Innocent man scheduled to receive death penalty in GA in two weeks

Troy Anthony Davis almost certainly is innocent, but that has not stopped the State of Georgia from giving him a new execution date: September 23, 2008. A hearing on his case is scheduled before the State of Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole on Friday, September 12, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. It is imperative that the board receive notes, emails and calls from people who want to try and stop this injustice.

An African-American, Davis was convicted of the murder of off-duty Savannah Police Officer Mark MacPhail in 1991. No physical evidence links him to the crime, and he has steadfastly maintained his innocence. Nine non-police witnesses testified against him at trial, but all but two of these witnesses have recanted their statements. Some claim that they were coerced by police to say that Davis was the murderer.

One of the witnesses who did not recant was seen acting suspiciously the night of Officer MacPhail’s murder and has been heard boasting that he killed an off-duty police officer.

In 2007, Davis was one day away from being executed, but the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole voted to give him a 90-day stay because of the injustice in his case – an injustice that moved death penalty proponent Judge William Sessions, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to write the Board of Pardons and Parole on Davis’s behalf.