Exonerated Death Row Survivors Urge Georgia to Stop the Execution of Troy Davis

From Witness to Innocence:
Exonerated Death Row Survivors Urge Georgia to Stop the Execution of Troy Davis
 
Chairman James E. Donald                                                                                                           
Georgia State Board of Pardons & Paroles
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE
Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower
Atlanta, GA 30334

Dear Chairperson Donald and Members of the Board:

We, the undersigned, are alive today because some individual or small group of individuals decided that our insistent and persistent proclamations of innocence warranted one more look before we were sent to our death by execution.  We are among the 138 individuals who have been legally exonerated and released from death rows in the United States since 1973.  We are alive because a few thoughtful persons – attorneys, journalists, judges, jurists, etc. – had lingering doubts about our cases that caused them to say “stop” at a critical moment and halt the march to the execution chamber.  When our innocence was ultimately revealed, when our lives were saved, and when our freedom was won, we thanked God and those individuals of conscience who took actions that allowed the truth to eventually come to light.

We are America’s exonerated death row survivors.  We are living proof that a system operated by human beings is capable of making an irreversible mistake.  And while we have had our wrongful convictions overturned and have been freed from death row, we know that we are extremely fortunate to have been able to establish our innocence.  We also know that many innocent people who have been executed or who face execution have not been so fortunate.  Not all those with innocence claims have had access to the kinds of physical evidence, like DNA, that our courts accept as most reliable.  However, we strongly believe that the examples of our cases are reason enough for those with power over life and death to choose life. We also believe that those in authority have a unique moral consideration when encountering individuals with cases where doubt still lingers about innocence or guilt.

One such case is the case of Troy Anthony Davis, whose 1991 conviction for killing Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail rested almost solely on witness testimony.  We know that today, 20 years later, witness evidence is considered much less reliable than it was then.  This has meant that, even though most of the witnesses who testified against him have now recanted, Troy Davis has been unable to convince the courts to overturn his conviction, or even his death sentence.

Troy Davis has been able to raise serious doubts about his guilt, however.  Several witnesses testified at the evidentiary hearing last summer that they had been coerced by police into making false statements against Troy Davis. This courtroom testimony reinforced previous statements in sworn affidavits.  Also at this hearing, one witness testified for the first time that he saw an alternative suspect, and not Troy Davis, commit the crime.   We don’t know if Troy Davis is in fact innocent, but, as people who were wrongfully sentenced to death (and in some cases scheduled for execution), we believe it is vitally important that no execution go forward when there are doubts about guilt.  It is absolutely essential to ensuring that the innocent are not executed.

When you issued a temporary stay for Troy Davis in 2007, you stated that the Board "will not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused."  This standard is a welcome development, and we urge you to apply it again now.  Doubts persist in the case of Troy Davis, and commuting his sentence will reassure the people of Georgia that you will never permit an innocent person to be put to death in their name.

Freddie Lee Pitts, an exonerated death row survivor who faced execution by the state of Florida for a crime he didn’t commit, once said, “You can release an innocent man from prison, but you can’t release him from the grave.”

Thank you for considering our request.

Respectfully,

Kirk Bloodsworth, Exonerated and freed from death row Maryland
Clarence Brandley, Exonerated and freed from death row in Texas
Dan Bright, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana
Albert Burrell, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana
Perry Cobb, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
Gary Drinkard, Exonerated and freed from death row in Alabama
Nathson Fields, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
Gary Gauger, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
Michael Graham, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana
Shujaa Graham, Exonerated and freed from death row in California
Paul House, Exonerated and freed from death row in Tennessee
Derrick Jamison, Exonerated and freed from death row in Ohio
Dale Johnston, Exonerated and freed from death row in Ohio
Ron Keine, Exonerated and freed from death row in New Mexico
Ron Kitchen, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
Ray Krone, Exonerated and freed from death row in Arizona
Herman Lindsey, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
Juan Melendez, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
Randal Padgett, Exonerated and freed from death row in Alabama
Freddie Lee Pitts, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
Randy Steidl, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
John Thompson, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana
Delbert Tibbs, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
David Keaton, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
Greg Wilhoit, Exonerated and freed from death row in Oklahoma
Harold Wilson, Exonerated and freed from death row in Pennsylvania

Tonight on Atlanta Radio: Update on Troy Davis' Death Row Appeal

Mondays, 6pm - 7pm EST ----- WRFG-Atlanta 89.3 FM
http://www.wrfg.org/features/shows/shows-desc.asp?showid=36
 

Join us tonight for an update on the case of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, whom many now believe to be innocent of the crime for which he is on death row, i.e. the killing of Savannah police officer Mark McPhail.  Davis has been spared from execution three times, as his attorneys continued to struggle within the legal system over the years to present new evidence, primarily the changed or recanted testimony of 7 out of the 9 witnesses who testified at Davis' original trial and the possibility that the real killer was among the original nine witnesses.  Last year, the Supreme Court finally ordered a rare hearing of the new evidence and in June of this year, U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr. heard two days of testimony from witnesses.  Last Tuesday, August 24th, however, Judge Moore ruled against Troy Davis once again.  We will speak tonight with E. RED, rap artist and boyhood friend of Troy Davis, as well as with Sara Totonchi, Executive Director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, and Kathryn Hamoudah, Chairperson of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

Sara Totonchi joined the Southern Center for Human Rights in 2001 as the Public Policy Director and was promoted to Executive Director this past January, 2010. She represents SCHR at the Georgia General Assembly on a full range of criminal justice and public safety issues. She collaborates with attorneys to galvanize public support of SCHR's litigation through strategic media outreach.  Totonchi has led coalition efforts and legislative advocacy for criminal justice reform with concerned citizens including family members of people in prison, attorneys, faith-based communities, survivors of crime and mental health advocates.

