Troy Davis - American justice in action

[Lurtz]

This is disgusting. Anyone fancy having a go at defending "The Land Of The Free's" awesome justice system?:

 

BBC News - Troy Davis: Georgia rejects final death row appeal

 

The US state of Georgia has rejected a final clemency appeal for Troy Davis on the eve of his execution for the 1989 murder of an off-duty policeman.

 

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles made its decision after hearing testimony from the victim's family, Davis' supporters and prosecutors.

 

He was sentenced in 1991 for killing Mark MacPhail but most of the witnesses have since changed their testimony.

 

Davis, 42, is due to face a lethal injection on Wednesday.

 

Defence lawyers said the appeal to the pardons board was the last option for Davis, who has been scheduled for execution four times in the past four years.

 

His legal team said in a statement they were "incredibly disappointed" by the decision as the prosecution's case "cannot resolve the significant, lingering doubts that exist here".

 

'Truth finally heard'

 

They called on District Attorney Larry Chisolm to vacate the death warrant and for the pardons board to reconsider their decision immediately.

 

 

Some 300 rallies, vigils and events for Troy Davis have occurred worldwide Prosecutors insist they have no doubt that they charged the right person with the crime.

 

MacPhail's relatives were relieved at the parole board decision.

 

"Justice was finally served for my father," said Mark MacPhail Jr, the victim's son. "The truth was finally heard."

 

But Amnesty International, which has supported Davis in his wrongful conviction claim, called the decision "unconscionable".

 

Its USA director, Larry Cox, said in a statement: "Should Troy Davis be executed, Georgia may well have executed an innocent man and in so doing discredited the justice system."

 

Amnesty International and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People plan a demonstration in support of Davis on Tuesday evening.

 

Reverend Al Sharpton plans a midday vigil at the state prison in Jackson on Wednesday.

 

More than one million people worldwide have signed petitions for clemency in his case.

 

Pope Benedict XVI, former US President Jimmy Carter and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton are among those who have backed Davis, who has always maintained he is innocent.

 

His guilt has been questioned because seven of nine witnesses who helped convict him during the original trial have either changed their testimony or recanted.

 

No murder weapon was ever found and no DNA evidence or fingerprints conclusively linked Davis to the shooting.

 

At a rare 2010 innocence hearing - ordered by the US Supreme Court - two witnesses said they falsely incriminated Davis, while two others told the court another had confessed to being the actual killer.

 

US District Court Judge William T Moore Jr said there was not enough evidence to vindicate Davis or grant him a new trial.

 

Federal appeals courts and the Georgia Supreme Court have upheld Davis' conviction.

[brucespanner]

No physical evidence links Troy to the crime of which he was convicted

 

Seven of the nine non-police witnesses on whose evidence he was convicted have since recanted or contradicted their testimony

 

Many witnesses stated they were pressured or coerced by police

 

Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating an alternative suspect

 

From Amnesty, I'm an active member.

 

It's shocking that miscarriages of justice like this are allowed, but even in these (un)enlightened times they are still allowed to happen. None of us know the full story, evidence nor circumstances but we must stand up against injustices like this and make sure both fair hearing and justice are done.

 

Sorry for proselytising, but if you're not a member already I emplore you to at least have a look at the damn good work Amnesty do.

[Trumo]

Given how long it's been, and that the investigation probably closed all other avenues of enquiry a long time ago, there is an element of face-saving about the parole board's decision.

[Indian Red]

Wow, just wow.

[ChrisM]

Just been reading some stats on Capital Punishment in the States on Wiki - since 1976 Texas has executed 474 people, and as of Jan 11 321 are on Death Row.

 

WHAT?!?!

 

(Yes, I know this guy is in Georgia).

[King Gheedorah]

The board has never changed its mind on any case in the past 33 years.

[ChrisM]

Is this because they can't be seen to undermine the judicial system by reversing a decision, and so kill an innocent man instead?

[brucespanner]

Is this because they can't be seen to undermine the judicial system by reversing a decision, and so kill an innocent man instead?

 

Bingo! Too many heads would roll. It's causing great embarrassment, but not as much as it could cause if the truth was outed.

[Pony Princess]

Dark skin

Thick lips

Scary eyes

 

HE'S GUILTY, LET HIM FRY

[piscinin]

Is this because they can't be seen to undermine the judicial system by reversing a decision, and so kill an innocent man instead?

 

Not entirely, as it was explained to me, it's because on appeal you now have to prove you are innocent if you've been convicted and sentenced to the death penalty. It's no longer enough to cast doubt. I'm sure it's more nuanced than that but appeals are like a legal hop-scotch now.

 

It was reported over here that his only chance of getting off was to produce testimony that the other guy did the shooting and then produce the other guy as a witness, but for some reason they didn't call him.

[JohnnyH]

I’d love to see a group advise this board that they will continue to investigate this case after Davis’s death and if he is found posthumously innocent through a court of human rights, then they will push for a manslaughter conviction for the entire appeals board. It’s crazy to think civilised countries are still murdering their citizens and then when you see there are willing to allow a man who may very well be innocent to die it just really makes you wonder.

 

Having said all that, I’d be interested to read what the two people who have not changed their statements against Davis have to say.

[Beantown Red]

Personally against death penalty but not so sure you can say this is American justice in action. States have a lot of rights, then the district courts vary based on location, and the Supreme Court is not going to step in most cases because of the rights of the states. The justice system in places like Georgia and Texas are completely different to places like Massachusetts or New York. They elect judges in these states, the clemency board gets appointed by politicians, the Governors are never going to grant clemency. They would rather execute an innocent person than look weak on crime and these are the same states where blacks were treated like dirt up to 30-40 years ago. You get the death penalty in these states and basically your fucked no matter what happens.

