Posted on 09/20/2011 9:17:53 PM PDT by americanophile
ATLANTA (AP) — Yet another appeal denied, Troy Davis was left with little to do Tuesday but wait to be executed for a murder he insists he did not commit.
He lost his most realistic chance to avoid lethal injection on Tuesday, when Georgia's pardons board rejected his appeal for clemency. As his scheduled 7 p.m. Wednesday execution neared, his backers resorted to far-fetched measures. They asked prisons officials to let him to 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.
He has gotten support from hundreds of thousands of people, including a former FBI director, former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI, and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling gave him an unusual opportunity to prove his innocence last year. State and federal courts, however, repeatedly upheld his conviction for the 1989 killing of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer who was working as a security guard in Savannah when he was shot dead rushing to help a homeless man who was being attacked.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
If a polygraph is not admissible in court, what good would that do?
Every prison is filled with innocent people, just ask them.
If he had his chance to prove his innocence and failed, you gotta pull the plug.
I read several articles on this earlier today, as well as listening to a Fox News spread on it. Not once did I see where he denied anything (others denied he did it), nor did I see at any hearing where he actually testified. I can’t say either is absolute — don’t know for sure — but if he didn’t testify, its almost 99.99% certain that he did it.
When you’re charged with fraud and susceptible to a process crime (false statements, etc.), you may not want to testify in order to keep yourself out of further trouble. When you’re charged with murder and you really didn’t do it, can there EVER be a justification to not testify?
sodium pentathol == hey if he’s going to die, why not?
The system is far from perfect; innocent people are convicted all the time. The unusal elements of this case should give everyone pause.
The system calls for reasonable doubt, not a smidgon of doubt. He’s had more than one chance to prove his innocence and, at all times, the courts upheld his conviction.
Either the death penalty is a just punishment or it is not, when one is convicted of crime.
According to the story the witnesses placed him at the scene
“as the shooter” and spent casings found at the scene were linked to another killing he was convicted of. If the defense ‘had anything’ they would have brought it up at trial I would think.
The lower courts upheld the conviction. That some witnesses
suddenly go wobbly doesn’t make the verdict invalid I hope.
And this didn’t become a thought in someone’s mind before now?
What are the unusual elements?
If you read the case, he also shot another man in the face earlier in the day...which he doesn’t deny...just that he didn’t shoot the police officer later (even though he was shot with the same caliber gun)...probably because shooting the police officer carried the death penalty.
As for his fellow gangsters recanting their testimony later...that is not very compelling.
The casings would tie the shooting to the gun he used in the earlier shooting. I am not sure how they would tie the shooting to the person who pulled the trigger. If for hypothetical’s sake the fellow who reportedly boasted of the killing was the culprit, he would have had to use Davis’s gun, which would raise the question of how he got it. Did Davis give it to him? Did he steal it from Davis? What would be the reason for either one? Occam’s Razor would suggest Davis hung on to his gun and used it again.
This clearly illustrates that Georgia has a serious problem with the death penalty. Why in the heck did it take 22 years to execute this cold-blooded murderer? They should take a lesson from the Commonwealth of Virginia and learn how to reduce the period from sentencing to execution by 75% or more.
I would like Davis’ accuser, Sylvester “Redd” Coles, to take a polygraph.
He was known to have a gun similar to the 38 cal murder weapon but “gave it to some other man” the night of the murder and it was never found.
But Davis probably shot some other guy in a drive-by the same night. Put them together in a pit and the one that comes out alive is guilty.
Every prison is also filled with those who never caused harm to anyone, but merely violated punitive, extremely controlling laws.
Why didn’t he ask for a poly back when he was first convicted and any time thereafter?
Kiss of death.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.