Kathryn Hamoudah is the Chairperson of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, our statewide anti-death penalty coalition. She serves as Amnesty International's Southern Regional Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator and is employed as the Public Policy Associate at the Southern Center for Human Rights. In addition, she is an organizer for a local Palestine Solidarity organization. Previously, she worked at the Atlanta Alliance on Developmental Disabilities.

E. Red is a rap artist who grew up in Savannah, Georgia, alongside Troy Davis.  He remembers learning about Davis' arrest and has been an advocate for his innocence ever since.  E. RED now lives in Atlanta with his family.  A multi-talented artist fueled by a deep passion for his music, he wears many hats in the industry, doing everything from production and songwriting to arranging and engineering. With more than 10 years in the game, his lyrics are hardcore and direct and his songs have serious subject matter. Frustrated by many different labels trying to stifle his creative abilities and turn him into someone else, E. RED decided to start his own label, Port City Muzic, in order to put out the music that he loves. He endeavors to play a role in the development of other artists as well.  E. RED has had the opportunity to work with some veterans in the game, such as K.T. and Fred G., formerly of ATL’s own Hard Boys and Kujo Goodie. He has also worked with producers DJ Brad of the Legion of Doom, Flame “Fame” Miller, and Tom Slick of Collipark Music.

Tune in and join the conversation!  You can also listen on the web by going to our home page (http://www.wrfg.org/) and clicking on the "Listen Live" icon on the righthand side of the page.  For more information about Just Peace, check out http://www.wrfg.org/features/shows/shows-desc.asp?showid=36.
 

Judge Rejects Death Row Prisoner Troy Davis’s Innocence Claim

 

 

A federal judge in Georgia has rejected death row prisoner Troy Anthony Davis’s claims of innocence. Last year the Supreme Court took the unusual step of ordering a district court in Georgia to hold a special evidentiary hearing to consider evidence that surfaced after Davis’s conviction and might establish his innocence. Davis was convicted for the 1989 killing of an off-duty white police officer, Mark MacPhail. Since then, seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted their testimony, and there is no physical evidence tying him to the crime scene. [includes rush transcript]

Guest:

Martina Correia, Troy Davis’s sister and leading campaigner against the death penalty.

-----------------------------------------------------

AMY GOODMAN: A federal judge in Georgia has rejected death row prisoner Troy Anthony Davis’s claims of innocence. Last year the Supreme Court took the unusual step of ordering a district court in Georgia to hold a special evidentiary hearing to consider evidence that surfaced after Davis’s conviction and might establish his innocence. The hearing took place in late June, but on Tuesday, US District Judge William Moore issued a 174-page order concluding Davis is guilty.

Davis was convicted for the 1989 killing of an off-duty white police officer Mark MacPhail. Since then, seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted their testimony, and there’s no physical evidence tying him to the crime scene. But Tuesday’s order from Judge Moore reads, quote, "While Mr. Davis’s new evidence casts some additional, minimal doubt on his conviction, it is largely smoke and mirrors...The vast majority of evidence at trial remains intact, and the new evidence is largely not credible...After careful consideration, the court finds that Mr. Davis has failed to make a showing of actual innocence," the decision read.

Troy Davis has garnered widespread national and international support, with figures like Pope Benedict, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former US President Jimmy Carter all calling for clemency in his case. Many are now concerned the latest ruling puts Davis back on track for execution.

Larry Cox, the executive director of Amnesty International, said, quote, "The testimony that came to light demonstrates that doubt still exists, but the legal bar for proving innocence was set so high it was virtually insurmountable. It would be utterly unconscionable to proceed with this execution, plain and simple," he said.

For more on the ruling, what it means, what the options are that remain for Troy Davis, I’m joined now via Democracy Now! video stream by his older sister and leading campaigner against the death penalty, Martina Correia. She joins us from her home in Savannah, Georgia.

Martina, welcome to Democracy Now! Can you talk about the significance of the judge’s decision?

MARTINA CORREIA: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

Well, this is a tremendous setback, of course. It was very disappointing. We don’t agree with the judge’s ruling, because we know that Troy is innocent. But, you know, in the courtroom, sometimes it felt like the judge had already predisposed his opinion about Troy’s case, so it was very disheartening to know that when witnesses have come forward that have no criminal record and wanted to talk about, you know, people—you know, Sylvester "Red" Coles confessing to them about the murder, the judge wanted to rule that it’s hearsay and didn’t want to accept it. And then, when the old witnesses came forward and talked about how they were pressured into their testimonies against Troy, then their credibility came into play, but they had the same credibility when they used them to testify against Troy, so it’s really amazing how they were credible then and then not credible now.

AMY GOODMAN: One of the things the judge has said, or asked, is why Coles, the person that many charge was the shooter, who say he actually admitted to this, why he wasn’t called.

MARTINA CORREIA: Well, the lawyers actually had a subpoena for Sylvester "Red" Coles, but they have no policing powers, so they can’t go on private property and serve a subpoena without policing powers. And the judge did not give them policing powers, nor did he assign any police to serve the subpoenas that were already issued and ready to be served on Sylvester Coles. So, that was something that was, you know, technical that couldn’t be helped, but, you know, the lawyers did everything they could to have him served. But, like I said, they had no policing powers, and the judge would not assist with policing powers to have the warrant served—to have the subpoena served. So what we had to do was we had to trust that he would come to court. But, you know, of course, he’s not going to come to court and try to defend himself, because it would be his word against the witnesses’ word.

AMY GOODMAN: And the significance of the judge saying those who came forward and recanted—that said they recanted their testimony, only one marginally mattered.

