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DEATH PENALTY-US: Inmate Gets Rare Last-Minute Reprieve
SAVANNAH, Georgia - Troy Anthony Davis, a death row inmate in the U.S. state of Georgia whose guilt has been challenged by new evidence, won a 90-day stay of his sentence Monday, just hours before his scheduled execution.
"I'm exhausted but elated," Martina Correia, Davis's sister, told IPS. "They [the Parole Board] were asking a lot of questions and were engaging. They were so respectful for the family. We had this perception, we've always been treated so badly because of what he's accused of." "There was so much doubt in this case. They saw that today. Troy was calling my mother. She was sitting wrapped in a blanket. The lawyer called and said there was a 90-day stay. Troy said he was so thankful and he got on his knees to thank God," Correia said.
In the days preceding the scheduled execution, a wide array of advocates converged to save a man whose guilt seems uncertain, even unlikely, now that seven of nine witnesses have recanted in his case, and new witnesses have implicated another man.
The International Action Centre of Atlanta and others staged a recent protest. Family members held a candlelight vigil. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper's editorial board criticised the pending execution. Even a former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation under right-wing President Ronald Reagan, William Sessions, wrote a column in support of Davis.
Davis was convicted of murdering a Savannah, Georgia, police officer in 1989. No physical evidence or murder weapon was ever presented at his trial.
"He's relieved he's not going to be killed, but he had made his peace with God. They moved him to 'Death Watch' today. He said we fought a good fight, let's remember the McPhail [victim's] family and pray for peace and understanding," Correia said.
"We were just asking for them to be fair and objective. If any other court would've stepped up and examined any of this, we wouldn't have gotten this far. And they're actually doing what the court system should've done long ago," she added.
A press release issued by the state late Monday said the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles "will not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused..."
"Whereas, those representing... Davis have asserted they can and will present live witnesses and other evidence to the members of the Board to support their contention that there remains some doubt as to his guilt... It is hereby ordered the execution... is suspended until midnight of October 14, 2007, or until this Board issues an order..."
The meeting of Davis's lawyers and supporters with the Board lasted from 9 a.m. until 3:15 p.m., about six hours. After this, the Board met with state prosecutors.
"My impression is there so much material to go through today they didn't feel prepared. It does give them time to continue examining the facts," Laura Moye, deputy director of Amnesty International USA Southern Regional Office, told IPS.
"They still have a responsibility and a duty to consider clemency. One thing that could happen, there is an appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, that could kick in before they make any kind of decision," she said.
"We feel it means that hope is still alive that justice can still be done. But it doesn't mean that we have a victory. It just means there is more time," Moye said.
It also means additional time to increase public awareness about the case and issues at stake.
"You're going to see continued interest, because some people are late coming to this story," Moye said. "The legal team was not able to produce all the witnesses in person. Four witnesses came. But they do have the affidavits [for all witnesses]."
Georgia Congressman John Lewis was among those who spoke in support of Davis at the hearing Monday. Rep. Hank Johnson, also of Georgia, offered to speak in support of Davis, spokesperson Deb Speights told IPS.
Attorneys for Davis have filed a motion for a new trial in state court, since the U.S. Supreme Court recently refused to hear Davis' case and he has exhausted his federal appeals. After a state judge declined to overturn the original ruling, his attorneys appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court. That case is still pending.
"Georgia law allows you to go back and say the world has changed so dramatically. It's like a safety valve, [but] it tends not to work very often. In most cases, you don't have dramatic new evidence," said Philip Horton, a pro bono attorney with the Arnold and Porter law firm.
Davis is still hoping for clemency from either the court or the Board, his sister said.
Experts say that the case, which has finally captured mass media attention in these final days, reflects a much more systemic problem in the United States, where procedural technicalities have become more important to many judges than innocence or guilt itself.
"The federal courts are generally pretty hostile to these so-called post-conviction proceedings. They've set up a whole bunch of traps for the unwary. If you fail to do x, you waive your rights. Most of these things wouldn't occur to ordinary people. It's real easy to waive your rights," Horton said.
