I was watching Bill Maher's Real Time and one of his guests was wearing a "I Am Troy" t-shirt. The guest mentioned some about the case so I went to the
website and was shocked and sickened by the injustice!
I've copied the information from the
PDF they have available about the case.
Please spread this far and wide.
NAACP Summary of the Troy Davis CaseThe NAACP urges its members, constituents and friends to take action in the fight to save the life of Troy Anthony Davis. On October 24, 2008, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of execution to consider Troy Davis’ request for his second Federal Habeas petition, just three days prior to his third scheduled execution. On April 16, 2009 that request was denied. As Troy Davis faces execution for the murder of an off‐duty police officer in Georgia, we are reminded of the barriers to fairness that still plague our criminal justice system.
In 1991, Troy Davis was wrongfully convicted for the murder of an off‐duty police officer and sentenced to death in the state of Georgia, despite a lack of physical evidence presented at trial. The murder of Officer Mark MacPhail took place outside a Burger King restaurant in Savannah, Georgia. On the night Officer MacPhail was killed, he was working as a security guard at the Burger King. During the early morning hours, Officer MacPhail responded to the pleas of a homeless man, Mr. Larry Young, who was being harassed and threatened by Mr. Sylvester “Redd” Coles. Troy Davis, along with another man, also heard the commotion and followed the scuffle into the parking lot. Witnesses reported that once in the parking lot, Mr. Coles reached into his pants for a gun and threatened Mr. Young stating, “You don’t know me, don’t walk away from me, I’ll shoot you.” Mr. Young was then hit over the head with the gun as onlookers attempted to break up the altercation. Officer MacPhail heard Mr. Young’s cry for help and while approaching the scene was shot and killed by a .38 caliber firearm.
Hours before Officer MacPhail was killed, there was another shooting incident in the neighborhood where Mr. Coles resided. A young man, Michael Cooper, was injured when the car in which he was riding came under fire. Both Coles and Davis were attending a nearby party at the time of that shooting. Afterwards, Coles was heard arguing with Mr. Joseph Blige, a passenger in the car that was shot at. It was reported that Blige exclaimed to Coles, “I thought y’all were trying to kill me,” implying that Blige thought Coles had shot at him in the car.
Shell casings from the earlier incident matched one shell casing found near Mr. Coles’ residence and where Officer MacPhail was shot. These shell cases were fired from a .38 caliber revolver. Despite this important evidence, a search of Mr. Coles’ residence was never conducted in efforts to find the murder weapon. In fact, although he initially denied it, Mr. Coles was ultimately forced to admit that he was carrying a .38 caliber revolver on the night of the shootings. Mr. Coles refused to produce the revolver for ballistics testing and the weapon has never been recovered, and no evidence or witness testimony regarding the Cooper shooting was ever presented at Troy Davis’ trial.
Although Mr. Coles was the initial suspect in the case, police turned their focus to Troy Davis after Mr. Coles implicated him in the murder – although Mr. Coles was never able to describe the clothing Davis was wearing on the morning in question. In an apparent effort to save himself, Mr. Coles approached the police with his attorney and pointed the finger at Troy Davis after a highly‐visible police canvass of Coles’ neighborhood. Police then procured eyewitness statements that corroborated Mr. Coles’ claim.
Within an hour of Coles’ visit with law enforcement officers, a detective obtained an arrest warrant for Mr. Davis. Before conducting an investigation, the detective released Mr. Davis’ name and photograph to members of the press, effectively identifying Mr. Davis as the perpetrator. Detective Ramsey then assembled a photo lineup that included Mr. Davis’ picture, but not one of Mr. Coles. This same photograph of Mr. Davis had been aired repeatedly in local television news program broadcasts, as well as published in local newspapers, corrupting the process in which eyewitnesses review suspects in a “line up.”
Most of the witnesses involved have claimed repeatedly they were subjected to police coercion and they were pressured by the police to point to Troy Davis as the perpetrator. No court has been willing to hear the new evidence in favor of Mr. Davis. In spite of this great injustice, his execution date is expected to be set soon. The U.S. Supreme Court is now considering procedural issues and may consider whether to grant Troy Davis clemency.