MARTINA CORREIA: Well, you know, it’s amazing, because they couldn’t really dispute the—certain testimonies. And, you know, when the witnesses came up and they were testifying, the prosecutor, the state attorney, was more interested in their convictions and their prior arrests than he were in what they had to say about Troy Davis. And these people came forward on their own, you know, knowing that they faced liabilities themselves and knowing that they face other prosecutions and persecutions themselves within the court system. But they came forward. And there were some people that were afraid to come forward, because they felt threatened by the system. So, you know, it’s amazing.

I haven’t read all of the 174-page report. I’m still in the process of reading it, because I was called so much yesterday—I didn’t have time to really sit down—by the media, that I haven’t read all of the report or all of the opinion. So, you know, the lawyers are going through it page by page so that we can follow the appellate process. And that’s what we’re going to continue to do.

AMY GOODMAN: Why do you believe "Red" Coles is the person who killed Officer MacPhail, Martina?

MARTINA CORREIA: Well, "Red" Coles was the only person that was arguing with Larry Young over the can of beer, and he admitted that in court, that he was arguing with Larry Young. Larry Young said that the person he was arguing with was the person who hit him with the weapon. And Sylvester "Red" Coles threw away his weapon, and it was never found. And even in the courtroom, they asked the police, "Why didn’t you make Sylvester Coles look for his weapon?" And they said, well, they looked in some bushes, and then they never looked any further. They never searched his home. They never got a warrant. They never made him produce his weapon. And they had already fixed the case on Troy. So, if Sylvester "Red" Coles was the only one in the parking lot that night with a weapon, a .38-caliber weapon, the same caliber weapon that the police officer was shot with, and no one saw Troy with a gun, no one saw Troy pistol-whip Larry Young—Troy had no reason to pistol-whip Larry Young, because in Larry Young’s testimony he said he never saw Troy in the parking lot, Troy never spoke to him—that only leaves Sylvester "Red" Coles.

AMY GOODMAN: What happens next, Martina?

MARTINA CORREIA: Well, what happens next is we follow the appellate process. We’re waiting on the lawyers. They got to go through the opinion, page by page, section by section, and they have to break it down, and they have to find out all the avenues of appeal. And then they’ll decide whether we’ll go before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals or the US Supreme Court or whether we have other avenues to travel. And that’s the avenues that we will follow, and we will follow the appellate process to the end.

AMY GOODMAN: What was Troy’s response to the judge’s decision? I mean, this is a very significant decision, because, I mean, a case hasn’t been decided like this, sent back to a judge, a death penalty case, in what? Half a century?

MARTINA CORREIA: Well, he was very disappointed that the case was actually sent back to Chatham County. We were all elated when the US Supreme Court gave us this opportunity, but to come back to the same county where you’re convicted of and have a judge rule on your case that has been in the county, has ties to that county for so many years, you know, Troy was praying and hoping for a fair, you know, opportunity. And, of course, he feels like he didn’t get that. But he’s more concerned about our family than he is about himself and how this is impacting us, because he knows that both families are being impacted and that—you know, some people feel like, you know, why do you keep fighting? Why don’t you just let this go? But we feel that Troy is innocent, and we’re going to keep fighting until we can prove that. And we’re not going to stop fighting for his life.

AMY GOODMAN: Martina, you, in yourself, are a remarkable story. You were honored together with the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as you battle cancer, considered one of the stars—your face on buses of Savannah—in battling against cancer. What gives you the strength?

MARTINA CORREIA: Well, to know that we have the truth on our side and to know that you have to take a stand for what’s right. And, you know, sometimes battling for your life, no matter what the situation, it comes out to be the same. You have to stand and fight, because you have to have the strength and the tenacity to know that when you’re doing the right thing, good outcomes come out. And so, in my battle to save myself from cancer and my battle to save my brother’s life, it’s like a parallel journey of fighting. And I will never give up. And I always keep in my heart that, you know, I may have cancer, but it doesn’t have me. And Troy may be on death row, but he is innocent, and we’re going to prove that.

AMY GOODMAN: Martina Correia, I want to thank you for being with us, Troy Davis’s older sister, anti-death penalty activist, speaking to us from her home in Savannah, Georgia.

Rice University Teach-In for Troy Davis

The Death Penalty, Race, Institutional Flaws and What You Can Do

In 1991 Troy Anthony Davis was convicted of the murder of off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail and sentenced to death in Georgia. In the case Davis pleaded innocent and through out his time on death row he has never changed this assertion. After his first appeal, seven out of nine eyewitnesses recanted their testimony or contradicted their previous statements. Many asserted that the police had coerced them to give evidence implicating Mr. Davis. One of the two eyewitnesses who did not change testimony was himself a suspect in the trial prior to Mr. Davis. Mr. Davis appealed his case to the Supreme Court of the United States and, on August 17th, 2009, the Court ordered a new evidentiary hearing.

On September 24th Rice University’s Amnesty International Chapter will examine this case and the ways in which it reflects the deep inadequacies within the American justice system, especially when it comes to the death penalty and it’s interaction with race. Rice Amnesty urges all who are interested in the case, in the justice system, in fairness and in the abolition of the death penalty to attend.

The event will be held on Thursday, September 24th at 6:30pm. The event will be located in the Humanities Building, number 31 on the campus map, Houston TX, 77005.

For further information, please contact Julia Lukomnik, External Vice President of the Rice university Amnesty International Chapter, at jel2@rice.edu

U.S. Supreme Court Orders Hearing for Troy Davis

The Innocence Project is reporting that in a highly unusual step, the U.S. Supreme Court today ordered a new hearing in the case of Troy Davis, who has been on Georgia’s death row for nearly two decades for a murder he says he didn’t commit. Ruling on a habeas corpus petition from Davis, the court ordered a federal judge to “receive testimony and findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis’] innocence.”

