(Image Source: The New York Times)
BY RICHARD LAYCOCK
Many say an innocent man is about to be put to death.
Troy Davis was convicted in the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail. Since then, his attempts to prove his innocence have garnered international headlines and lined up supporters from an ex-president to the pope. (Image: Yahoo! News)
In a last-minute bid to stay his Wednesday night execution, Davis’ defense team and supporters are asking for anything that could possibly halt the proceedings. The Telegraph reports.
“They asked prisons officials to let him take a polygraph test; urged prison workers to strike or call in sick; asked prosecutors to block the execution and they even considered a desperate appeal for White House intervention.”
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles has already denied his appeal for clemency and the polygraph test. In a case where the evidence has been either questionable or nonexistent, MSNBC reports many have raised real doubts about Davis’s guilt.
“But seven of the nine witnesses recanted their statement, several claiming police coercion. One of those witnesses said quote I was real young … I was scared … I told them what they wanted to hear. Davis’s defence also points to a lack of evidence -- the murder weapon never found. Three jurors who voted to convict now say they would vote differently.”
In 2007, CBS spoke with Larry Young, the homeless man officer MacPhail attempted to rescue.
“Young now maintains police withheld medical treatment for his bleeding head until he agreed to falsely blame Davis. And there’s something else, all sides agree that there is no physical evidence linking Davis to the murder. No murder weapon was ever found. No DNA was ever recovered. Now one million people has signed petitions asking for clemency.”
The Guardian adds...
“…a gentleman named Sylvester ‘Redd’ Coles has been identified by several witnesses as the actual triggerman. But no real case against Coles has ever been pursued.”
USA Today says, despite widespread public outcry over the scheduled execution...
“Prosecutors have no doubt they charged the right person, and MacPhail's family lobbied the pardons board Monday to reject Davis' clemency appeal.”
Finally, an editorial contributor to the The New York Times argues it’s time to reexamine the death penalty, but first, justice officials need to reexamine this case.
“Those asking for clemency included President Jimmy Carter, 51 members of Congress and death penalty supporters, such as William Sessions, a former F.B.I. director. The board’s failure to commute Mr. Davis’s death sentence to life without parole was a tragic miscarriage of justice.”
Davis is set to be executed by lethal injection Wednesday at 7 p.m. Eastern.
Transcript by Newsy.
...