Troy Davis in spotlight again as execution nears

By: Edecio Martinez
Topics: Daily Blotter

Troy Davis

/ AP/Georgia Dept. of Corrections

(CBS/AP) ATLANTA - Hundreds of thousands of people are rallying to support Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis. They not only oppose capital punishment but they also believe the state could put an innocent man to death.

The case is packed with drama: the murder of an off-duty police officer; conflicting eyewitness testimony; last-minute court decisions sparing a condemned man's life and global dignitaries who say they fear an innocent man could die.

Davis' case has captured considerable attention because of the doubt raised over whether he killed Mark MacPhail in Savannah in 1989. The U.S. Supreme Court even granted Davis a hearing to prove his innocence. It was the first time it had done so for a death row inmate in at least 50 years but he couldn't convince a judge to grant him a new trial.

The officer's family believes there is no doubt that Davis killed MacPhail and prosecutors say the right man was convicted.

Davis is scheduled to die Wednesday which is the fourth time his execution has been set in four years. He once came within two hours of being put to death. His attorneys say his legal appeals are exhausted and the chances of him winning another reprieve have dwindled.

However, supporters hope to convince Georgia's pardons board next week to spare his life.

The execution of Davis "risks taking the life of an innocent man and would be a grave miscarriage of justice," said former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat from Georgia and death penalty opponent who wrote a letter on Davis' behalf.

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
June 24, 2010 - Rare Death Row Innocence Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court

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by lynnruth September 21, 2011 12:26 PM EDT: Prosecutors will always say they have the right person because they never want to admit they have made a mistake. The people at the prisons will turn their heads the other way simply as an excuse to cover their butts, and not have to do the paperwork. They DO NOT CARE, and are many times more cold and callous than the ones they have incarcerated. It is too easy to simply look the other way and say, they never knew of a specific request.
The Bible clearly states that one should not kill, but the government believes they are the exception to the rule (man's law). It is clear to see that they are bringing the death penalty back on levels that far exceed what it used to be. Texas is a clear example of that.; Reply to this comment


by eddiethekid September 20, 2011 2:18 AM EDT: Here's the real reason Troy Davis awaits execution. If you think of all the ommissions and commissions in this case - no murder weapon, contradictory statements from witnesses, no physical evidence, etc., in most cases of this type a commutation would almost certainly be in order. However, in this case, a cop was one of the victims, and the long arm of the law reaches deep into both our political and judicial symptoms, and for the "esprit de corps" of the "force" somebody has to pay for the murder of the cop, even though off-duty at the time. That's the way it works in our society. The police protect the establishment and the establishment repays them by making sure someone, innocent or guilty, will pay for the murder of a cop. It's important to make the public think that if you kill a cop, you will be killed, and they don't care if the condemned man is innocent or guilty, as long as the public believes they got the right man and as long as it will serve as a deterrent against other cop killers.; Reply to this comment


by eddiethekid September 20, 2011 2:16 AM EDT: Here's the real reason Troy Davis awaits execution. If you think of all the ommissions and commissions in this case - no murder weapon, contradictory statements from witnesses, no physical evidence, etc., in most cases of this type a commutation would almost certainly be in order. However, in this case, a cop was one of the victims, and the long arm of the law reaches deep into both our political and judicial symptoms, and for the "esprit de corps" of the "force" somebody has to pay for the murder of the cop, even though off-duty at the time. That's the way it works in our society. The police protect the establishment and the establishment repays them by making sure someone, innocent or guilty, will pay for the murder of a cop. It's important to make the public think that if you kill a cop, you will be killed, and they don't care if the condemned man is innocent or guilty, as long as the public believes they got the right man and as long as it will serve as a deterrent against other cop killers.; Reply to this comment


by dudleysharp September 19, 2011 10:51 AM EDT: Troy Davis: Worldwide deceptions should not pressure commutation

Innocence Deceptions and the Anti Death Penalty Movement
Dudley Sharp, sharpjfa@aol.com

The false innocence claims by anti death penalty activists are a legendary part of their strategy.

