While incarcerated earlier, Green joined a prison gang, according to investigators.
Nieto finished his presentation by playing a recording of Hass singing at a party with friends. The song was "American Pie," by Don McLean. The sound of Hass happily belting out the chorus "and this will be the day that I die" lingered as Nieto turned off his laptop computer and sat down.
"What this is about is a man's life is at stake," Giller countered when it was his turn to address jurors. "It is not necessary to kill Willie Green. ... Mercy and compassion can all come into play."Green's 'other side'
Giller urged jurors to think of testimony from Green's friends and family members and to keep in mind the "whole other side of Willie." Green was portrayed by family members as a forceful man who protected his loved ones on rough Oakland streets.
"This case calls for understanding," Giller said. "Willie Green will die in prison, you've already assured that with your guilty verdict."
The jury is to begin deliberations today.