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented.

But Justice John Paul Stevens cited prior court precedent that said it would be “an atrocious violation of our Constitution and the principles upon which it is based” to execute an innocent man.

“Imagine a petitioner in Davis’s situation who possesses new evidence conclusively and definitively proving, beyond any scintilla of doubt, that he is an innocent man,” Stevens wrote. “The dissent’s reasoning would allow such a petitioner to be put to death nonetheless.”

Read the full story here. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 08/17/09)

Last year, the Innocence Project joined with the Innocence Network in filing a friend-of-the-court brief in federal court on Davis’ behalf, arguing that eyewitness identification – a major contributor to Davis’ conviction – is often unreliable and that the case should be subject to review on appeal. Download the Network brief here. (PDF)

Troy in the News:
Atlanta-Journal Constitution
Associated Press
SCOTUS Blog
C&C Blog

Troy Davis on CNN's Anderson Cooper

Troy Davis' case will be featured on CNN's Anderson Cooper tonight. I will try to post a link to the coverage tomorrow.

Tonight: Troy's case on BET

Watch 106 & Park BET Show from 6:00 to 7:30 pm and NAACP members will highlight the Troy Davis Case.

Global Day of Action for Troy Davis

Troy Davis is a man on death row with a compelling case for innocence. No murder weapon, no physical evidence, and 7 of 9 eye witnesses have recanted their testimony. Yet no jury has ever heard this evidence. The 11th Circuit Court has denied Troy Davis' most recent petition and a new execution date may come as early as mid-May.

We're coming out in full force on May 19 so Georgia and the world can show our outrage that justice is still being denied an innocent man on death row. We're calling on Gov. Sonny Perdue and the GA Board of Pardons and Paroles to grant clemency and finally allow a jury to hear the new evidence and recantations. Sponsored by Amnesty International and NAACP.

Help spread the word!
Change your profile picture to the "I Am Troy Davis" graphic used for this event, and update your status to spread the word about Troy and the May 19 rally.

Sign the petition to have Troy's sentence commuted.

Pass out flyers (PDF) for the event in your group, neighborhood, or congregation:


Participate in the Global Day of Action in your own community! Set up a local event such as a rally or prayer vigil and list it with Amnesty International.

Troy Davis loses appeal by 2-1 vote

Daily Report

A federal appeals court late Thursday afternoon ruled against Troy Anthony Davis, whose claims of innocence have delayed his execution for killing a Savannah police officer in 1989. Judges Joel F. Dubina and Stanley Marcus
wrote that Davis failed to meet the proceduralrequirements for filing a second habeas petition in federal court. Davis has 30 days to appeal to the
U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Rosemary Barkett dissented, saying to execute Davis in the face of evidence that may prove his innocence is unconstitutional.

About to be killed by the state of Georgia

Indie rock group State Radio has joined forces with Amnesty International to produce a short, hard-hitting animated Web video about the plight of death row inmate Troy Davis. Davis has been on death row for 18 years and has received three stays of execution, twice coming within 24 hours of his death, despite a strong claim of innocence that has never been heard in a court of law. The case has captured the attention of people nationwide. The genesis of the Web video came when lead singer Chad Stokes, an Amnesty International member, wrote a song about Davis called “State of Georgia.” According to the band,

Troy Davis’ case is one example of a major malfunction within the justice system in this country. We believe that every person deserves the right to a fair trial, and because of scenarios like this, we believe the death penalty should be abolished nationwide.

With stark moving images that illustrate the song’s lyrics, the Web video demonstrates, in bold-face, the disturbing realities of the case: no murder weapon, no physical evidence tying Davis to the crime and witnesses who recanted their testimony, alleging police coercion. Davis was convicted in 1991 of killing Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. Authorities failed to produce a murder weapon or physical evidence tying Davis to the crime. Seven of the nine original state witnesses have recanted or changed their initial testimonies in sworn affidavits. One of the remaining witnesses is alleged to be the actual perpetrator. Since the launch of its February 2007 report, Where Is the Justice for Me?, Amnesty International has campaigned intensively for a new evidentiary hearing or trial, as well as clemency for Davis, collecting hundreds of thousands of clemency petition signatures and letters from prominent individuals around the world. Davis’ case is now pending before the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals.

In a similar move during the campaign to save Kenneth Foster, a few of us down here in Texas, started an online video campaign as part of the Save Kenneth Foster effort. We asked everyone who has a webcam to record a statement and upload it to YouTube saying why Texas Governor Rick Perry and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles should stop the execution of Kenneth Foster on August 30, 2007. Later that week Gov. Rick Perry commuted Kenneth Foster's sentence.

11th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted oral arguments to Troy Davis

Julien Ball of CEDP has received words from Martina Correia, Troy Davis's sister, that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has granted oral arguments in Troy Davis's case and will hear them on December 9! This hearing will be open to the public. More to come...

Troy Davis - updated actions and execution warrant

Hello all,

An execution warrant has now been issued for Troy Davis - commencing on October 27. The exact date of his execution will be set shortly, but will likely the 27th (the warrant lasts for one week, and the date is generally set for the first day of the warrant period).

For those who didn't receive it, please see below for the email that went out to thousands of on-line activists yesterday regarding the recent updates on the Troy Davis case. Feel free to forward to your networks. There are currently 4 actions that people can take - 3 you see in the email below, plus a Global Day of Action on October 23rd.