1) Troy Davis: Misleading anti death penalty campaign
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2011/09/18/troy-davis-misleading-anti-death-penalty-campaign.aspx

2) "The Innocent Executed: Deception & Death Penalty Opponents"
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/10/08/the-innocent-executed-deception--death-penalty-opponents--draft.aspx

3) The 130 (now 138) death row "innocents" scam
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/03/04/fact-checking-issues-on-innocence-and-the-death-penalty.aspx

4) Sister Helen Prejean & the death penalty: A Critical Review"
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/05/04/sister-helen-prejean--the-death-penalty-a-critical-review.aspx

5) "At the Death House Door" Can Rev. Carroll Pickett be trusted?"
http://homicidesurvivors.com/2009/01/30/fact-checking-is-very-welcome.aspx

6) "Cameron Todd Willingham: Another Media Meltdown", A Collection of Articles
http://homicidesurvivors.com/categories/Cameron%20Todd%20Willingham.aspx; Reply to this comment


by thewatcherone September 18, 2011 2:29 AM EDT: I'm a progressive and I'm not falling for this innocent act. Davis shot a man in the head earlier that night at a party, this is proven fact. Then when he bashed a homeless man's head in with the butt of his pistol, the deceased officer approached him after the homeless man's friend pointed Davis out. As the officer approached Davis, Davis turned around with pistil already in hand and shot and wounded the officer. Then Davis supposedly smiled according to the witness, and shot the helpless officer in the head. This nonsense of witnesses recanting is just that, nonsense, this crime happened in 89, most the witnesses who had to retell their testimony retold it not exactly as they did in 89. NONE of the witness recanted, recanted means "to make a formal retraction," nobody did this. The only DNA evidence, which would prove his guilt absolutely, was the shorts with the victims blood on it, which the police were not able to test because the courts barred them from evidence due to illegal procedures. The jury, which was composed of seven blacks and five whites, was not prejudiced. I'm all for freeing innocent people, but this is not the case anti-death penalty folks and liberals like myself should be clinging to as this man IS GUILTY.; Reply to this comment


by KC0110 September 16, 2011 1:30 PM EDT: This story and others are grossly misrepresenting the facts of the case in order to solicit resonable doubt among the general populace. First of all the witnesses that are recanting their stories are witnesses that both the defense and prosecutors elected not to use in the original trial (one of which was a four year old child at the time), therefore their change of heart has no bearing on anything after the fact. The witnesses that were used in the original trial have never recanted their testimonies. Also, balistics tests put Mr. Davis at both crime scenes even though Mr. Davis now drums up the story 20 years later that he had stopped a complete stranger on the street, enroute to the second crime scene, and handed that person the gun and changed clothes with him, therefore that person has to have been the one who killed Police Officer MacPhail, according to Mr. Davis. The Supreme Court Judge threw out the appeal, because it was proven without a reasonable doubt in the original trial that he is guilty and Mr. Davis' defense team could not produce any new evidence to prove otherwise. Also, all these human rights groups and Al Sharpton types are not arguing his innocence at all, they just simply don't want to see another execution take place in any state no matter who it is. Finally, what about Officer MacPhail's family and the horror that they have had to endure over the last 20 plus years. No one seems too concerned about that!; Reply to this comment


by Ioldman September 16, 2011 1:19 PM EDT: They made lots of noises about a "might be" innocent man can be put to death but their mouths kept shut while real innocents were bombed mercilessly elsewhere. Sick!!!!; Reply to this comment

by eiswein September 16, 2011 1:00 PM EDT

This is not an academic issue -- an innocent man is about to be put to death, and the ONLY thing that can save him is an outcry from the public. Please take action. Please read the facts of the case on Wikipedia or Google, then go to the Amnesty International site, go to a local rally, call GA governor Nathan Deal at 404-656-1776 or the District Atty Larry Chisolm at (912) 652-7308. I have no personal connection, but I have been haunted by the thought of this man dying in less than a week's time when so many people believe in him, and are unable to save him. It is probable that his accuser, Sylvester Cole, is the killer, yet police believed Cole when he pointed the finger at Davis and were too stubborn to back down. And as to the Supreme Court hearing, please, since when is an American supposed to be considered "guilty until proven innocent????"

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by jkp911 September 16, 2011 2:07 PM EDT: Well said. I don't think there is an "oops" in executions.


by qmpash September 16, 2011 12:11 PM EDT: The very fact that the Supreme Court is reviewing THE EVIDENCE is an indication that there may be "reasonable doubt," which is the standard in any criminal case, nuch less 1st degree murder in a capital punishment state. I cannot remember a single case where the Supreme Court has ever done this, since they usually focus on Constitutional issues. If Davis is executed and then found innocent, what then will the state of Georgia do? Say that we're awfully sorry, but that's the way the cookie crumbles?; Reply to this comment

by subsailor911 September 16, 2011 11:53 AM EDT

I have a solution to solve the issue of morality and the death penalty. Put all those on death row in a helicopter, and land them on a deserted island. Give them all the resources they need for survival, and let them form their own community. It would be a lot cheaper than mantaining/building prisons to contain them.

A radical idea? Hey, it worked for Britain and Australia...

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by Ioldman September 16, 2011 1:06 PM EDT: Could you find one? How about the family's victims? Please give me an advise about the family's victims.