From nytimes.com
Rejecting pleas by Mr. Davis’s lawyers that shaky witness testimony and a lack of physical evidence presented enough doubt about his guilt to spare him death, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles ruled on Tuesday morning that Mr. Davis, 42, should die for killing Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer, in a Savannah parking lot in 1989.
This is so terrible. I will never have a good thing to say about the State of Georgia. Not only do they convict people of crimes without physical evidence, but when the witness testimony goes bad, they’ll kill you anyway. I can’t believe this happens in America. It’s nothing short of horrific.
Please share widely!
Anneliese MacPhail, explaining that his execution will give her peace. Really??? Executing a potentially innocent man will give her peace?
This was on CNN this morning. I wish that there was a lawyer there with her explaining how important it is that there was no physical evidence in this case and that it’s entirely possible that Troy Davis is innocent.
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“To Kill a Mockingbird” because this is the same story over and over again. A black male still can’t get justice in our society, particularly in the South. “1984” because an organization like the Georgia State Board of Pardons is exactly the opposite of what its name says — it’s really the Board of Non-Clemency.
it’s so easy to miss the struggles that continue in the south. I’ve always been curious about why Georgia isn’t promoted as a retirement state or even a vacation spot, yet you hear so much about Florida and the Carolinas. I have wanted to visit Georgia and considered it to be a place to look at when deciding where to live during retirement. If I ever do visit, I will definitely visit it with a new perspective and sadness. I will no longer consider it a place to retire. I may not even visit it; I’ll just stay on the main highway as I head south. It seems to me to be a very scary place, where the government can take you and kill you, with out any desire to make seeking justice the role of their judicial system.
CNN just interviewed Spencer Lawton, the former Chatham County prosecutor, who is saying yes, there was physical evidence in the case, that the bullet casings found at the scene of other murder Troy Davis was convicted of matched the ones found at Officer MacPhail crime scene. To the casual observer, it might appear like solid evidence. What they fail to say is that there is no gun to tie the casings to. Troy Davis was never tied to a murder weapon. So the bullet casings may show that the same gun killed both victims, but it doesn’t show that Troy Davis was behind the gun. Why can’t the media be thorough. They leave out such important details.
@ 5:41 pm
He’ll be offered a sedative at 6pm. The execution is scheduled for 7pm. I can’t believe they are going to do it.
there is reasonable doubt here. Please don’t allow the permanence of the death penalty negate the hope that we live in a just society.
Would have been a poor choice to execute someone while awaiting a Supreme Court decision.
He was executed later tonight.
This was not a reasonable use of the death penalty. It was murder by state and nothing less. I hate the death penalty but can tolerate it if it’s used with great care. It’s unfortunate that when states are given the freedom to maintain the death penalty it is abused in such an egregious way. It is for that reason that I have to support the complete abolition of the death penalty in United States.