1. Write the Georgia Board of Pardon and Paroles and ask them to reconsider their decision and grant clemency (the on-line action is still up on the website).
2. Help spread the word on Troy's case by forwarding this information to friends, family and fellow activists, as well as by text messaging TROY to 90999.
3. Write a letter to the editor. A one page guide is attached, as well as linked to in the email below.
4. Participate in the Global Day of Action for Troy Davis on October 23. There will be a large rally at the state capitol in Atlanta, GA on this day, and we are encouraging supporters around the world to hold rallies, vigils or actions on this day in solidarity. A one page guide is attached, and more information will be up on the website shortly. Some groups are already planning events for days other than the 23rd, and that is just fine. Whatever people can do, whenever they can do it, is greatly encouraged.

• IMPORTANT: Please be sure to keep me informed of anything being planed: jcohn@aiusa.org.

As I said, all of this information will soon be completely up to date on the website www.amnestyusa.org/troydavis.

We wanted to be sure to keep you all informed. You have all been essential to raising the profile of this case, and we cannot thank you enough for your hard work and dedication. We must keep fighting - but also know that this is not just about Troy Davis, but about ending the death penalty. Together we will make that happen.

In Solidarity,

Brian Evans
Death Penalty Abolition Campaign
Amnesty International USA

AUSTIN PROTEST IN SUPPORT OF TROY DAVIS THIS MONDAY

Austin's chapter of the Campaign to END the Death Penalty is holding a protest Monday, September 29th in support of Georgia death-row inmate Troy Davis. Davis, who has a strong innocence claim, was granted a temporary stay by the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, less than 2 hours before his scheduled execution. The stay lasts only until September 29th, when the Supreme Court is set to consider an appeal from Davis for new evidence of innocence. If the appeal is rejected, the execution could proceed as early as that day.

Irrespective of the Supreme Court decision, Austinites will gather at 5:30 pm on Monday, September 29th at the south-side Capitol steps in support of Troy Davis.

Davis was sentenced to death in 1989 for the murder of Police Officer Mark MacPhail. There was no physical evidence and the weapon used in the crime was never found. Davis maintains his innocence and since his conviction, 7 out of 9 trial witnesses have recanted their testimony and cited police coercion in sworn affidavits. One of the two remaining witnesses, Sylvester 'Red' Coles, is the chief alternative suspect, according to the defense, against whom there is new evidence implicating him as the gunman. Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating Coles.

Monday's Austin protest is part of a National Call to Action for Troy Davis.


The Campaign to END the Death Penalty is a grassroots organization dedicated to the abolition of capital punishment in the United States.

AJC: Troy Davis may be innocent

The following is Atlanta Journal-Constitution's editorial on Troy Davis' execution:

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

If Troy Anthony Davis had occupied a higher rung on the social ladder, he probably would not have been convicted of murder in the August 1989 shooting death of a Savannah police officer. If Davis were a doctor or lawyer or college professor, it’s unlikely police would have targeted him on the word of a small-time thug.

But Davis isn’t a member of the tony set; he is neither educated nor affluent. He grew up in a tidy if modest neighborhood with a father who worked in law enforcement, but by adulthood, he had acquired a petty rap sheet. At the time of the tragic murder of police officer Mark Allen MacPhail, Davis was working for meager wages and looking for a better job.

So when Sylvestor Nathaniel “Redd” Coles coolly walked into a police station hours after the murder, accompanied by a lawyer, and identified Davis as the shooter, Savannah police had no trouble taking his word for it, even though Coles had a rap sheet of his own. They set out to collect evidence against Davis, and by the time the case came to trial, they had nine witnesses, including Coles, to testify against him.

Since then, however, seven of those nine witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony, and Davis’s current attorneys now believe Coles actually killed MacPhail. Most of the recanting witnesses claim that they feared the police in 1989 and that they were coerced into giving statements implicating Davis. Given that a fellow officer had been killed, it hardly seems implausible that Savannah police exerted pressure to get the testimony needed for a conviction.

Most chilling is the recollection of Tonya Johnson, who says she didn’t tell police all she knew back then. She now says that she saw a man running from the direction of the shooting that night, and that she saw him hide two guns behind the screen door of an abandoned apartment next door. According to Davis’ attorneys, that man was Coles. They believe Johnson feared retribution from Coles if she had testified to the truth.

Despite the recanted testimony, the state Supreme Court refused to grant Davis a new trial earlier this year, and, on Monday, the state Board of Pardons and Parole reaffirmed its decision to deny a petition for clemency. Davis was scheduled for execution last night, but the U.S. Supreme Court intervened with a last-minute stay.

Americans fed a steady diet of Hollywood-concocted police procedurals and crime dramas have come to expect that police will always find, if not a smoking gun, at least a few damning pieces of forensic evidence. Real life is rarely so satisfying. In the Davis case, there was precious little physical evidence — no DNA, no fingerprints, not even the murder weapon.

The jury based its decision on those witnesses, who swore Davis was the man who pulled the trigger, or that at the very least he had a gun that might have been the murder weapon. (The killing had occurred at night, in a poorly lit parking lot, in the midst of a scuffle. Officer MacPhail, working an extra job, had intervened to try to break up a fight in a commercial area near a Burger King and a Greyhound station.)

Even under the best of circumstances, eyewitness testimony is notoriously unreliable. More than 75 percent of the people exonerated by DNA evidence had been falsely convicted by bad eyewitness testimony in their original trials.

With no DNA in this case, there is no way to know for sure. Despite all his protestations of innocence, despite the celebrities who appealed for clemency, despite the recent revisions of testimony, it’s certainly possible that Davis shot a young police officer several times on a hot August evening in 1989. It’s certainly possible that he finally may get the punishment he justly deserves.

