ABC Finally Covers Troy Davis Case

[nattyreb]

Also (not sure if posted elsewhere) the radio show with Brotha's Keepa from last night is at: Internet Radio, Citizen Broadcasting, Social Media Podcasts - Blog Talk Radio
~~~~~~~~

Now, for ABC's making sure they're just too late for anybody but a missing white girl:

Questions Linger as Man's Execution Nears
Troy Davis Scheduled to Die Today; Seven Witnesses Recant

By SCOTT MICHELS
Sept. 23, 2008 —

Georgia plans to execute a death row inmate today for the 1989 murder of a Savannah police officer, though several key witnesses have recanted their incriminating testimony.

Unless the U.S. Supreme Court steps in, Troy Anthony Davis, 39, will die by lethal injection tonight. The Supreme Court is scheduled to decide whether it will hear Davis' appeal Monday, six days after his planned execution. The court usually declines to hear such cases.

Davis' case has attracted national attention because seven of the nine witnesses who testified against him in his 1991 murder trial have since recanted, several of them saying they felt pressured by police to lie on the stand and implicate Davis. There was no physical evidence tying Davis to the murder of Officer Mark MacPhail and several new witnesses have come forward to implicate another man in the crime, Davis' lawyers say.

Former President Carter, former Georgia Congressman Bob Barr and Pope Benedict XVI, among others, have called on the state parole board to reduce Davis' sentence to life in prison. The board earlier this month rejected Davis' clemency petition after what it called an exhaustive review of the evidence in his case.

Stephen Bright, a professor at Yale Law School and director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, called the timing of Davis' execution "unseemly."

"All across the spectrum of people's views on criminal justice, there's near unanimity that this trial was not reliable," he said. "We can't say with certainty that this man is guilty of this crime. In fact the probability is he is not guilty."

A spokesman for the Georgia Attorney General's Office declined to comment on pending litigation. In court papers, the state has asked the Supreme Court not to stay the execution and has argued that the recantations are not enough to grant Davis a new trial.

Several courts have agreed, saying there was not enough evidence that Davis received a constitutionally unfair trial. By a 4-3 decision, the state Supreme Court in March found that the new evidence probably would not have produced a different verdict at trial.

MacPhail, a father of two, was murdered Aug. 19, 1989, after responding to a fight outside a Burger King. Davis testified that he was nearby but was not involved in MacPhail's death.

The next day, a witness told police that Davis had killed MacPhail. Davis had left town and surrendered to police a few days later, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Witnesses at the trial said Davis pistol-whipped a homeless man then shot MacPhail when he intervened.

"My son didn't have a chance," said MacPhail's mother, Anneliese MacPhail, who added that she was "disgusted" by the attention being paid to Davis.

"I feel disgusted about the whole case," she said. "I lost my son, my grandchildren lost their father. No one thinks about all the tragic things that we are going through and then they are making a circus about someone who is guilty as can be."

Seven witnesses have since changed their testimony. Darrell Collins, a friend of Davis', said in an affidavit that he initially denied that Davis was involved in the murder, but "after a couple hours of the detectives yelling at me and threatening me, I finally broke down and told them what they wanted to hear. They would tell me things that they said had happened and I would repeat whatever they said."

Another witness said she was on parole and feared she would be sent back to prison if she did not tell police that Davis killed MacPhail.

"We need to have a day in court where a judge hears the evidence and explanation showing why that person likely did testify falsely," said Jason Ewart, Davis' lawyer at Arnold and Porter in Washington, D.C.

Davis is now focused on his family and friends, said his sister Martina Correia who visited him Monday.

"He's more concerned about us than he is for himself," she said. "He says God has given him peace. If his life is given, it's not given in vain because people will make a stand against what's happening in Georgia."

Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

[Jalili]

Sad, to white Amerikkka any black person is not a story until the possible end...

I doubt anyone has given up hope and like Brother Davis said "If his life is given, it's not given in vain because people will make a stand against what's happening in Georgia."

[nattyreb]

Yes, Bro., we will keep burning up those phone/fax lines, e-mails until the end. Latest word (unconfirmed) is that the filthy pigs at the kkkamp are not even allowing the family to be present at their lynching party this evening. (Georgia Department of Pardons and Paroles -- their telephone number is 404-656-2808).

If this is true, it wouldn't be a new thing. On many occasions, captives are only allowed a visit by the prison chaplain (usually a racist crakkka), no matter if their own pastor or Muslim Imam or whomever else has been requested. Family members are sometimes sent to the empty cell to gather the belongings and then pushed outside of the prison to wait on the casket around front w/the hearse. No final goodbyes or final embrace, just a corpse... "freedom".

