Stanley Williams was an inmate in Los Angeles, California.
From the beginning of his sentence, Williams maintained his innocence regarding the four murders, alleging prosecutorial misconduct, exclusion of exculpatory evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, biased jury selection, and the misuse of jailhouse and government informants
 In 2001, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard Williams' appeal from the lower federal court, and the appellate court denied Williams' appeal in 2002, but noted that the federal courts were not his only forum for relief and that he could request clemency from the Governor of California

