Troy Anthony Davis: Witnesses Lie By Mumia Abu-Jamal

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Supreme Court Rejects Execution Appeal Article By By ROBBIE BROWN Published: October 14, 2008 ATLANTA — Three weeks after temporarily sparing a Georgia inmate from the death penalty, the United States Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear his appeal, a decision that will probably lead to a quick execution. With 2 Hours to Spare, Justices Stay Execution (September 24, 2008) The inmate, Troy A. Davis, 40, was convicted in 1991 of murdering Mark A. MacPhail, a Savannah police officer. The courts decision, made without comment or explanation, allows Georgia officials to obtain a new death warrant and schedule the execution, probably in the next few days or weeks. The case has led to an outpouring of support for Mr. Davis, largely because seven of nine witnesses against him have recanted their testimony, with two claiming that the police had pressured them to testify against him. Prosecutors presented no physical evidence and no murder weapon, and three witnesses have said another man admitted to the murder. World leaders including former President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Pope Benedict XVI have challenged the fairness of Mr. Daviss conviction. Georgia is willing to risk the credibility of its whole death penalty system in carrying out this one very questionable execution, said Steven B. Bright, a visiting lecturer at Yale Law School and president of the Southern Center for Human Rights. The death penalty should really only be enforced in cases where there is no question about guilt, and that just cannot be said about this case. Prosecutors have rejected the claims of the witnesses who recanted, and both the Georgia Supreme Court and the State Board of Paroles and Pardons have denied Mr. Daviss requests for new trials and clemency. Members of the family of the slain police officer expressed relief at the Supreme Courts decision on Tuesday. My son will always be missed in our hearts, said Anneliese MacPhail, the mother of Officer MacPhail. But at least we can relax now and dont have to worry about whether justice will be served. The Supreme Court granted a stay of execution last month, two hours before Mr. Davis was scheduled to die by lethal injection. A judge is expected to set a new time frame for the execution by next week, said Spencer Lawton Jr., the district attorney in Chatham County, Ga., where the case originated. Mr. Daviss lawyers had asked the court to determine whether the Eighth Amendments ban on cruel and unusual punishment bars the execution of the innocent. They wrote in a petition in July that the case allows this court an opportunity to determine what it has only before assumed: that the execution of an innocent man is constitutionally abhorrent. Martina Correia, Mr. Daviss sister, said his lawyers were planning another request to the state parole board for a new hearing. We have to keep on battling, Ms. Correia said. But my brother told me, Even if they succeed in killing me, it will dismantle the death penalty system in Georgia because people are tired of injustice. Jared Feuer, the Southern regional director for Amnesty International, said he was shocked and saddened by the courts action on Tuesday. This decision shows how flawed and immoral the death penalty is, Mr. Feuer said. The court had been asked to rule on the basic question of guilt and innocence and the constitutional right of an individual to not be executed when there is doubt of his guilt. The court ducked its obligation. Mr. Lawton, the district attorney, said Mr. Davis received a fair trial and benefited from an international firestorm of public relations campaigning on his behalf. He pointed out that Mr. Daviss conviction had been upheld by 29 judges in seven different types of reviews, over the course of 17 years, before todays ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court. Officer MacPhail was shot and killed early on the morning of Aug. 19, 1989, as he tried to break up a fight between two men in a Burger King parking lot. Several witnesses testified that they had heard one of the two men, Sylvester Coles, threaten the other and then begin pistol whipping him over the head. Officer MacPhail, who was moonlighting as a security guard, interrupted the fight and was shot before he could remove his gun. Mr. Davis testified that he had been at a nearby pool hall but had left before Officer MacPhail arrived. Ms. MacPhail said, however, that she was confident Mr. Davis had committed the murder. He didnt give my son a chance, she said. He just shot him down in cold blood. http://www.prisonradio.org http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/15/washington/15execute.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

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Uploaded: October 15th, 2008 @ 11:00 pm
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