The Loveshade Family Blog

Troy Anthony Davis, a quite possibly innocent man convicted of killing a cop, was hoping that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles would grant him clemency.  Seven of nine of the major witnesses against him recanted their testimony, and some who recanted said they were pushed into testifying by the cops.  One of the two witnesses remaining is said by a number of witnesses to be the actual killer.

But changes in the law made in the past few years have made it increasingly difficult for a wrongly convicted person.  Here's the result of the call for clemency:

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denied it. Troy Anthony Davis is scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. September 23, 2008.

Here's one paragraph from the article about the denial in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (September 12, 2008):

'Since he (Troy Davis) was put on Death Row, seven of the nine key witnesses against him have recanted. One of the two who did not change their story, Sylvester “Redd” Coles, was at the scene and later told police Davis was the shooter. New witnesses now say Coles confessed to them that he killed MacPhail, and others say Coles had a gun immediately after the shooting —- contrary to what Coles testified at trial.'

Some of you may not care--after all, innocent or possibly innocent people die every day. And people who commit capital crimes against others walk around free every day. A good friend of ours just lost his brother to cancer. Death happens all the time. But what about when it could easily be prevented?

How would you feel if you or a loved one was convicted of murdering a police officer, then later witnesses against you said they were coerced to testify against you by the police? How would feel if witnesses later pointed to one of your own accusers as the killer? How would you feel if the law wouldn't allow the court to hear any new evidence in your defense?

You can read more at http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/stories/2008/09/12/davis_denied_clemency.html

You may also want to do a search for the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which makes it much more difficult for a wrongly convicted person to receive justice.

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