Davis did not have good public legal representation in his original trial due to lack of funding from the state of Georgia. Moreover, several witnesses recanted their testimony after the fact.
"The first response of the courts is to say, be that as it may, it's too late for it now because you failed to raise it in time, or you failed to do something else," Horton said, describing what is called a procedural default.
"The courts don't decide it on the merits. They decide the claim can no longer be raised," he said. "When the prosecutors are asked about this in the press, they say they presented this evidence already to court after court after court. This is the way the game is played. The public doesn't have a clue."
Several of the witnesses who recanted said they were pressured by police into implicating Davis, and that they were threatened with possibly being charged themselves if they didn't cooperate.
"They said 'we've got Troy and maybe we'll come after you as an accomplice'," Horton said of the recantations.
"Most of these witnesses were African American who were young and easily intimidated. Or one who had issues with the law, easily manipulated -- she said at the time, 'I'm pregnant, I have four kids. I can't go back to jail'," Moye said.
The restrictive laws that prevent courts from considering new evidence are contained in the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. The Act has dramatically undermined habeus corpus in the U.S.
Two U.S. congressmen, Hank Johnson of Georgia and Artur Davis of Alabama, told The Hill newspaper in Washington, DC that the 1996 AEDPA should be revisited, but they know of no current efforts to do so.
Thirty-four percent of all inmates executed since 1976 have been African American, while 79 percent of all victims in death penalty cases were white, according to statistics from the Death Penalty Information Centre.
Matthew Cardinale is the editor of Atlanta Progressive News, http://www.atlantaprogressivenews.com.
Copyright © 2007 IPS-Inter Press Service
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22 Comments so far
Show AllNicely put happystead.
(Editors: Please make comprehension corrections to this story and please do more background story as many have not had an opportunity to to learn of Troy's unconstitutional treatment by law enforcement and judiicial figures in the early part of these events, nor of his active and caring for others!)
A loss for the negative procedural parties and a humanitarian and victorious save for the Constitutional and legal (Constitutional)parties in this case, this story of bigotry in the 21st Century!
Yes -- I still feel like I don't know enough about the case -- though obviously it looks like a frameup.
Sadly, our system of justice seems to exist on a theory of one crime/one suspect -- just grab someone. And if that "someone" happens to be African-American then all the easier!!!
The Death Penalty should be ended --
No one can be absolutely sure of anything like this unless your're psychic.
The Drug War should be ended --
It is simply a way to feed the now industrial prison system; and too often again the prisoners are minorities.
Drug use is a health issue - like alcoholism --
Not something to be imprisoned for.
In fact, we understand that the drug trade could not continue on and on without the corruption of government officials and police enforcers.
PLEASE TELL US MORE ABOUT THIS CASE --
AND CONTINUE WITH FOLLOW UP STORIES --
"reflects a much more systemic problem in the United States, where procedural technicalities have become more important to many judges than innocence or guilt itself."
That is the truth. Procedures and precedence, not
right and wrong, are the watchwords.
I thought the purpose of having judges was to temper justice with mercy, not to become legalistic bureaucrats. Clearly I was wrong.
Our legal system horrifically reflects how racist our society really is. The procedures and precedence are just an excuse to carry out racist behavior. These judges are closet Ku Klux Klan members. Just look at the numbers. You're ten times more likely to go to jail for the same crime if you're black than if you're white.
And the death penalty is institutionalized murder. We are so uncivilized in this country.
Woe, America.
You force the dying to suffer.
You imprison the addict.
You profit from WAR.
You make the sick homeless.
Your children are born impoverished and hungry.
You bomb, poison and exploit people the world over for your own GREED and act as if your military might
makes you morally superior.
You disgust me.
Poverty is the death penalty of the soul.
Peace to you and yours.
The road to justice in Germany had to go by way of such places as Plötzensee prison. Will the road to a just (and inseparably, death penalty free) US have to go by a similar route? I fear so.
Well, he's black, isn't he? Isn't that all that's necessary for a conviction and execution in Georgia?
"The restrictive laws that prevent courts from considering new evidence are contained in the 1996 Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. The Act has dramatically undermined habeus corpus in the U.S. Thirty-four percent of all inmates executed since 1976 have been African American, while 79 percent of all victims in death penalty cases were white, according to statistics from the Death Penalty Information Centre."
