EDITORIAL TOOKIE'S LEGACY UNREPENTANT MURDERER'S SUPPORTERS UNDERMINED THEIR OWN CAUSE.

AFTER more than two decades of legal wrangling, Tookie Williams finally met his fate in the San Quentin execution chamber early Tuesday morning. And while his case raises some important questions for Californians to consider, there can be little doubt about two key points:

Williams was guilty, and he was not meaningfully reformed.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made that much abundantly clear in the six-page statement he released to explain his decision not to grant Williams clemency. Although Williams' supporters had long claimed his innocence, the overwhelming evidence proved otherwise, well beyond a reasonable doubt. Meanwhile, Williams' utter lack of contrition belied his claims of redemption.

To be sure, Williams was not the same man he was when he entered prison some 25 years ago, a hardened and hateful gang thug. But as the public looked into his case over the last few weeks, it was obvious he fell short of the mythical portrait of rehabilitation that his supporters had painted.

The more we learned about Tookie, the less ``changed'' he seemed. Even in his peaceful, book-writing days, he still allied himself with cop-killers and other criminals. Not only did he continue to deny his involvement in the coldblooded killing of four innocent victims, but he started to downplay his former involvement with the Crips.

In a state that overwhelmingly backs the death penalty, there was little reason why Williams should be the exception to the rule, other than that he had assembled an entourage of celebrity supporters and death-penalty opponents.

But in the end, his entourage did far more harm than good.

There are legitimate questions to be asked about how the death penalty works in California. The state's appeals process is so convoluted that most condemned murderers die of natural causes well before going to the death chamber. The result is an absurdly costly system that can't be called a deterrent, and a form of punishment so arbitrary that it could be called cruel and unusual.

This is a problem that's not easily solved. Most Californians, though supportive of capital punishment, would likely be uneasy about adopting a system like Texas' that is is less rigorous about establishing murderers' guilt. Do we want to risk executing those who truly are innocent?

But rather than addressing these worthwhile issues, death-penalty opponents decided to align themselves with an unrepentant murderer who made the oxymoronic claim that he is both blameless and redeemed. In so doing, they failed to persuade anyone other than themselves, giving the impression that they're not so much anti-death penalty as pro-murderer.

The execution of Tookie Williams was a tragedy. Not because it was unwarranted - through his early crimes and later obstinacy, he sealed his own fate - but because Williams was obviously a bright, talented man who ultimately chose death over life.

And in turning his case into a celebrity cause du jour based on deceit, death-penalty opponents squandered a chance to address some of the important issues it raised.