But... there just may be a stay... this is one of those painful, clock-watching days ... prayers for the family.

Originally Posted by Jalili

Sad, to white Amerikkka any black person is not a story until the possible end...

I doubt anyone has given up hope and like Brother Davis said "If his life is given, it's not given in vain because people will make a stand against what's happening in Georgia."

[nattyreb]

(www.newsvine.com -- this is not confirmed, but broadly posted)

Troy Anthony Davis is scheduled for execution at 7pm on Tuesday, September 23, just hours from now. The case is generating national attention and many protests because many people either consider Troy innocent or believe there is more than a reasonable doubt as to his guilt. Bob Herbert of the New York Times sums up the situation very well.

According to Martina Correia-Davis, Troy's little sister, the Warden of Troy's prison inexplicably and without warning today informed Troy that the people he wanted present at the final moments of his life will not be allowed, both an unjust break from protocol and an inhumane lack of mercy. She hopes that public scrutiny of the Warden's action will force him to honor previous commitments and human decency.

Ledra Sullivan-Russell is one of Troy's loved ones and was an approved, designated witness like Martina. She also learned today she was denied this role. She writes:

Very shortly after Troy Davis’ friends and family left from what could be their last full day with him at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, officials informed him that he would not be allowed the already-confirmed witnesses to his planned execution. Five witnesses had been authorized and signed off on, *including my husband and father, and now, he will only have his dedicated attorney, with the second witness still unnamed. There are reports that they have refused his sister, Martina Correia-Davis, the person closest to him in this world, the right to be among them, allowing hers to be the last face of love and support his eyes will see.

He was also informed that, unlike the previous six days since his move to Death Watch in which he was allowed unlimited access to the telephone to call those on his pre-approved list, he is now limited to two 15-minute phone calls on his last night on Earth.

Aside from the sheer outrageousness of this brutal and needless cruelty, it is also quite puzzling, as the Warden has always treated Troy with respect and fairness, and one can only assume that he treats all of the fellow inmates in the same manner.

We must question what powerful influence caused this drastic and malicious action by the Georgia State-employed Warden Hilton, resulting in a complete break from protocol.

This unprecedented inhumanity in the face of an already horrific tragedy is unacceptable.

Troy's loved ones desperately ask everyone to call the Warden at 770.504.2000 and express their outrage.
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(Sure did wait til the last minute, huh?)

Jimmy Carter Calls for Clemency for Troy Davis

By Staff, AlterNet

Posted on September 20, 2008, Printed on September 23, 2008
RE: Troy Davis... | AlterNet

Editor's note: Above is a message from Troy Davis, who is on death row in Georgia, below is a press release from Jimmy Carter's press secretary

Atlanta -- Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter called today on the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to reverse its decision to deny clemency to Troy Anthony Davis, convicted for an alleged murder of a Savannah police officer in 1991. "This case illustrates the deep flaws in the application of the death penalty in this country," said former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. "Executing Troy Davis without a real examination of potentially exonerating evidence risks taking the life of an innocent man and would be a grave miscarriage of justice. The citizens of Georgia should demand the highest standards of proof when our legal system condemns on our behalf a man or woman to die."

Background

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied the clemency appeal despite serious new doubts about Mr. Davis' participation in the murder of which he was accused. Serious flaws during Davis' trial and post-conviction phases warrant reconsideration of his conviction and sentence. There was no physical evidence against Troy Davis, and the weapon used in the crime was never found.

The entire case against Davis was built on witness testimony, which contained inconsistencies at the time of the trial. Recently, seven of nine prosecution witnesses either recanted their stories or admitted to being pressured by police officers to testify against Mr. Davis. One of the other witnesses has been an alternate suspect for the murder.

Additionally, Davis' family members and close friends were not able to testify at his trial, preventing the jurors from hearing sympathetic facts, leaving them to rely only on the prosecutor's characterizations of Davis and his life.

© 2008 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved.
View this story online at: RE: Troy Davis... | AlterNet

[Elisa Keisha]

I am..speachless, outraged but i know he wont be the last one. Are we so damn powerless??? These motherfuckers wont hear ANYbody, anybody!! not even one of their own. They just need to kill somebody, kill a Black man, point someone guilty, whoever.
Protesting would only work if the shitstem is changed from head to toe or you all just get the fuck out of there.