Seven of the nine witnesses have now recanted their testimony in affidavits. This is
noteworthy because in Georgia, a perjury conviction for obstructing justice carries a prison sentence of up to life in prison. Seven witnesses have put their personal freedom at stake in order to exonerate an innocent man. Some of the most compelling recanted testimony includes the following statements:
1. Dorothy Ferrell explained she felt compelled to identify Mr. Davis because she was on parole and that Police Detective Ramsey suggested he would “help her” if she said Troy Davis shot Officer MacPhail.
2. Harriet Murray identified Mr. Davis after a reenactment of the shooting, in which Mr. Coles was allowed to play the role of the innocent bystander because Mr. Davis was “the only one left.”
3. Larry Young, the man who had been assaulted near the Burger King, said he “just
couldn’t tell who did what,” that “he has never been able to make sense of what
happened that night,” and “It was as much a blur now as it was then.”
4. Jeffrey Sapp explained that false testimony was the result of police pressure. “They wanted me to tell them that Troy confessed to me about killing that officer…Troy never told me anything…they made it clear the only way they would leave me alone is if I told them what they wanted to hear.”
Mr. Davis' petition to the U.S. Supreme Court is an appeal of the decision by the Georgia Supreme Court which denied him a hearing to examine evidence of his innocence. In Herrera v. Collins (1993), the U.S. Supreme Court presumed that “a truly persuasive demonstration of ‘actual innocence’ made after trial would render the execution of a defendant unconstitutional.”
The NAACP is requesting that the Court goes beyond the assumption and hold that the
constitution bars the execution of a defendant who is demonstrably innocent.
So far, Georgia lower courts have refused to grant an evidentiary hearing in the case, on the grounds that the new evidence does not meet Georgia state law standards relating to the applicability of recanted testimony. The dissenting State Supreme Court judges argued that the “application of the majority’s ‘categorical rule’ against recantation evidence ‘fails to allow an adequate inquiry into the fundamental question, whether or not an innocent person might be convicted or even, as in this case, might be put to death.’”
Davis' request for a hearing relies on the assertion that state law in Georgia surrounding a motion for a new trial creates a federally protected right involving his life and liberty. To ensure such a constitutional right is respected, the NAACP insists a hearing on his new evidence is required.
Finally, this case brings up a Fifth Amendment issue. Georgia’s failure to grant an evidentiary hearing to review the totality of the new evidence violates the procedural requirements of the Due Process Clause. Without a hearing Mr. Davis could lose his life, even though the evidence clearly weighs in favor of his innocence. The execution of Mr. Davis would represent blatant disregard for principles of justice, equality and fairness embodied in our Constitution. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly instructed lower courts to look at the totality of new evidence, rather than looking at portions in isolation, which occurred in his case. If the
evidence is looked at cumulatively, the witness affidavits recanting their original testimony would clearly exonerate Troy Davis.
Davis' petition rightly asserts: “Society, thus, has an interest in ensuring that the executed who can produce substantial, admissible new evidence of their innocence are not executed without the opportunity to vindicate themselves through minimal due process required by our Constitution.”
The NAACP implores not only residents of Georgia, but also citizens and organizations
nationwide to stand up in support of Troy Davis’ right to freedom. It follows from some of the inherent principles of our legal system that, “every individual going about his ordinary affairs have confidence that his government cannot adjudge him guilty of a criminal offense without convincing a proper fact‐finder of his guilt with utmost certainty.” (Re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 1970). The seven affidavits recanting witness testimony that led to Troy Davis’ incarceration raise serious doubts as to the validity of the conviction. While the NAACP abhors the killing of a
police officer, and grieves with Officer MacPhail’s family, we cannot condone the execution of an innocent man. Our nation has habitually followed the words of the English Jurist William Blackstone, who said, “Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.”
If we allow Troy Davis to die, we will knock down one of the pillars of our jurisdictional foundation.
Stop the Murder of Troy Anthony Davis!
Posts
