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The countdown to death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis’ execution continued Monday as Two defense lawyers say Georgia’s board of pardons has rejected a bid to spare the life of Troy Davis, who has attracted high-profile support for his claim that he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989.
Georgia’s state Board of Pardons and Paroles heard a last ditch clemency plea on his behalf, but adjourned Monday without announcing its decision.
Davis, who was convicted in the 1989 killing Savannah, Georgia police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail, is scheduled to be executed Wednesday by lethal injection, barring a decision by the five-member board.
At Monday’s hearing in Atlanta, Davis’ legal team offered a spirited defense about why his life should be spared. MacPhail’s family argued with equal emotion that there’s no doubt that Davis was the one who fatally shot the officer, maintaining that final justice had been delayed far too long.
As the closed-door proceedings went on, dozens of protesters – some carrying “I am Troy Davis” and “Justice for Troy Davis” placards – stood outside the building across from the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta.
The hearing began at 9 a.m. and ended at around 5 p.m. without an announcement of the board’s decision. That’s likely to come early Tuesday.
“It’s a very difficult place to be. A man’s life hangs in the balance,” the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Davis supporter who spoke at the hearing, told reporters. “But we were very clear that an execution should not take place.”
Stephen Marsh, a member of Davis’ legal team, told the board that there’s too much serious doubt to go forward with the execution. In a 60-page petition to the board, Davis’ lawyers contend that several witnesses who testified at his trial have disputed all or parts of their testimony.
Other witnesses who didn’t testify said another man committed the murder, according to the petition. Additionally, Davis’ lawyers believe that that a string of court decisions that upheld Davis’ conviction failed to address his claim of innocence.
“We believe we have established substantial doubt in this case,” Marsh told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The U.S. Supreme Court granted Davis a hearing to prove his innocence, the first time it had done so for a death row inmate in at least 50 years. The high court set up a hearing, but Davis couldn’t convince a lower federal judge to grant him a new trial. The Supreme Court did not review his case. Federal appeals courts and the Georgia Supreme Court have upheld his conviction, leaving the parole board as his last chance.
The pardons board in 2007 decided to delay Davis’ execution for 90 days to grant the courts more time to review the case. A year later, it denied clemency and allowed his execution to go forward. Since then, though, three new members have been appointed.
Davis’ case has generated national and international attention. More than 600,000 people worldwide have signed petitions calling for clemency. Last week, more than 50 members of the U.S. House of Representatives signed a letter to the pardons and parole board calling on it to spare Davis’ life.
Former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, former FBI Director William Sessions and former Rep. Bob Barr, a conservative Republican from Georgia, are among the luminaries who agree that there are too many questions and too much doubt to carry out the death sentence.
“We are hopeful this tremendous outpouring of support will demonstrate there’s such a huge concern about this case and that this message will resonate with them,” Laura Moye of …..
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