But it seems equally plausible that Davis was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, fingered by the real criminal and convicted by a criminal justice system eager to put a cop-killer behind bars.

If so, the U.S. Supreme Court has just prevented the state of Georgia from murdering an innocent man.

— Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Sunday and Wednesday.

Troy Davis' execution stayed

Here is the court order:

ORDER LIST: 554 U.S.)
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2008
ORDER IN PENDING CASE
08-66 DAVIS, TROY A. V. GEORGIA
(O8A241)

The application for stay of execution of sentence of death
presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court is
granted pending the disposition of the petition for a writ of
certiorari. Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be
denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event
the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the stay shall
terminate upon the issuance of the mandate of this Court.

Innocent Man Executed?

Protests planned against Davis’ execution

As Troy Anthony Davis waits to hear whether the U.S. Supreme Court will stay his execution Tuesday night, death-penalty opponents planned protests and vigils across the state.

Davis, 39, sits on death row for the Aug. 19, 1989, killing of Officer Mark Allen MacPhail. He is scheduled to be put to death by lethal injection at 7 p.m., even though questions linger as to whether he was MacPhail’s killer.

Since Davis’ trial, seven of nine key prosecution witnesses who testified against him have recanted their testimony. But the state Board of Pardons and Paroles has denied clemency to Davis.

Chatham County prosecutors say they are certain that Davis fired the fatal shots into MacPhail, before the officer could draw his gun. MacPhail, 27, a father of two, was working off-duty as a security guard when he was gunned down in a Burger King parking lot in Savannah.

Today, a number of groups plan to picket Rainbow Medical Associates’ offices in Jonesboro. Rainbow Medical provides medical personnel for state executions at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson.

Phone calls to Rainbow Medical this morning were not returned.

Rainbow Medical provides two physicians and two registered nurses for each execution, Department of Corrections spokesman Paul Czachowski said. The company is paid $4,000 if the execution occurs on time and $6,000 if it is delayed for more than two hours. It makes $2,000 if the execution is stayed and not carried out, the spokesman said.

The company’s nurses prepare the intravenous lines for the lethal injection and the doctors do not participate in the execution, Czachowski said. They are there to check on the inmate to make sure he is deceased and are there for any emergency, he said.

Picketing at Rainbow Medical’s offices will be representatives from Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, the NAACP’s Georgia chapter and other opponents of capital punishment.

“As long as the state continues this futile and brutalizing exercise in vengeance, we will continue to take a public stand against killing Troy Davis in our names,” Sara Totonchi, chair of Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, said.

On Monday, Totonchi called for prison officials and medical personnel who help carry out the execution in Jackson to call in sick today. But Czachowski said no one had done so.

Early this afternoon, opponents of Davis’ execution plan to stage a “Die-In” at the state Capitol. Tonight, vigils are planned at the Capitol, Athens, Americus, Jackson, Augusta, Clarkesville, Dawson, Marietta and Savannah.

A Death Row visit with Troy A. Davis

Sunday September 21, 2008
By Patrick Dyer

Today I visited Troy Anthony Davis on Georgia's death row, a little over 48 hours before the state plans to put him to death for a crime he didn't commit. As I traveled the highway, through the red clay and green pine trees of Georgia this mild autumn Sunday morning listening to Bob Marley, I pondered what it might be like as an innocent man facing an execution in two days. Soon enough I arrived at the front wall of the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, located in Butts County, GA. The scenery just inside the front gate on Prison Boulevard, with pond, trees, flowers, and chirping birds belies the heinousness of what lies at the end of the road - a massive penitentiary housing the state's death chamber for it's ritual execution of prisoners.

After parking, I stood outside the entrance area with a small group of people who were waiting to visit other prisoners. One of those waiting referred me to the sign-in sheet, then added, "they'll get you when they feel like it". While I waited for the next 20 minutes I conversed with the group awaiting entrance, all of them upset and shocked that Troy was denied clemency. Biding my time, I stared at the words "wisdom", "justice", and "moderation" etched on Georgia's state seal.
One of the first couple of his visitors to arrive, I met Troy Davis for the first time. Thanks to the relentless campaign waged by Troy, his family, and supporters, the name Troy Davis is known around the planet. Yet the person I met was humble and down-to-earth, quick to begin talking about the help that other death row prisoners need. Troy struck me immediately as a warm and compassionate person. He spent almost as much time talking about the injustice of other cases as he did about his own, repeatedly saying "this is much larger than Troy Davis."

Troy told me that he wanted me to tell people that it's time to say "enough is enough!" and to "demand a complete change in the system". We talked about all the support he has on the outside, with people around the world fighting for his life. Troy then spent time talking about some of the many injustices of his case, a legal lynching to be sure. He said that he, like so many others stuck on death row, were legally incapacitated by "procedural defaults" from their attorneys, many of them the fault of the Georgia Resource Center. Once an attorney with his legal team returned to court after lunch so intoxicated that her eyes were bloodshot and she reeked of alcohol.

At his habeas hearing held in a prison shack-turned-into-a-courtroom just off death row, Troy anxiously awaited the arrival of his family, who had spent their own money to rent vans to transport witnesses from Savannah. But as Troy walked into the shack-courtroom, his attorney was saying that neither his family nor his witnesses would be allowed to appear, given that it was "too expensive" to transport the witnesses.
By the time effective legal counsel got on board with his defense, Troy's case was too far gone. In fact, one attorney with his private Washington, DC law firm told him that had they gotten the case five years earlier, Troy would be home by now.

