[Ppnews] Troy Davis Appeal Denied!
Political Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Mon Mar 28 20:22:25 EDT 2011
Amnesty International Media Release
For Immediate Release
Monday, March 28, 2011
Amnesty International Deeply Disappointed by
Supreme Court’s Decision Rejecting Troy Davis Appeal
Contact: AIUSA media relations office, 202-509-8194, or
Laura Moye, 202-675-8582
(Washington, D.C.) -- Laura Moye, Amnesty
International USA (AIUSA) death penalty abolition
campaign director, issued the following statement
in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision
today to reject Troy Davis’ appeal of the federal
district court’s ruling that Davis did not prove his innocence:
“Amnesty International is extremely disappointed
that the Supreme Court rejected Troy Davis’
appeal. It appears that the justice system is
comfortable allowing someone to be executed when
there are lingering doubts about guilt in the
case. No objective person could confidently
determine that Davis is guilty beyond a
reasonable doubt from the evidence available now
in his case. That leaves an ominous cloud hanging
over an irreversible sentence such as the death penalty.
“Because there was no physical evidence linking
Davis to the murder, nor was there physical
evidence exonerating him, the case rested on a
group of witnesses whose credibility was readily
accepted for conviction, but so easily rejected in the appeals process.
“The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, as the
final fail-safe, has the opportunity to commute
his sentence to life and prevent the possibility
of executing an innocent person.”
For more information, please visit:
<http://www.amnestyusa.org/>www.amnestyusa.org
***********************************************
P.O. Box 55196, Atlanta, GA 30308
<http://www.GFADP.org>www.GFADP.org
<mailto:GFADP at yahoo.com>GFADP at yahoo.com
Press Release Contact: Kathryn Hamoudah 404.688.1202 or
FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE: 404.819.4233
March 28, 2011
Georgians Say There is No Room for Doubt in Troy Davis Case
Atlanta- Georgians for Alternatives to the Death
Penalty (GFADP), Georgia’s statewide coalition of
organizations and individuals opposed to the
death penalty, condemns the decision by the
United States Supreme Court to deny relief for
Troy Anthony Davis even though grave doubts permeate the case.
“The case of Troy Davis exemplifies all that is
wrong with Georgia’s death penalty system, of
grave concern is the real threat of executing an
innocent person, “said, GFADP Board Chair,
Kathryn Hamoudah. “Proceeding with the execution
of Troy Davis would be callous, careless and
irreversible. The state should slow down to
address the well-documented, serious problems
with a system that irreversibly takes human life,
rather than rush to carry out an execution of a possibly innocent man.”
No physical evidence ties Mr. Davis to the crime
and a weapon was never found. He was convicted
solely on the basis of faulty eyewitness
testimony – the single greatest cause of wrongful
convictions nationwide. Eyewitness
misidentification accounts for 75 percent of
wrongful convictions in over 200 DNA
exonerations. Georgians have become increasingly
aware of just how unreliable eyewitness
identification evidence is as we have watched
seven men exonerated – all convicted on the basis
of eyewitness testimony – after spending years in
prison for crimes they didn’t commit.
Across the nation states are moving away from the
death penalty because of growing concerns about
innocence, unfairness, discriminatory
application, lack of efficacy, and other
reasons. The death penalty was intended to be
reserved for the worst offenders, but in
practice, it is arbitrary and unfair. The system
is fraught with error, plagued by poor legal
representation, and discriminates on the basis of
income, race and geography - with the majority
carried out in the South- among many problems
that leave it too broken to be fixed.
“Knowing what we know now-recanting witnesses,
perjured testimony and who the likely shooter
is-I cannot see any jury ever convicting Mr.
Davis,” continued Kathryn Hamoudah. “Troy Davis
has strong innocence claims. There is no room for
doubt when a person’s life is on the line.”
By choosing to deny Mr. Davis’ claims, the courts
have ostensibly declared that it is permissible
to execute a convicted person who is likely
innocent. GFADP believes that this is a standard
civilized society should not accept.
For more information or to set up an interview,
contact: Kathryn Hamoudah at 404.819.4233 and
<mailto:khamoudah at schr.org>khamoudah at schr.org
-------------
(NOTE: In case the links don't come up in the
below letter, they are all available at
<http://www.ncadp.org/>http://www.ncadp.org/ -- please do SOMETHING!)
Dear Fellow Abolitionists,
Earlier today it was announced that Troy Davis’
appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court has been
denied.<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=DJz9XxNFGSUe64vgVweWdIwxkZ4d82pm>Click
here to read the response of NCADP's Georgia
Affiliate, Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Needless to say, this puts Troy Davis at risk of
another execution date within as few as two
weeks. This will be the fourth time everyone
involved with this case has to go through this
process. Please add your thoughts and prayers to
ours as we consider how this situation once again
tears at Troy Davis and his family and friends,
and also how this will impact the family and
friends of Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail,
the victim in this case. Then, join us in taking
action to help stop the execution!
If you are unfamiliar with this case, the
nutshell is that seven of the nine witnesses who
testified against Davis at his trial have changed
their story, and no physical evidence links Davis
to the crime. Detailed information is
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=XI3XgOzzeQGGXlETRZ67ZIwxkZ4d82pm>here.
No one should be executed, especially when there
are so many doubts about guilt.
This case has generated widespread attention
because so many people in Georgia and throughout
the world are disturbed by the thought of a man
being executed when so much doubt about his guilt
remains unresolved. Nothing can undermine public
faith in a criminal justice system faster than an
execution when there are still serious doubts about guilt.
Now is the time to re-invigorate the clemency
campaign to prevent this execution. The State
Board of Pardons and Paroles is the entity (not
the governor) that can spare Troy Davis and which
can commute his sentence to life.
Amnesty International USA, a national Affiliate
of NCADP, has been taking the lead on the
clemency campaign for Troy Davis, and we
encourage you to participate in the following actions.
Needed actions:
1) Please help amass petitions on Troy Davis’
behalf by signing the online petition and by
asking others you know to sign as well. Sign the
petition
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=9U5fLHjLt6FpnLqgS22OHIwxkZ4d82pm>here.
Use this URL to facebook and tweet it:
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2B%2Fdktz5VED0%2FXqRTEzJQ4YwxkZ4d82pm>http://tinyurl.com/l79wpy
You can also print out and collect signatures on
the hardcopy petition (return them to the address
on the petition form), which you can access
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=eOz%2B68fzuwNLK0lyunOzS4wxkZ4d82pm>here.
2) Please send these sign-on letters to people
you know who are clergy or legal professionals:
The religious leader sign-on letter is
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=nQs2S3uNHmuHQ%2BOJP2Kh5xiXuiDTsBkc>here.
The legal professionals sign-on letter is
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=x7hsYadmIvIEnv0v0KqNrYwxkZ4d82pm>here.
3) Be prepared to come out for an international day of solidarity:
If and when an execution date is scheduled, which
now seems very likely despite the fact that
Georgia's supply of sodium thiopental was
recently confiscated by the
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=s%2B2YSmPmwAM4KAaVNt4LW4wxkZ4d82pm>Drug
Enforcement Agency, there will be a global day of
action. We will join our voices across the U.S.
and across the world to tell the parole board in
Atlanta that Troy Davis must not be
executed. Vigils, tabling, street-corner demos
and other activities will be encouraged on this
day. We will use this action to drive up the
number of petitions and generate media
visibility. Stay tuned for a date and instructions.
Thank you.
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
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