Death-row inmate Troy Davis Denied Clemency

As the saying goes "an eye for an eye makes the world blind"

I firmly believe that the vast majority of sentences passed out to proven criminals for serious cimes are far too lenient.
I also believe that most prison inmates are treat far too leniently once convicted.
Life should mean life, cells consisting of slop buckets, straw mattresses and a diet of bread and water etc with hard labour on chain gangs etc.

But capital punishment is wrong.
How can't people see the contradiction in society deeming the taking of human life as wrong and then punishing such an act with the taking of human life.
It's one of the most blatant and obviously hypocritical pieces of legislation possible.

If such legislation must exist then it is imperative that the conviction must be absolutely cast iron certain.

Even a brief review of the details of this case highlights obvious inconsistencies and doubts over the conviction.

If, as seems likely, this execution goes ahead then it is nothing less than state murder and it is an absolute disgrace.

How can America sit back and let this happen?

For any of those pro-execution psychos who think this man got a fair trial, I found some more info besides what has already been posted.....

www.nytimes.com...

The grievous errors in the Davis case were numerous, and many arose out of eyewitness identification. The Savannah police contaminated the memories of four witnesses by re-enacting the crime with them present so that their individual perceptions were turned into a group one. The police showed some of the witnesses Mr. Davis’s photograph even before the lineup. His lineup picture was set apart by a different background. The lineup was also administered by a police officer involved in the investigation, increasing the potential for influencing the witnesses.

In the decades since the Davis trial, science-based research has shown how unreliable and easily manipulated witness identification can be. Studies of the hundreds of felony cases overturned because of DNA evidence have found that misidentifications accounted for between 75 percent and 85 percent of the wrongful convictions. The Davis case offers egregious examples of this kind of error.

Under proper practices, no one should know who the suspect is, including the officer administering a lineup. Each witness should view the lineup separately, and the witnesses should not confer about the crime. A new study has found that even presenting photos sequentially (one by one) to witnesses reduced misidentifications — from 18 percent to 12 percent of the time — compared with lineups where photos were presented all at once, as in this case.

Seven of nine witnesses against Mr. Davis recanted after trial. Six said the police threatened them if they did not identify Mr. Davis. The man who first told the police that Mr. Davis was the shooter later confessed to the crime. There are other reasons to doubt Mr. Davis’s guilt: There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime introduced at trial, and new ballistics evidence broke the link between him and a previous shooting that provided the motive for his conviction.

www.nytimes.com...

I honestly don't know how ANYONE can look at these facts and declare that he should still be executed - that is, of course, unless they just want to see somebody executed regardless of their guilt or innocence.

I bet the pro-execution lot won't read through this though - they don't want their perfect view of the p[process of executions to be tainted by facts now do they.

reply to post by Kryties


thanks for continuing to speak the truth on this issue.
i got fed up trying to convince these people

reply to post by UniverSoul


I stay the course, it's the only way to get the message out without having it crushed under the weight of the salivating and the bloodlust.

reply to post by Kryties


its sad people still have so a horrible hate and bloodlust for their fellow human beings
i hope its going to change soon, in regards to this issue and many more

Originally posted by Heartisblack
Poor man, rest in peace Troy, just rest in peace.

Yep, just like the cop you shot.

Kill a man in Georgia and we'll kill you back.

moral of the story: Don't be a chump and kill people.

Troy Davis: 10 reasons why he should not be executed

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.

[color=gold]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.

[color=gold]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.

[color=gold]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.

[color=gold]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.

[color=gold]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.

[color=gold]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.

[color=gold]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.

[color=gold]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.

[color=gold]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.

[color=gold]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.

reply to post by Team Locke


Spoken like a complete ignoramus.

Congratulations!

See... Living in the UK I've not heard a great deal about this story, but The guy on the news earlier said that this guy (Troy Davis) was convicted and is going to be put to death (a polite way of saying Murdered) even though there is no Physical evidence linking him to the crime, and that 7 of the 9 witnesses have since recanted their testimony?


So WTF??


I know we're talking about a country that murders mentally challenged and "retarded" people.... but NO EVIDENCE??