"And even if none of those witnesses recanted", Troy emphasized with his southern drawl as he leaned closer to me, "my fingerprints still don't match".
Troy also gave his analysis of why the Parole Board refused to grant clemency. Given that the board, appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue, is stacked with "ex"-law enforcement and prosecution types, it's no surprise. "The police and prosecution tactics used in my case are the same ones they used and that are used all over. If they stop my execution because of the police interrogation methods and prosecutor misconduct, it exposes their entire system."

Over the course of the next hour, Troy's mother, sisters, brother, niece, nephew, and numerous supporters joined us in the caged visiting room. The six hour visitation flew by with a positive atmosphere of love and support. Most of the time was spent laughing, joking, and telling family stories that included childhood nicknames, teenage dating escapades, high school prom dates, and more.

Eventually visiting hours wound down, and Troy was handcuffed then taken inside the entrance to one of the prison corridors, where we were allowed to join him for photographs. As a fellow prisoner snapped pictures, Troy arranged different combinations of his family and supporters for each picture, as prison guards observed from the perimeter.

When the photo session ended, it was time for us to hug Troy goodbye. In a stirring and emotion-packed series of hugs, we all took turns saying goodbye. Two prisoners began printing the pictures as guards led Troy away. "Troy is such a good guy" one of them commented while we waited. Then suddenly someone yelled, "He's waving", and family members all strained to look through the prison bars down the long hallway to death row, seeing Troy's smiling face as his handcuffed hands waved goodbye.

Bob Herbert: What’s the Rush?

Bob Herbert, New York Times' Op-Ed columnist has published a great column about Troy Davis:

Go to Columnist Page »

Troy Davis, who was convicted of shooting a police officer to death in the parking lot of a Burger King in Savannah, Ga., is scheduled to be executed on Tuesday.

There is some question as to his guilt (even the pope has weighed in on this case), but the odds of Mr. Davis escaping the death penalty are very slim. Putting someone to death whose guilt is uncertain is always perverted, but there’s an extra dose of perversion in this case.

The United States Supreme Court is scheduled to make a decision on whether to hear a last-ditch appeal by Mr. Davis on Sept. 29. That’s six days after the state of Georgia plans to kill him.

Mr. Davis’s lawyers have tried desperately to have the execution postponed for those few days, but so far to no avail. Georgia is among the most cold-blooded of states when it comes to dispatching prisoners into eternity.

So the lawyers are now trying to get the Supreme Court to issue a stay, or decide before Tuesday on whether it will consider the appeal.

No one anywhere would benefit from killing Mr. Davis on Tuesday, as opposed to waiting a week to see how the Supreme Court rules. So why the rush? The murder happened in 1989, and Mr. Davis has been on death row for 17 years. Six or seven more days will hardly matter.

Most of the time, the court declines to hear such cases.

If that’s the decision this time, Georgia can get on with the dirty business of taking a human life. If the court agrees to hear the appeal, it would have an opportunity to get a little closer to the truth of what actually happened on the terrible night of Aug. 19, 1989, when Officer Mark Allen MacPhail was murdered.

He was shot as he went to the aid of a homeless man who was being pistol-whipped in the parking lot.

Nine witnesses testified against Mr. Davis at his trial in 1991, but seven of the nine have since changed their stories. One of the recanting witnesses, Dorothy Ferrell, said she was on parole when she testified and was afraid that she’d be sent back to prison if she didn’t agree to finger Mr. Davis.

She said in an affidavit: “I told the detective that Troy Davis was the shooter, even though the truth was that I didn’t know who shot the officer.”

Another witness, Darrell Collins, a teenager at the time of the murder, said the police had “scared” him into falsely testifying by threatening to charge him as an accessory to the crime. He said they told him that he might never get out of prison.

“I didn’t want to go to jail because I didn’t do nothing wrong,” he said.

At least three witnesses who testified against Mr. Davis (and a number of others who were not part of the trial) have since said that a man named Sylvester “Redd” Coles admitted that he was the one who had killed the officer.

Mr. Coles, who was at the scene, and who, according to authorities, later ditched a gun of the same caliber as the murder weapon, is one of the two witnesses who have not recanted.

The other is a man who initially told investigators that he could not identify the killer. Nearly two years later, at the trial, he testified that the killer was Mr. Davis.

So we have here a mess that is difficult, perhaps impossible, to sort through in a way that will yield reliable answers. (The jury also convicted Mr. Davis of a nonfatal shooting earlier that same evening on testimony that was even more dubious.)

There was no physical evidence against Mr. Davis, and the murder weapon was never found. As for the witnesses, their testimony was obviously shaky in the extreme — not the sort of evidence you want to rely upon when putting someone to death.

In March, the State Supreme Court in Georgia, in a 4-to-3 decision, denied Mr. Davis’s request for a new trial. The chief justice, Leah Ward Sears, writing for the minority, said: “In this case, nearly every witness who identified Davis as the shooter at trial has now disclaimed his or her ability to do so reliably.”

Amnesty International conducted an extensive examination of the case, documenting the many recantations, inconsistencies, contradictions and unanswered questions. Its report on the case drew widespread attention, both in the U.S. and overseas.

William Sessions, a former director of the F.B.I., has said that a closer look at the case is warranted. And Pope Benedict XVI has urged authorities in Georgia to re-sentence Mr. Davis to life in prison.

Rushing to execute Mr. Davis on Tuesday makes no sense at all.

Martina Correia: "We are still fighting for Troy"

This message is from Martina Correia (Troy's sister).

I want everyone to know that we are still fighting for Troy, you have not heard from me in two days because I have been trying to answer so many calls and get rest in between. I went to see Troy yesterday and he is in good spirits, prayerful and saying "we can never give up. They can take my physical form but nothing else." But this is not the time to think he will be executed. We have to fight them and we have to fight hard.

