[Ppnews] Justices grant Georgia Troy Davis' request to delay execution

[Political Prisoner News]

Court says Troy Davis can present evidence


Condemned killer on death row for murder of off-duty police officer

Updated 12:45 p.m.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday gave Troy Anthony Davis the chance 
to present evidence in court that the condemned man has said for 
years will clear him of the murder of a Savannah police officer.

The high court ordered a federal judge to "receive testimony and 
findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been 
obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis'] innocence."

Davis sits on death row for the killing of off-duty Savannah police 
officer Mark Allen MacPhail in 1989. His bid to the nation's highest 
court was his last chance in the court system.

Since Davis' 1991 trial, seven of nine state witnesses have recanted 
their testimony and other witnesses have implicated Sylvester "Redd" 
Coles as the shooter. Coles, who has denied killing MacPhail, was at 
the scene and was the first person to implicate Davis in the shooting.

Justice Antonin Scalia, joined by Justice Clarence Thomas, issued a 
dissent, saying the federal judge assigned to hear the case will not 
be able to grant Davis relief. "It becomes stranger still when one 
realizes that the allegedly new evidence we shunt off to be examined 
by the district court has already been considered (and rejected) 
multiple times," Scalia wrote.

The high court, Scalia said, is sending a judge in the Southern 
District of Georgia on "a fool's errand. ... I truly do not see how 
the district court can discern what is expected of it."

But Justice John Paul Stevens cited prior court precedent that said 
it would be "an atrocious violation of our Constitution and the 
principles upon which it is based" to execute an innocent man.

"Imagine a petitioner in Davis' situation who possesses new evidence 
conclusively and definitively proving, beyond any scintilla of doubt, 
that he is an innocent man," Steven wrote. "The dissent's reasoning 
would allow such a petitioner to be put to death nonetheless."

Stevens was joined by Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen 
Breyer. The order noted that the court's newest justice, Sonia 
Sotomayer, did not participate in the decision.

Stephen Bright of the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta 
called the high court's order "an immensely important decision."

Still, Bright said, the order shifts the burden of proof onto Davis 
to show he was innocent. "That's a much more difficult proposition," 
Bright said. "It doesn't mean it can't be done, but it's a 
significant burden to overcome."

Tom Dunn, one of Davis' lawyers, said the defense team was extremely 
pleased with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to grant a hearing on 
the innocence claims. "Although the burden we face is high, we are 
confident in Mr. Davis' innocence and our evidence."

In April, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, by a 2-1 
vote, rejected Davis' last appeal.

Davis' claims of innocence have attracted international attention, 
with former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI calling for 
Davis not to be put to death.

MacPhail's family and Chatham County prosecutors have long contended 
Davis is the real killer and should be put to death for the slaying.

"I'm in shock," said MacPhail's 75-year-old mother, Anneliese 
MacPhail of Columbus. "I was really hoping they'd deny this appeal, 
not just shove it off to somewhere else. They're just pushing it back 
and forth to all the courts over and over again. This week it will be 
20 years since Mark was killed and I would like it to come to an end. 
... It's devastating because we don't get any peace."

The fourth of five children, MacPhail had two children of his own. 
His 21-year-old daughter lives in Texas and his 20-year-old son 
attends college in Savannah. "I don't know how he does it," Anneliese 
MacPhail said of her grandson. "It's tearing him apart, because he 
never knew his father. He was seven weeks old."

As for Davis, she said, "If you tell yourself for 20 years you didn't 
do it, you start to believe it. I'm still convinced he did it."

In a statement, Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker said the high 
court's order allows all parties involved in the case another 
opportunity to be heard on the issues raised, including the question 
of recantation. "Hopefully, this hearing will resolve the doubts 
about the verdict handed down by the Chatham County jury 18 years 
ago," he said.
Find this article at:

<http://www.ajc.com/news/court-says-troy-davis-117260.html>http://www.ajc.com/news/court-says-troy-davis-117260.htm
************************************************

Justices grant Georgia inmate's request to delay execution

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/17/georgia.scotus.troy.davis/


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Supreme Court has granted a condemned Georgia 
inmate's request that his execution be delayed as he attempts to 
prove his innocence.

Troy Davis has always maintained his innocence in the 1989 killing of 
Officer Mark MacPhail.
[]

The inmate, Troy Davis, has gained international support for his 
long-standing claim that he did not murder a Savannah police officer 
nearly two decades ago.

Justice John Paul Stevens on Monday ordered a federal judge to 
"receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence 
that could not have been obtained at trial clearly establishes 
petitioner's innocence."

Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer supported the 
decision. Sonia Sotomayor, who was sworn in August 8 as the newest 
member of the high court, did not take part in the petition.

Davis' case has had a dramatic series of ups and downs in the past 
year. He was granted a stay of execution by the 
<http://topics.cnn.com/topics/u_s_supreme_court>Supreme Court two 
hours before he was to be put to death last fall.

A month later, the justices reversed course and allowed the execution 
to proceed, but a federal appeals court then issued another stay.

The high court's latest ruling means 
<http://topics.cnn.com/topics/troy_davis>Davis will continue to sit 
on death row.

Stevens said the risk of putting a potentially innocent man to death 
"provides adequate justification" for another evidentiary hearing.

His supporters in June delivered petitions bearing about 60,000 
signatures to Chatham County, Georgia, District Attorney Larry 
Chisolm, calling for a new trial. Chisolm is the county's first 
African-American district attorney. Davis is also African-American.

Davis has always maintained his innocence in the 1989 killing of 
Officer Mark MacPhail. Witnesses said Davis, then 19, and two others 
were harassing a homeless man in a Burger King restaurant parking lot 
when the off-duty officer arrived to help the man. Witnesses 
testified at trial that Davis then shot MacPhail twice and fled.

But since his 1991 conviction, seven of the nine witnesses against 
him have recanted their testimony. No physical evidence was presented 
linking Davis to the killing of the policeman.

The Georgia Pardons and Parole Board last year held closed-door 
hearings and reinterviewed the witnesses and Davis himself. The panel 
decided against clemency.

MacPhail's mother, Annaliese, told CNN at the time, "This is what we 
were hoping for, and I hope pretty soon that we will have some peace 
and start our life, especially my grandchildren -- my grandson and 
granddaughter. It has overshadowed their lives."

After the justices in October refused to grant a stay of execution, 
Davis' sister, Martina Correia, told CNN she was "disgusted" by the decision.

"It doesn't make any sense," she said. "We are praying for a miracle 
or some kind of intervention. We will regroup and fight. We will 
never stop fighting. We just can't be discouraged. The fight is not 
over till it's over."

Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas objected to the court's 
decision Monday, calling it a "fool's errand."

"Petitioner's claim is a sure loser," wrote Scalia. "Transferring his 
petition to the [federal] District Court is a confusing exercise that 
can serve no purpose except to delay the state's execution of its 
lawful criminal judgment."

Ten days after the high court refused last October to intervene, a 
federal appeals court in Georgia granted a temporary stay of 
execution. Since then, further appeals by Davis' legal team have 
dragged on for nearly a year.

Prominent figures ranging from the pope to the musical group Indigo 
Girls have asked Georgia to grant Davis a new trial. Other supporters 
include celebrities Susan Sarandon and Harry Belafonte; world leaders 
such as former President Jimmy Carter and former Archbishop Desmond 
Tutu; and former and current U.S. lawmakers Bob Barr, Carol Moseley 
Braun and John Lewis.




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/ppnews_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20090817/4eb7b6b2/attachment.htm>