How can they do this?

reply to post by UniverSoul


They definitely used the race card against this man. If a case takes 20 years to take place, its obvious that this man is innocent. The state of Georgia is about to kill an innocent man. It is scary where the human conscience has gone these days. RIP Troy Davis, you will be remembered my friend.

reply to post by blupblup


There was plenty of evidence. There were 9 eyewitnesses! Years later, maybe 7 of them aren't so sure, but they were sure at the original trial, and apparently 2 are still sure today! 2 eyewitnesses is plenty. It is clear that he shot the first guy in the face, and the shell casings that shot the cop matched the other shell casings. Apparently there was plenty of evidence to convict him in the first place, and stand up at all the mandatory appeals hearings, and convince the parole/clemency board that despite huge international pressure, they are sticking with their sentence.

Does anyone here really think the guy is innocent? Come on, this is just a big ruse to oppose the death sentence, nobody is really purporting his innocence, they are just looking for chinks in the case to create enough doubt to commute the death sentence. Why? Either he is guilty or innocent. Is anyone trying to say we should set him free? NO!!

How can anyone on the internet with a few lines of text pretend to know the intimate details of this case that a jury, and a judge, and a review panel, and parole board all found to be sufficient to put a man to death? Do you think they take that kind of thing lightly? Very few people ever actually get the death penalty, there are a million checks in place.

This guy is getting what he deserves, period.

ETA:
Tell me this. Out of all you folks wanting this guys case overturned, how many of you want him moving in next door and interacting with your kids everyday? If his innocence is so clear, why not move him into your spare room and give the guy a break? You all know he is guilty, and dangerous, and you just don't have the stomach to give him what he deserves, luckily for you there are people that do.

reply to post by Unvarnished

RIP Troy Davis, you will be remembered my friend.

Without even a single percentage of the actual details of the case, you have decided that countless people from police to judges to jurors to parole boards have misjudged this man based on mountains of facts at their disposal?

A few lines on the internet, and now this man is your friend?

Unbelieveable.



Internet desk jockeys amaze me. I bet you wouldn't feel so comfortable calling him friend outside some convenience store in a shady neighborhood after he just shot his last friend in the face.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by blupblup

 

There was plenty of evidence. There were 9 eyewitnesses! Years later, maybe 7 of them aren't so sure, but they were sure at the original trial, and apparently 2 are still sure today! 2 eyewitnesses is plenty. It is clear that he shot the first guy in the face, and the shell casings that shot the cop matched the other shell casings. Apparently there was plenty of evidence to convict him in the first place, and stand up at all the mandatory appeals hearings, and convince the parole/clemency board that despite huge international pressure, they are sticking with their sentence.

From my post above.....

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.

I would suggest reading the whole thing. You are completely wrong.

Keep salivating though.

Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by blupblup

 

There was plenty of evidence. There were 9 eyewitnesses! Years later, maybe 7 of them aren't so sure, but they were sure at the original trial, and apparently 2 are still sure today! 2 eyewitnesses is plenty. It is clear that he shot the first guy in the face, and the shell casings that shot the cop matched the other shell casings. Apparently there was plenty of evidence to convict him in the first place, and stand up at all the mandatory appeals hearings, and convince the parole/clemency board that despite huge international pressure, they are sticking with their sentence.

So why is it said there was no physical evidence? Channel 4 news in the UK is pretty independent and pretty balanced, has no party political affiliations... and they said that there was no physical evidence tying this man to the crime, I believe them

You're saying there are still 2.... There are SEVEN that changed their minds!!
It's not difficult to "Find" witnesses for whatever you want.... not difficult to get any verdict you want.

It's awfully naive to suggest otherwise and to somehow claim that "if the courts found him guilty, then he's guilty" that's just about the most ridiculous thing I've heard in my time on ATS.

ETA:
Tell me this. Out of all you folks wanting this guys case overturned, how many of you want him moving in next door and interacting with your kids everyday? If his innocence is so clear, why not move him into your spare room and give the guy a break? You all know he is guilty, and dangerous, and you just don't have the stomach to give him what he deserves, luckily for you there are people that do.]

So you don't believe in rehabilitation then?
In reintegrating ex-cons within the community?

We should just either keep all criminals locked up or kill them?

