1 Victory: Framed Troy Davis Gets New Hearing to Stop Execution

On August 17, 2009, the US Supreme Court ordered a hearing on the innocence claim of falsely convicted death row prisoner Troy Davis. The order was supported by Justices Breyer, Ginsburg and Stevens and opposed by Justices Scalia and Thomas. Sotomayer did not take part; at least 2 of Alito, Kennedy and Roberts would have had to support the order but it is unknown as to their positions.

For more details on the opinion, see the Supreme Court blog at:
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/hearing-on-innocence-claim-ordered/
From the blog:
"The Supreme Court, over two Justices’ dissents, on Monday ordered a federal judge in Georgia to consider and rule on the claim of innocence in the murder case against Troy Anthony Davis (In re Davis, 08-1443) The Court told the District Court to “receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis'] innocence.”"

"Davis was convicted in 1991 of murdering an off-duty Savannah police officer, Mark Allen MacPhail, in 1989. Since his trial, Davis has claimed, seven of the state of Georgia’s key witneeses have recanted the testimony they gave at the trial. Several other individuals have implicated another man — the prosecution’s key witness against Davis — as the shooter."

Here is the Court's order and Justice Steven's statement:
http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/court-order-Davis.pdf

Please note that the 1996 Death Penalty law referred to was promoted and signed by DEMOCRAT Pres Bill Clinton. The current occupant of the White House, O'BS, is also pro-death penalty and a Democrat, the same as the previous occupant who happened to be registered Republican.

The Troy Davis support website is:
http://troyanthonydavis.org/

Here is a timeline from the Troy Davis website:
Troy Davis – Case Timeline
August 18, 1989 Late at night, Michael Cooper was shot at party in the Cloverdale neighborhood.
August 19, 1989 At approximately 1:00 am Larry Young was pistol-whipped and Officer Mark Allen MacPhail was shot at the Burger King parking lot on Oglethorpe Avenue next to the Greyhound Bus Station.
August 23, 1989 Troy Davis surrendered to authorities and was arrested.
November 15, 1989 Troy Davis was indicted in the Superior Court of Chatham County for the murder of Mark MacPhail.
August 28, 1991 Troy Davis was convicted of murdering Mark MacPhail and for assaulting Michael Cooper and Larry Young on the same night.
February 26, 1993 Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the conviction and sentence.
March 15, 1994 Habeas corpus petition filed with state court.
September 9, 1997 State court denies habeas petition.
November 13, 2000 Georgia Supreme Court affirmed state court’s denial of habeas relief.
December 14, 2001 Habeas corpus petition submitted to US District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, Savannah Division.
May 13, 2004 US District Court denied Davis federal habeas corpus relief.
September 7, 2005 Eleventh Circuit heard oral arguments.
September 26, 2006 Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of federal habeas corpus relief.
April 11, 2007 Davis’s certiorari petition (final appeal) submitted to US Supreme Court.
June 25, 2007 Supreme Court of the U.S. denied request for appeal.
June 29, 2007 Chatham County Superior Court issued an execution warrant: July 17-24.
July 5, 2007 Department of Corrections set execution for 7:00 pm on July 17.
July 16, 2007 State Board of Pardons and Paroles held a clemency hearing and later that day ordered a stay of execution for up to 90 days.
August 3, 2007 Georgia Supreme Court agreed to hear appeal for new trial in November.
November 13, 2007 Georgia Supreme Court heard oral arguments.
March 17, 2008 Georgia Supreme Court denies Davis’ appeal for a new trial.
September 12, 2008 Georgia State Board of Pardon and Paroles denies clemency.
September 23, 2008 Supreme Court of the U.S. issues a stay of execution pending the disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari filed on Davis's behalf.
October 14, 2008 Supreme Court of the U.S. denies Davis’s petition for certiorari, effectively ending the appeals process.
October 15, 2008 Chatham County Superior Court issues a new execution warrant.
October 24, 2008 11th Circuit grants stay of execution, permits counsel to submit more appellate briefs.

Call to Action: Stop the Execution of Troy Davis


Troy Anthony Davis has been on death row in Georgia for more than 16 years for the murder of Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail at a Burger King in Savannah, Georgia – despite strong evidence suggesting he is innocent.

• There was no physical evidence against Troy Davis.
• The weapon used in the crime was never found.
• The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony.
• Seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony.
• Many of these witnesses have stated that they were pressured or coerced by police.
• One of the two witnesses who has not recanted or contradicted testimony is Sylvester Coles, the principal alternative suspect.
• Nine individuals have signed affidavits implicating Sylvester Coles.
Troy Davis has never had a hearing in federal court on the reliability of the witness testimony used against him.
* * * * * *
Here is Amnesty International's report of May 19, 2009:
http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/aiusa-troy-may-19-2009.pdf
Troy Davis has survived 3 attempts to execute him, stopped by 3 stays of execution. The last one expired May 16, 2009. The habeas corpus petition to the US Supreme Court was filed May 19, 2009.

THE AMERICAN LEGAL SYSTEM IS BROKEN AND ROTTEN TO THE CORE WITH RACISM AND ANTI-WORKINGCLASS CONTEMPT THAT CAN ONLY CHANGE WITH A SERIOUS LABOR MOVEMENT. With all of our protests against the death penalty, we finally won a hearing, but Troy Davis, and Mumia Abu-Jamal and hundreds of others remain on death row because they are poor, and often because they are not white. The terrorist death penalty is a class weapon of the rich against the workingclass.

And color among the rich makes no difference as African-American Justice Thomas and African-American president Obama are both for the death penalty.

As to the existence of the death penalty, it has been abolished in all of Europe, most of Latin America including Mexico, South Africa, the Ivory Coast and other countries. The US, with its racist legacy of slavery and its weak labor movement, is part of a minority of nations that still has the death penalty. THIS STINKING ROTTEN COUNTRY IS NOT A DEMOCRACY AND NEVER HAS BEEN.
For more on the death penalty worldwide, see
http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty
From the Amnesty website:
"The five countries with the highest number of executions in 2008 were China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the United States of America (Fig. 1). Together these five countries carried out 93 per cent of all executions carried out in 2008. "
Here is the list of abolitionist and retentionist countries:
http://www.amnesty.org/en/death-penalty/abolitionist-and-retentionist-countries
From that section:
"Countries and territories that retain the death penalty for ordinary crimes"
"Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belize, Botswana, Chad, China, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Guinea, Guyana, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nigeria, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Authority, Qatar, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad And Tobago, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States Of America, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zimbabwe"