Death penalty opponents rallied at the Capitol today, following a Georgia Supreme Court decision in the case of a Chatham County man convicted of killing a police officer nearly two decades ago. Troy Anthony Davis was convicted in 1991 and sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail.
Martina Davis Correia is Davis’ sister.
“We have had years of disappointment, but we still have fight in us. we are not giving up. We believe that Troy’s case will be heard and that all the new evidence will be given the consideration.”Jared Feuer is with Amnesty International, one of the group’s protesting Davis’ pending execution. He says the case is a stark example of all that is wrong with the death penalty nationwide, and in particular here in Georgia.
“It has been riddled with such problems as racial and economic bias, police and prosecutorial misconduct, and false eyewitness identification.”In recent years, eyewitnesses to the killing have recanted their testimony, saying instead they were forced by police to implicate Davis. In its decision denying Davis’ request for a new trial, the state’s highest court said recanted testimony holds less weight than trial testimony.
Last summer, the state Board of Pardons and Paroles issued a stay of execution one day before Davis was scheduled to die. In the meantime, executions nationwide are on hold as the US Supreme Court decides whether or not lethal injection is cruel and unusual punishment.