Are you serious?

I hope you never get wrongly accused of anything.

reply to post by Kryties


I read your 10 reasons, and I actually agree with #10. It is cruel and unusual to repeatedly schedule a man's death, and then postpone and reschedule.

Otherwise, where are the people disputing that he shot the first man in the face at the barbeque? The shell casings matched. If he shot one, he shot them both. Of course the police convinced people to testify, people are not very willing to put their own arses on the line at a trial. What the hell does illiteracy have to do with an eyewitness testimony? The statement was surely read to them, and I don't think the changed the names at the last second, plus in the courtroom, all they have to do is POINT! It doesn't require literacy to point at a man.

I'm not salivating. I'm sad for this man's family, and I'm sad for the cop's family, and I'm sad for those that have to witness the execution, and I'm sad for the man that has to pull the switch, and I'm sad for the millions that were duped by this ridiculous online campaign for the killer. (My nanny actually signed the online petition yesterday, but she didn't know a dam thing about the case, and now she will be sad with a murderer dies.) I'm sad for everyone involved, but there is only 1 person centrally to blame, and he is about to pay for what he has caused.

reply to post by blupblup


If "physical evidence" means DNA or fingerprints then maybe not, but if physical evidence means shell casings and eyewitnesses, then there is plenty.

It has been 20 years, and multiple mandatory appeals, and he hasn't been cleared.

If this other guy is supposedly the killer, where are his additional bodies? Where are the other cases he has created over the last 20 years?

What does rehabilitation have to do with this guy? EIther he is guilty or he is not guilty? If he didn't do it, then he doesn't need rehabilitated, if he is guilty, then nobody is suggesting we set him free. I'm pretty sure I posted my ideas for the penal system a couple of times early on. There are plenty of cases for rehabilitation, and in my opinion there is NEVER a need for a long prison sentence. There is even justifiable homicide in my opinion, as long as they don't pose a continued threat to the community.

This guy attacked an acquaintance at a party and shot him in the face, then attacked a homeless guy for no reason, and then shot and killed a good samaritan. NO, he won't be rehabilitated.

Originally posted by getreadyalready

Without even a single percentage of the actual details of the case, you have decided that countless people from police to judges to jurors to parole boards have misjudged this man based on mountains of facts at their disposal?

Just like these people huh? Obviously these people got fair trials, had mountains of evidence against them and multiple people said they were guilty - YET THEY WERE WRONG....

globalgrind.com...

DON'T FLIP THE SWITCH! Ten Possibly Innocent Men Who Were Executed (with PHOTOS at link)

1. Carlos De Luna, Executed In 1989:

In February 1983, Wanda Lopez was stabbed to death while at the gas station she worked.

Police found De Luna hiding under a pick-up truck because he was drinking in public, which violated his parole.

De Luna told police that he was innocent and offered the name of the person he saw at the gas station.

De Luna did not have blood on him, even though the crime scene was covered in blood.

At trial De Luna named Carlos Hernandez who had a long history of knife attacks similar to the convenience store killing and repeatedly told friends and relatives that he had committed the murder. On December 7, 1989, Texas executed 27-year-old Carlos De Luna.


2. David Spence, Executed In 1997:

In 1982, David Spence was accused of the rape and murder of two 17-year-old girls and one 18-year-old boy in Waco, Texas.

The prosecution built its case against Spence around bite marks that a state expert said matched Spence’s teeth and jailhouse snitches. Spence’s post-conviction lawyers had a blind panel study in which five experts said the bite marks could not be matched to Spence’s. Homicide investigators who worked on the case said he had serious doubts about Spence’s guilt. Spence was given lethal injection on April 14, 1997.


3. Ellis Wayne Felker, Executed in 1996:

Ellis Wayne Felker was a suspect in the 1981 disappearance, rape and murder of Evelyn Joy Ludlum. He was put under police surveillance for two weeks. Independent autopsies found that the Ludlum's body had been dead no more than three days.

In 1996, Felker’s attorneys discovered boxes of evidence that had been unlawfully withheld by the prosecution, including DNA evidence and a written confession by another suspect. Felker was executed by electrocution November 15, 1996 at the age of 48.


