VIDEO OF TROY DAVIS: http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/99578/jimmy_carter_calls_for_clemency_for_troy_davis/
New York Times ------------------------------------------------------------------------ September 13, 2008 Death Penalty Is Upheld in Publicized Georgia Case By ROBBIE BROWN ATLANTA — A Georgia <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/national/usstatesterritoriesandpossessions/georgia/index.html?inline=nyt-geo> parole board on Friday upheld the death sentence of a man convicted of killing a Savannah police officer in 1989, despite a group of witnesses who recanted their testimonies against the convict. It was the second time in two years that the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles denied clemency for the man, Troy A. Davis, despite his lawyers’ claims of police misconduct. Mr. Davis, 39, is scheduled to die by lethal injection in Jackson, Ga., on Sept. 23, unless the United States Supreme Court <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/s/supreme_court/index.html?inline=nyt-org> agrees to hear an appeal. A county jury in 1991 convicted Mr. Davis in the 1989 murder of Mark Allen MacPhail, an off-duty police officer moonlighting as a security guard who was shot to death while responding to a late-night fight at a Burger King in Savannah. Mr. Davis testified he was at a nearby pool hall and left before Officer MacPhail arrived. The prosecution offered no murder weapon, DNA or fingerprints tying Mr. Davis to the killing but instead relied heavily on testimony from witnesses. Since the trial, seven key witnesses have recanted, saying they were bullied by investigators into lying under oath. The case has received international publicity; 20,000 people signed petitions asking that Mr. Davis be spared the death penalty. “Troy’s case represents everything wrong with the death penalty — from procedural obstacles to racial bias to witness mishandling to inadequate counsel,” said Jared Feuer of Amnesty International <http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/a/amnesty_international/index.html?inline=nyt-org>. The head of the Southern Center for Human Rights, Stephen B. Bright, a law professor at Yale, called the decision “shocking.” “For somebody to be executed,” Mr. Bright said, “we really should be sure beyond doubt that the person is guilty.” ______________________ AlterNet Jimmy Carter Calls for Clemency for Troy Davis By Staff, AlterNet Posted on September 20, 2008, Printed on September 23, 2008 http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/www.alternet.org/99578/ 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: http://www.alternet.org/bloggers/www.alternet.org/99578/ -- Cafe Intifada seeks to empower artistic self expression within a social/political context, to raise awareness and make connections through the arts, with cultural and human rights needs and programs internationally and connect artists with activists, community members and other artists currently engaged in progressive social change. Cafe Intifada: Uniting Art with Critical Consciousness http://cafeintifada.wordpress.com/ http://home.earthlink.net/~cafeintifada/index.html <http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ecafeintifada/index.html> Emma Rosenthal Andy Griggs Directors Caf Intifada Class consciousness is knowing which side of the fence you are on. 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