Clemency denied for an innocent man

THE GEORGIA Board of Pardons and Paroles has denied clemency for Troy Davis, an innocent man on Georgia's death row. Troy now faces an execution date of September 23, even though the U.S. Supreme Court isn't set to hear an appeal in his case until September 29.

The board's decision spurred activists into motion to increase pressure on both Georgia state officials and justices of the U.S. Supreme Court.

"I want everyone to know that we are still fighting for Troy," said Martina Correia, Troy's sister, who has worked tirelessly on Troy's behalf. "I went to see Troy, and he is in good spirits, prayerful and saying we can never give up, and that they can take my physical form, but nothing else. But this is not the time to think he will be executed. We have to fight them, and we have to fight hard."

Troy was convicted and sent to death row for the killing of police officer Mark MacPhail, while he was off duty and working as a security guard in 1989 in Savannah, Ga. But Troy has always maintained his innocence, and no physical evidence connects him to the crime. Instead, the prosecution relied on eyewitness testimony to convict Troy--and today, only two of the nine eyewitnesses in the case still stand by their identification of Troy as the killer.

Several of those who recanted signed affidavits explaining that they originally fingered Troy because of intense police pressure. "I was real young at that time, and here they were questioning me about the murder of a police officer, like I was in trouble or something," said Monty Holmes, one of the seven witnesses to recant his testimony. "I was scared...It seemed like they wouldn't stop questioning me until I told them what they wanted to hear. So I did."

The board's denial of clemency came as a shock, even to longtime opponents of the death penalty accustomed to the indifference of Southern justice when it comes to African American prisoners. "It's probably the hardest thing I've ever had to hear," said Jason Ewart, Troy's attorney, of the parole board's decision. "The hardest thing I've ever had to do was to tell Troy we're denied."

Martina is also concerned that something irregular happened at the parole board meeting. She said that as she and other supporters of Troy arrived on the day of the proceedings, parole board chair Gale Buckner told them the board had a lot of information to review, and that there would be no decision that day.

But less than 30 minutes after prosecutors left the hearing, the parole board called a press conference and announced that Troy would not be granted clemency--defying the board's own pledge last year when it granted a stay of execution for Troy to "not allow an execution to proceed in this state unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused."

Even though the board failed to deliver justice at its September 12 meeting, it can still decide to act at any time, so supporters are being urged to contact the board to ask them to reconsider.

With just a week to go before Troy's scheduled execution, keeping up this kind of pressure is critical. Court after court has turned down appeals for a new trial or even to consider new evidence of his innocence.

The Georgia Supreme Court earlier this year turned down a motion for a new trial, ruling that the verdict of the jury in the original trial should be allowed to stand--even though evidence has come to light that might have changed that jury's decision!

Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears expressed her opposition to the decision in a dissenting opinion: "If recantation testimony, either alone or supported by other evidence, shows convincingly that prior trial testimony was false, it simply defies all logic and morality to hold that it must be disregarded categorically."