[piscinin]

Personally against death penalty but not so sure you can say this is American justice in action. States have a lot of rights, then the district courts vary based on location, and the Supreme Court is not going to step in most cases because of the rights of the states. The justice system in places like Georgia and Texas are completely different to places like Massachusetts or New York. They elect judges in these states, the clemency board gets appointed by politicians, the Governors are never going to grant clemency. They would rather execute an innocent person than look weak on crime and these are the same states where blacks were treated like dirt up to 30-40 years ago. You get the death penalty in these states and basically your fucked no matter what happens.

 

My mate said of this case, because a cop was killed, in Georgia, someone was going to die for it and the witnesses got to decide who. And they chose Davis over Coles.

[Lurtz]

It's a sad, sad day when individual states' "rights" take precidence over the life of a man who's conviction looks to be based purely on manufactured evidence. American justice is fucking disgusting. No better than some developing countries.

[jamespp]

Dark skin

Thick lips

Scary eyes

 

HE'S GUILTY, LET HIM FRY

 

Most of the jury (7 of 12) who convicted him had Dark skin

[JohnnyH]

Most of the jury (7 of 12) who convicted him had Dark skin

 

Well then they should die to!

[Sugar Ape]

Most of the jury (7 of 12) who convicted him had Dark skin

 

Fucking Uncle Toms.

[Beantown Red]

Supposed to executed 12 minutes ago but apparently Supreme Court has asked for temporary stay. Don't know if it will be minutes, hours, days, etc.

 

You can watch Democracy Now coverage from outside the prison.

[Beantown Red]

okay he is fucked, Supreme Court did not stop it, expected to be executed in few minutes.

 

edit: "the application for stay of sentence of death presented to Justice Thomas and by him referred to the Court is denied"

Edited September 22, 2011 by Beantown Red

[Beantown Red]

Official time of death 11:08 EST

[Skidfingers McGonical]

And America wonders why it is hated by a lot of the world.

 

I can't even think of the words to describe how disgusting I think this is.

 

America, particularly the south needs to take a long hard look at itself.

[The Acolyte]

They don't give a shit mate. They have no problem butchering their citizens, as long as they don't have money. Cunts to a man. Which is why I'll never set foot on their shitty soil!

[setreal]

Well as soon as I read the name Clarence Thomas I knew there was not a hope in hell for a pardon. The corrupt imbecile fuck.

[brucespanner]

Today's Guardian. Ten reasons against the execution.

In 2007 the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, the body which has the final say in the state on whether executions should go ahead, made a solemn promise. Troy Davis, the prisoner who is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 7pm local time on Wednesday, would never be put to death unless there was "no doubt" about his guilt.

 

Here are 10 reasons why the board – which decided on Tuesday to allow the execution to go ahead – has failed to deliver on its promise and why a man who is very possibly innocent will be killed in the name of American justice.

 

1. Of the nine witnesses who appeared at Davis's 1991 trial who said they had seen Davis beating up a homeless man in a dispute over a bottle of beer and then shooting to death a police officer, Mark MacPhail, who was acting as a good samaritan, seven have since recanted their evidence.

 

2. One of those who recanted, Antoine Williams, subsequently revealed they had no idea who shot the officer and that they were illiterate – meaning they could not read the police statements that they had signed at the time of the murder in 1989. Others said they had falsely testified that they had overheard Davis confess to the murder.

 

3. Many of those who retracted their evidence said that they had been cajoled by police into testifying against Davis. Some said they had been threatened with being put on trial themselves if they did not co-operate.

 

4. Of the two of the nine key witnesses who have not changed their story publicly, one has kept silent for the past 20 years and refuses to talk, and the other is Sylvester Coles. Coles was the man who first came forward to police and implicated Davis as the killer. But over the past 20 years evidence has grown that Coles himself may be the gunman and that he was fingering Davis to save his own skin.

 

5. In total, nine people have come forward with evidence that implicates Coles. Most recently, on Monday the George Board of Pardons and Paroles heard from Quiana Glover who told the panel that in June 2009 she had heard Coles, who had been drinking heavily, confess to the murder of MacPhail.

 

6. Apart from the witness evidence, most of which has since been cast into doubt, there was no forensic evidence gathered that links Davis to the killing.

 

7. In particular, there is no DNA evidence of any sort. The human rights group the Constitution Project points out that three-quarters of those prisoners who have been exonerated and declared innocent in the US were convicted at least in part on the basis of faulty eyewitness testimony.

 

8. No gun was ever found connected to the murder. Coles later admitted that he owned the same type of .38-calibre gun that had delivered the fatal bullets, but that he had given it away to another man earlier on the night of the shooting.

 

9. Higher courts in the US have repeatedly refused to grant Davis a retrial on the grounds that he had failed to "prove his innocence". His supporters counter that where the ultimate penalty is at stake, it should be for the courts to be beyond any reasonable doubt of his guilt.

 

10. Even if you set aside the issue of Davis's innocence or guilt, the manner of his execution tonight is cruel and unnatural. If the execution goes ahead as expected, it would be the fourth scheduled execution date for this prisoner. In 2008 he was given a stay just 90 minutes before he was set to die. Experts in death row say such multiple experiences with imminent death is tantamount to torture.

[King Emlyn]

Capital punishment is just so, so wrong.