I want to first tell you that something strange has taken place with the Parole Board, as we went in the Chair Gale Buckner said they had a lot of information to review and a decision would not be made on Friday. The lawyers presented the additional witnesses who told accounts of police detectives threatening them with guns and the DA threatening with purjury if they changed their testimonies against Troy, most of these people were teenagers, one guy who testified was 15 years old at the time and admitted that he ad he friends were the ones involved in a shooting earlier that night and they threw shell casings near the scene that of course did not have Troy's prints on them.

The lawyers showed how they put Troy's picture on wanted posters after Coles pointed the finger at Troy and they took a polaroid out of my mom's house and they only showed the witnesses that photo to identify Troy several days after he had turned himself in. So Troy was never picked out of lineup. The police detectives merely brought the one picture after his face in newspaper etc and said is this the guy.

We were so very confident when we left the room it was no way Troy's sentence should not have been commuted. Then less than 30 minutes after DA's side left the Parole Board held a press conference and denied Troy, a reporter said Martina It was like all the air was sucked out of the room no one thought Troy would remain in prison and the Parole Board offered no reason, because they do not have to. The Parole Board in Georgia meets in closed doors, no recorded meetings, no transcripts, and no accountability.

When Troy got the first stay, they said there would be no executions in Georgia when there is some doubt, well with the two hearings there is more than some doubt. There is overwhelming doubt of Troy's innocence so why would they deny him without explanation. I think because three of the members are former prosecutors and two are former police from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, some sort of deal was made against Troy. I think they wanted to flex their muscle because they have no one to answer to.

WE HAVE TO KEEP FLOODING THEM WITH LETTERS AND FAXES TO RECONSIDER BECAUSE THEY CAN STILL STOP THIS EXECUTION. WE HAVE TO HOLD THEM TO THEIR WORD NO ONE WOULD BE EXECUTED WHEN THERE IS DOUBT.

Plan of actions:
1. HOLD ACTIONS, DEMONSTRATIONS WITH MEDIA IN PLACE TO TELL WHAT THE PAROLE BOARD DID AND HOW THEY HAVE NO ACCOUNTABILITY.

2. CONTINUE TO HAVE PEOPLE SIGN LETTERS TO THE PAROLE BOARD THERE WILL BE A NEW LETTER ON AMNESTY SITE ASKING THE BOARD FOR RECONDISERATION. YOU CAN ALSO WRITE YOUR OWN LETTER. STATING REASONING IN 100 YEARS OF GEORGIA'S DEATH PENALTY THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A CASE OF 7 RECANTATIONS, NO PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, NO WEAPON AND YOU SEEK DEATH.

3. MASS LETTERS TO US ATTORNEY GENERAL ASKING FOR IMMEDIATE INTERVENTION IN THIS CASE DUE TO PROSECTORIAL MISCONDUCT. CC. GEORGIA ATTORNEY GENERAL

4. MASS LETTERS TO WHITE HOUSE ASKING FOR INTERVENTION IN THIS CASE

5. CONTACT EVERY MEDIA OUTLET YOU KNOW MASS LETTERS TO CNN
INTERNATIONAL, OTHER NATIONAL MEDIA ND CELEBRITY OUTLETS THAT CAN GIVE US A PLATFORM TO GET WHAT HAPENNED OUT TO MASSES.

6. THERE WIL BE A RALLY IN ATLANTA PROBABLY THURSDAY EVENING CONTACT AMNESTY , JESSICA COHN JCOHN@AIUSA.ORG OR LAURA MOYE LMOYE@AIUSA.ORG .

ANOTHER GROUP IS PLANNING PROTEST IN FRONT OF CNN IN ATLANTA ON SATURDAY THE 20TH CONTACT Lawyer Henderson cinemacitypictures@hotmail.com OR 678-437-6256,

7. THOSE WHO HAVE CONTACTS WITH US SUPREME COURT MEMBERS, OR OP-EDS TO MEMBERS, WE NEED THEM TO ACT EMEREGENCY STAY AND IF WE CAN MAKE ENOUGH NOISE, RAISE ENOUGH ATTENTION, HOPEFULY THEY CAN TAKE TROY'S CASE

IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE REVIEWED BY THEM ON SEPT 29TH. THE DA IN SAVANNAH MOVED DATE OF EXECUTION UP WHILE US SUPREME COURT WAS ON VACATION.

8. THE LAWYERS THINK IT IS A SLIM CHANCE THE US SUPREME COURT WILL ACT SO WE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BY MAKING AS MUCH NOISE AS WE CAN.

ANY AND ALL IDEAS YOU HAVE WE HAVE TO GO FOR IT TO SAVE TROY, SO AS ACTIVISTS I SAY DO WHAT YOU DO!!!!!


Attorney General, Michael B. Mukasey 202-514-2001
OR Office of the Attorney General - 202-353-1555
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov

Georgia Attorney General Thurbert E. Baker 404-656-3300 Fax 404-657- 8733

President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Phone Numbers

Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments: 202-456-6213

E-Mail

Please send your Fax: 404-651-8502

comments to comments@whitehouse.gov.

Georgia Parole Board Fax 404-651-8502

I will get you more parole board numbers

People can go on Amnesty Website to sign petitions or fax their own letters. I will send numbers in next email. Or Text the parole board from your cell phone. Go t send message type the name TROY, then send to 90999.

We still have Fight in Us and we will FIGHT!

Thank you all for everything you are doing TROY SAYS NO MATTER WHAT WE HAVE TO FIGHT BECAUSE THIS IS BIGGER THAN TROY. THIS IS A BATTLE FOR HUMAN TIGHTS AND TRUE JUSTICE AND WE ARE WINNING SMALL BATTLES EVERYDAY!

Martina Correia