1996? Wasn't that the Clinton/Gore administration? I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Clinton and Gore are white southerners. In any case, it's scandalous that the Democrats pay so much attention to the impact harsh sentencing laws have on people of color.
Pretty much corvo, pretty much. Sadly the State of GA where I live is still stuck in the 1940-50's. a majority of our elected officials are alumni of Bob Jones University, whihc is not accredited since it refuses to teach science still in 2007!!! We have had 2 young black children have consentual sex with young white girls and do some serious time for "statutory rape"... We have a 4 tierd system in GA, 1 for rich white folks like Zell "I'm from Hell" Miller and Newt Gangrene, another for poor white folks, a 3rd for minorities with some money, and another yet for poor minorities. If you are poor and still have the Stars & Bars flying over both the US and GA state flags you may have a better shot at getting off.
The REAL PROBLEM in GA with Justice though, is that after living here since 1995 I have yet to see more than one judge's bench up for election have more than one candidate. Judges run for their seats in most places in the US, against another candidate. Here you have a choice of just one... Habeus Corpus? We are a few votes from reinstating Jim Crow, who are the Corpus' and why would they name their kid Habeus?
THE only reason i can see that this exemplary young man is still alive is that his sister has refused to let this case go.now amnesty usa,democracy now,congressman lewis,sen.sessions and others are providing major support to at least prevent the execution of someone who is almost certainly innocent of this crime.keep in mind going forward that the provisions of the anti-terrorism and effective death penalty act of 1996 make it terribly hard,if not impossible to mount an effective habeas appeal even in a case like this one,where the "facts"were largely invented,and ga statutes MUST have been applied in a manner which violated the defendant's constitutional rights,which by the way is no longer the standard.now the appellant is limited to proving by the preponderance of the evidence that the state conviction was "contrary to,or involved an unreasonable application of clearly established fed.law as detirmined bu the supreme court.i hope my brother's life never hangs by such a thin thread-i don't know if i could fight as long and hard as ms.correia has.her damned near biblical nobility has saved her brother's life,in my opinion.THE FACTS COME OUT EVENTUALLY,EVEN IN GA.
"In 82% of the studies [reviewed], race of the victim was found to influence the likelihood of being charged with capital murder or receiving the death penalty, i.e., those who murdered whites were found more likely to be sentenced to death than those who murdered blacks."
- United States General Accounting Office, Death Penalty Sentencing, February 1990
Murder by the State is no different to death inflicted by a single individual, except that all the citizens of that State are complicit.
Every country WITHOUT a death penalty has a lower violent crime rate than experienced in the
USA. Severity of the sentence is no deterrent.
Countries such as Saudi Arabia, have been beheading and stoning to death those committing offences as a deterrent. After more than 1600 years they haven't succeeded in stopping the crimes. Malaysia, Singapore, & Indonesia, to also deter others, have the death penalty for drug offences, peculiarly, they still have drug offences.
The death penalty is so final to the innocent and the guilty alike. A Posthumous Congressional Medal of Honour or a Pardon evokes no feelings of pride nor forgiveness from the dead.....Tom Edgar Australia
tomedgar@halenet.com.au
In theory, the death penalty is irrefutably justice; in application it is impossible to be just.
If you have no official death penalty you still have a defacto death penalty when criminals refuse to be captured alive.
With a white cop killed and a black suspect in custody, the black man hasn't got a chance in racist U.S.A. Native-American Leonard Peltier is still rotting away in prison after decades of being there. No concrete evidence of his guilt, either. So goes the American judicial system.
There was another man (happened to be black) released from jail after serving 20 years, for the rape and murder of a little girl. Recently released because DNA evidence.
But that is not why I'm against the death penalty, though who knows how many innocent people have been executed.
The death penalty is inherently wrong in a civilized society. Proof that we don't have a civilized society. Doesn't meant that you can't feel that you want someone dead if they hurt your family, but in the long run it is not in society's best interest.
As someone mentioned above, countries without the death penalty have a lower murder rate then those countries that do carry out the death penalty.