4. Jesse Tafero, Executed In 1990:

On February 20, 1976, Highway Patrol officer Phillip Black and Donald Irwin were shot to death after they approached a trio of people sleeping in a parked car at a rest stop. Tafero, his partner Sonia “Sunny” Jacobs, and Walter Rhodes were found asleep inside.

According to Rhodes, Tafero shot both Black and Irwin with the gun, however all three were arrested after being caught in a roadblock. The gun was found in Tafero’s waistband.

At the trial, Rhodes testified that Tafero and Jacobs were solely responsible for the murders. Tafero and Jacobs were convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, while Rhodes was sentenced to 3 life sentences. Rhodes and Jacobs were eventually released for good behavior, but not Tafero.

Rhodes was the only person on which traces of gunpowder were found. Tafero was executed by electric chair on May 4, 1990.


5. Leo Jones, Executed In 1998:

Jones was convicted of murdering a police officer in Jacksonville, Florida. Jones signed a confession under pressure from heavy interrogation from police officers. Jones claimed the confession was coerced.

Many witnesses came forward pointing to another suspect in the case.


6. Larry Griffin, Executed In 1995:

Griffin was convicted of killing St. Louis, Missouri resident 19-year-old Quintin Moss in a drive-by shooting.

Griffin was sentenced to death because of the testimony from Robert Fitzgerald, a white career criminal, who was at the scene at the time of the murder. Griffin’s fingerprints were not found on the car, or the weapon and all evidence against him was circumstantial.

On June 21, 1995, Griffin maintained his innocence all the way up to his execution. In 2005, a professor University of Michigan Law School reopened the case. His investigation concluded that Griffin was innocent.


7. Gary Graham, Executed In 2000:

Gary Graham was 17 when he was charged with the 1981 robbery and shooting of Bobby Lambert outside a Houston supermarket. Graham was convicted on the testimony of one witness, Bernadine Skillern, who said she saw the killer's face for a few seconds through her car windshield, from a distance of 30-40 feet away.

Two other witnesses, both who worked at the grocery store and said they got a good look at the assailant, said Graham was not the killer.

On June 23, 2000, Gary Graham was executed in Texas.

Continued next post....

....Continued from last post.

8. Ruben Cantu, Executed In 1993:

At 17, Cantu was charged with capital murder for the shooting death of a San Antonio man during an attempted robbery. Juan Moreno, an eyewitness to the shooting, said that it was not Cantu who shot him and that he only identified Cantu as the shooter because he felt pressured and was afraid of the authorities.

David Garza, Cantu's co-defendant said during the 1985 trial, signed a sworn affidavit saying that he allowed Cantu to be accused and executed even though he wasn't with him on the night of the killing.

Garza stated, "Part of me died when he died. You've got a 17-year-old who went to his grave for something he did not do. Texas murdered an innocent person."



9. Joseph O'Dell, Executed In 1997:

In 1991 O'Dell was convicted of rape and murder. In reviewing his case in 1991, three Supreme Court Justices had doubts about O'Dell's guilt and without the blood evidence, there was little linking O'Dell to the crime. In September of 1996, the 4th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals reinstated his death sentence and O'Dell was executed on July 23rd.



10. Cameron Todd Willingham, Executed In 2004

Cameron Todd Willingham was convicted of killing his three young daughters by burning down his home in Texas.

Willingham was convicted of capital murder after arson investigators concluded that 20 indicators of arson led them to believe that an accelerant had been used to set three separate fires inside his home.

Four national arson experts have concluded that the original investigation of Willingham's case was flawed, and it is possible the fire was accidental.

globalgrind.com...

If even ONE person gets wrongfully executed, don't you think the whole system needs to be looked at thoroughly rather than let the injustice continue?

Also they said earlier that other witnesses came forward saying another man confessed?

I just googled it and the other man who confessed was called Sylvester Coles.

The point is that you execute someone (if you;re the kind of barbaric middle eastern country that still murders people this way.... oh yeah, or America ) if you are BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT...


There is more than reasonable doubt.... there are conflicting reports, witnesses who have recanted their testimonies... other people in the frame for the murder and NO EVIDENCE.

I mean come on man.... What is going on?