Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Save an Innocent Man from Being Executed - Please!
It's moments like this that Howling Latina realizes life and death issues don't always garner the latest headlines.
Steadily and without fanfare, the execution date for Troy Anthony Davis is fast approaching. The howler wrote several posts about the Georgia man who nearly died last summer for a crime he didn't commit.
The Georgia Supreme Court stepped in and agreed to hear defense appeals for a new trial. However, on March 17, 2008, the Court sadly ruled in a 4-3 decision that Davis was not entitled to one.
Never mind that witnesses lied and then recanted or that prosecutors used more than a little coersion to obtain confessions in the first place; nothing like a good dose of Southern hospitality to squelch justice.
Here's a summary of the case from HelpSaveTroyDavis.com.
Steadily and without fanfare, the execution date for Troy Anthony Davis is fast approaching. The howler wrote several posts about the Georgia man who nearly died last summer for a crime he didn't commit.
The Georgia Supreme Court stepped in and agreed to hear defense appeals for a new trial. However, on March 17, 2008, the Court sadly ruled in a 4-3 decision that Davis was not entitled to one.
Never mind that witnesses lied and then recanted or that prosecutors used more than a little coersion to obtain confessions in the first place; nothing like a good dose of Southern hospitality to squelch justice.
Here's a summary of the case from HelpSaveTroyDavis.com.
Troy Davis came within 24 hours of execution in July, 2007 before receiving a temporary stay of execution. Two weeks later the Georgia Supreme Court agreed to hear hisextraordinary motion for a new trial. On Monday, March 17, 2008 the court denied Mr. Davis’ appeal. Troy Davis was sentenced to death for the murder of Police Officer Mark MacPhail in Georgia. The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even during the trial. Since then, all but two of the state's nine non-police witnesses from the trial have recanted or contradicted their testimony. Many of these witnesses have stated in sworn affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying or signing statements against Troy Davis.
You can write to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles at 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, S.E., Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower Atlanta, Georgia 30334-4909. You can also call at 404.657.9350 or fax at 404.651.8502. Or click here.
The Board has the power to commute Davis's sentence. Some may recall from an earlier howler post that Chairman Garland R. Hunt once served as president of the Network of Politically Active Christians; he is an ordained minister, received his undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University and is African-American.
The Board has the power to commute Davis's sentence. Some may recall from an earlier howler post that Chairman Garland R. Hunt once served as president of the Network of Politically Active Christians; he is an ordained minister, received his undergraduate and law degrees from Howard University and is African-American.
// posted by Howling Latina @ 7:26 PM 