I don't support the death penalty, don't support the war.
peace, justice, and human rights for all.
www.NotOneMore.US - Pledge for Peace
Sounds like Mumia Abu-Jamal which sounded like (add African American name here) which sounded like (African American name)....
neoconned
having lived in georgia for the last thirty years, I take exception to having the entire state tarred with one brush. Georgia now has slightly more whites than blacks on death row, 50b to 53w. However, since 1976, twice as many whites have been executed 26w to 13b. So, once you are on death row, the chances of being executed are actually higher if you are white.
Georgia has its problems, the death penalty is probably one of them, but it is hardly the benighted state described here. In my town all of the judges seats had more than one candidate. Final result 2 white judges, two black judges.
As far as the death penalty is concerned, it should probably be abolished as it does favor the rich defendant (white or black (remember OJ?} over even middle class citizens. And the AVERAGE time on death row in this state is 18 Years. Hardly a deterrent.
I detect a vibe from the "hinteria" expressing fear of "reverse racism", and possible "scapegoating",or at least unwarranted bashing of dixie in gen,and ga in particular.i'll leave the latter mostly alone,because i too have lived down here half a lifetime ,and i'm not unsympathetic to that position,although i do draw the line at contending that whites have a slightly better chance of being executed in ga,than blacks.whoever wrote that needs to think that one through.the issue of the death penalty AND reverse racism was addressed brilliantly by leadbelly in his classic version of "stagolee".after being hanged by the authorities for murder,stag arrives in hell and issues the following challenge-"stag said to the devil,lets us have some fun,you stab me with your pitch fork,and i'll shoot you with my gun.then,stag said to the devil,put your pitch fork on the shelf,i'm the bad man called stagolee,i'll rule hell by my self."leadbelly knew that there is a vast difference between writing about racism,and practising it.he also knew that there is a cavernous distance between the shadow,and the act.like the distance across de nile.
The justice is indeed a broken system where the poor... "Davis did not have good public legal representation in his original trial due to lack of funding from the state of Georgia." are charged. Then there is the intimidation factor of the procecutor and law officials. This is why the Government wins 98% of their cases. I just got out of federal prison as a prisoner of conscience. I heard story after story of witness tampering and intimidation. I was in prison with elderly and sick women who believed in the principle of innocent until proven guilty. What they didn't know, they were playing against a stacked deck.
And why these long sentences and stacked decks?... The "prison industry" will not be profitable if there are no prisoners. It is a simple fact. Unicor, the business arm of the B.O.P.(Bureau of Prisons) has a steady source of very cheap and readily available labor. It is the prefect storm...no health insurance or family benefits, no union wages, steady source of laborers who can not strike and who are forced into overtime (and you don't have to pay them time and a half). Oh yes! The profits soar! "The poor pay for prison and the rich live for free."
Just what I saw from inside the fence.
Tina Busch-Nema
The numbers that I quoted as to race of executed prisoners in Georgia are correct. If anyone has other information that contradicts this I would welcome them.
I do think that the justice system sucks, and not just for minorities. In capital cases it should be The State that pays for DNA testing for both current and past cases where DNA evidence exists. It makes no sense to have evidence that can conclusively prove the guilt or innocence of a defendant not used because of funding for defense. At the same time, a life sentence for murder should last more than the 7 or so years that the average murderer serves in some states. My cousin, a rancher, was shotgun murdered in cold blood while having breakfast with his wife. It was a case of mistaken identity, the killer went to the wrong house. He spent exactly 38 MONTHS in jail. Where is the justice in this?It seems like a game of chance as to what penalty you are going to get.
Fortunately this case got publicity. There are hundreds, possibly thousands of other cases that aren't publicized. That is the reason why our jails are filled with African-Americans imprisoned on drug charges while the vast majority of drug users are white. To remedy this injustice we need VIGILENCE from all communities. Filling jails with innocent people puts money into the pockets of slave masters like the former Wackenhut. In Tulia, Texas they were about to imprison the entire African-American community on a drug charge. Here we are talking about 65 people, many of whom are senior citizens. Racism is alive and well in the U.S.