Fight to save Troy Davis continues on two fronts

More than 100 vigils, rallies, marches and other actions were held across the U.S. and in other countries worldwide on May 19 in support of Troy Anthony Davis, the Georgia man facing execution for a crime he has always denied committing.

Convicted solely on eyewitness testimony in 1991, the state’s case has steadily unraveled as seven of the nine trial witnesses have recanted their testimony, claiming police coercion and intimidation. The Chatham County prosecutor offered no physical evidence at trial—no gun, no fingerprints, no forensics—nothing that linked Troy Davis to the crime.

New York protesters. WW photo: Brenda Ryan

Many more people have implicated one of the two remaining eyewitnesses, Sylvester “Red” Coles, as the shooter of Mark Allen MacPhail, the off-duty Savannah policeman, in a fast-food parking lot. It was Coles who initially went to the police in the midst of an intense hunt for the shooter. Coles named Davis as the guilty party.

According to the sworn recantation statements, police interrogators then threatened witnesses to likewise identify Davis or face dire consequences. Dorothy Ferrell, who was on parole when she testified, said she was afraid that she’d be sent back to prison if she didn’t agree to cooperate with the authorities by fingering Davis. In her affidavit, she said, “I told the detective that Troy Davis was the shooter even though the truth was that I didn’t know who shot the officer.”

Heidelberg, Germany: Youth on bridge demand justice for Troy Davis. Photo: Annette Schiffmann

Another of the trial witnesses, Darrell Collins, said the police threatened to charge him as an accessory to the crime if he refused to help make the case against Troy Davis. A teenager at the time, Collins said he was told that he would go to prison and might never get out.

Three of the new witness statements claim that Coles later admitted to them that he did the shooting.

Davis has come within days and hours of death three times. The Georgia Supreme Court and the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals both have ruled by one-vote margins to refuse his request for a hearing on the new evidence sworn to by the recanting witnesses and those who were not heard at trial. The dissenting judges in both courts adamantly rejected the majority’s narrowly defined opinions, calling them a grave injustice and unconstitutional.

In conjunction with the Global Day of Action for Troy Davis on May 19, Davis’ lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The next day, some 27 former state and federal judges, justices and prosecutors signed a friend of the court brief supporting the examination of the new evidence, which strongly points to Davis’ innocence. Among those who filed the amicus brief were former Deputy U.S. Attorney General Larry Thompson, nine former U.S. attorneys—including Bob Barr, who also was a Georgia congressman—and former FBI Director William Sessions, as well as Norman Fletcher, who was a chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.

The list of prominent world figures who have called for a re-examination of Troy Davis’ case in the name of justice includes Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Pope Benedict XVI and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. The May 23 New York Times printed a piece by its op-ed columnist, Bob Herbert, calling for a review of the new evidence.

As more people learn of the blatantly unjust circumstances of Troy Davis’ conviction, their reactions of outrage and disbelief have motivated them to take action. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed petitions, written letters and made phone calls to Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue and the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board.

To sign a petition that will go to an expanded number of elected officials, media outlets and federal officials, please go to www.iacenter.org For more information, go to www.gfadp.org.