Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Stanley ``Tookie'' Williams, a former gang leader and convicted murderer whose anti-gang advocacy from prison garnered praise, was executed by lethal injection after a series of last-minute appeals were rejected.

Williams, 51, co-founder of the Crips gang who was on death row for murdering four people in 1979, died at 12:35 a.m. after receiving a lethal dose of drugs at San Quentin State Prison outside San Francisco, said Todd Slosek, a spokesman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Yesterday California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the U.S. Supreme Court refused Williams's requests to stop the execution. He was the 12th prisoner to be executed in the state since 1977.

The case re-ignited the controversy over the fairness of the U.S. court system, with civil rights groups saying Williams, an African American, was convicted on faulty evidence. Williams won support from civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, rapper Snoop Dogg and other celebrities.

``This case will continue to be talked about, and what will be talked about is the issue of race,'' said Elisabeth Semel, a law professor at University of California, Berkeley, who has defended criminals facing the death penalty. ``African American leaders and celebrities, those have been the most prominent voices and I think that tells us something.''

7-Eleven Shooting

Prosecutors said Williams, after a night of smoking drugs, shot a 26-year-old 7-Eleven convenience store clerk twice in the back after forcing him to lie face down in a storage room. Williams and accomplices stole $120 during the February 1979 robbery, police said.

About two weeks later Williams broke down a door at a Los Angeles motel and killed the 76-year-old owner, his 63-year-old wife and their 43-year-old daughter before taking $100, prosecutors said. They said shotgun shells recovered from both scenes came from Williams's gun and witnesses testified that Williams said he was the killer. Williams was convicted in 1981.

Williams denied committing the murders, saying the witnesses, criminals themselves, were unreliable and the weapons experts were wrong. Yesterday his lawyers said new witnesses had emerged who said the police witnesses made up their stories against Williams.

``I look at this decision as a message that the criminal justice system in the state of California as well as across this country will continue to look at African Americans with a different set of standards than it does the rest of society,'' said Bruce Gordon, the president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, on a conference call with reporters yesterday.

Nobel Prize Nominations

In prison Williams renounced violence, wrote books urging kids to avoid gangs, and garnered national attention over the last five years when admirers nominated him for Nobel Prizes.

His supporters said that his death penalty sentence should have been converted to life in prison so he could continue his anti-gang work, which they claimed helped many kids stay out of trouble.

Schwarzenegger, whose approval ratings have dropped in the last year, said ``a close look at Williams' post-arrest and post conviction conduct tells a story that is different from redemption.''

``We're pleased that Governor Schwarzenegger did not turn a blind eye to the fact the four people were brutally murdered,'' said Harriet Salarno, president of Crime Victims United of California, a political action committee that funds campaigns for judges, sheriffs and prosecutors.

Schwarzenegger

It was the third time Schwarzenegger denied a clemency request since taking office in 2003. His decision was praised by victims' rights groups. California voters by a 68 percent majority support the death penalty.

``The people who are protesting this decision are not going to be Schwarzenegger's supporters, whereas clemency might have alienated a large portion of his political base,'' said John Pitney, a professor of politics at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California, and former researcher for the Republican National Committee. ``He made the decision that comported with what a majority of Californians want.''

The California legislature may vote in January to put all executions on hold pending a review of the death penalty in California. In a last-minute appeal to Schwarzenegger today, Williams's lawyers said the execution should be halted until the review