Georgia inmate Troy Davis was executed Wednesday night for the 1989 murder of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty Savannah police officer.
Davis died at 11:08 p.m. ET, according to a prison official. The execution was about four hours later than initially scheduled, because prison officials waited for a U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Davis' request for a stay.
After 10 p.m. ET, the Supreme Court, in a brief order, rejected Davis' request. His supporters had sought to prevent the execution, saying seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted or contradicted their testimony.
Below are the developments as they happened. Read the full story here.
[Updated at 11:50 p.m.] Jon Lewis of WSB radio, one of the execution witnesses, gave this account of the minutes before Davis' death:
After the warden read the execution order and asked whether Davis had anything to say, Davis – strapped to a gurney – lifted his head up and looked at the witness area's first row, which was where MacPhail's relatives and friends sat.
“(Davis) made a statement in which he said ... 'Despite the situation you're in, (I) was not the one who did it.' He said he was not personally responsible for what happened that night, that he did not have a gun. He said to the family that he was sorry for their loss, but also said that he did not take their son, father, brother.
"He said to them to dig deeper into this case, to find out the truth. He asked his family and friends to keep praying, to keep working, to keep the faith. And then he said to the prison staff, the ones he said 'are going to take my life,' ... ‘May God have mercy on your souls,’ and his last words to them (were), 'May God bless your souls.'"
Another witness, reporter Rhonda Cook of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, also gave quotes from Davis. According to her, Davis said: "The incident that night was not my fault. I did not have gun."
"And that’s when he told his friends to continue the fight and 'look deeper into this case so you can really find the truth,'" Cook said.
Davis also said, according to Cook: "For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls, may God bless your souls."
Davis said to the MacPhail family, according to Cook: "I did not personally kill your son, father and brother. I am innocent."
Hours earlier, Davis declined what the prison offered him as a final meal, Cook said.
[Updated at 11:12 p.m.] Davis has been executed, a prison representative has said. The time of death was 11:08 p.m. ET.
[Updated at 10:55 p.m.] Davis' execution is expected to begin between 11:05 to 11:10 p.m. ET, the Georgia Department of Corrections says.
[Updated at 10:36 p.m.] People who'd been protesting for hours across the street from the prison where Davis will be executed are chanting, "We are Troy Davis," CNN's David Mattingly reported.
[Updated at 10:21 p.m.] The U.S. Supreme Court has denied Davis' motion for a stay of execution.
Word of the Supreme Court's decision comes more than three hours after Davis was scheduled to be executed, and more than four hours after Davis' attorneys had filed the motion.
With the ruling, Georgia is expected to proceed with Davis' execution.
[Updated at 10:07 p.m.] The daylong gathering across the street from the prison by Davis' supporters has turned into a candlelight vigil, CNN's Gustavo Valdes reports. Hundreds still are waiting for a resolution. Some are praying, and some others are singing.
[Updated at 9:41 p.m.] The Rev. Raphael Warnock said he was standing with Davis' relatives on the grounds of the prison when they heard the execution wouldn't happen at the scheduled time.
"I was standing with the family at about 7 p.m. By that time, of course, naturally, we were expecting the worst," Warnock, a pastor to Davis' family, told CNN's Piers Morgan. "Suddenly we began to hear cheers from the crowd across the way, and the word came that the execution had been delayed.
"Certainly we're glad that Troy Davis is still alive, but we are still witnessing, in my estimation, a civil right violation and a human rights violation in the worst way unfold before our very eyes. This is Troy Davis’ fourth execution date. I’m glad that he’s alive, but that in and of itself is cruel and unusual punishment. America can do much better than this."
Asked if Davis had had what would have been offered as a last meal, Warnock indicated that Davis might have skipped it.
“I do know that on the last time he received an execution warrant, he refused his last meal," Warnock said. "I spoke earlier tonight with his nephew ... and he said his uncle would refuse his last meal again today. He has continued to insist that this is not his last meal. I must say to you that he evinces a faith that is just amazing, even to me as his pastor."
[Updated at 9:05 p.m.] The number of police officers standing outside the Georgia prison housing Davis has risen to more than 100, CNN's David Mattingly reported. The officers are watching protesters, who've been across the street for hours.
The crowd has been orderly, Mattingly said. While it had been chanting for much of the day, they're "probably as quiet as I’ve heard them all night," Mattingly reported.
[Updated at 8:55 p.m.] Dozens of people have gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., in support of Davis, footage from CNN affiliate WJLA shows.
Still no ruling from the court on Davis' request for a stay of execution.
[Updated at 8:39 p.m.] This video report from CNN's David Mattingly, made about 40 minutes ago, shows the people who've been protesting across the street from the prison where Davis is being held, and the police officers in riot gear who are in front of the prison, watching the protesters.
[Updated at 8:19 p.m.] The mother of the police officer that Davis was convicted of killing told CNN's Anderson Cooper that she is "absolutely devastated" that the execution has yet to happen.
“I’m absolutely devastated because I want it over with. ... They’ve been through the courts four times there in Georgia. They’ve been to the Supreme Court three times," Anneliese MacPhail said in an interview from her home, referring to previous delays. "This delay, again, is very upsetting and I think very unfair to us."
"I'd like to close this book," she said. "We feel (Davis is) guilty. The evidence and everything that we have seen – that I have seen , because I’ve been to all the trials – he is guilty, and I believe in that. And so does the rest of my family.”
[Updated at 8:10 p.m.] The time that the U.S. Supreme Court is taking to rule on Davis' motion for a stay of execution is unusual, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. "Usually, it’s handled pretty promptly," Toobin said.
Davis' lawyers filed the motion at about 6 p.m., an hour before Davis' scheduled execution. The state attorney general's office filed a response shortly afterward.
The two hours that the court has had the motion is "not a long time, but it's long enough for (the nine justices) to respond and say, 'Go ahead,'" Toobin said. "So it does suggest that they’re taking this seriously, and there may be some disagreement.”
[Updated at 7:43 p.m.] After a brief moment of jubilation upon hearing that the execution hasn't yet happened, Davis' supporters – who have gathered outside the grounds of the prison where he is being held – are regrouping and talking about what might be next, CNN's Emma Lacey-Bordeaux reports. "Troy Davis can never die" is a common theme.
The state of Georgia isn't proceeding with the execution until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on Davis' request for a stay. Davis' attorneys filed the request about an hour before Davis' scheduled 7 p.m. execution.
Davis' supporters, who had been chanting, are now letting out cheers as drivers pass and honk their horns. Otherwise, the mood is tense as they wait for a development, Lacey-Bordeaux reports.
[Updated at 7:26 p.m.] The state of Georgia hasn't yet proceeded with the execution of Troy Davis, because it is waiting for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on his request for a stay, CNN's Bill Mears reports.
Davis had been scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. ET. His attorneys filed a motion asking the Supreme Court for a stay about an hour before the scheduled execution time.
[Updated at 7:06 p.m.] Inside the grounds of the prison where Davis is scheduled to be executed, about 100 people, including Davis' sister, have formed a tight circle and are praying and singing, CNN's Gustavo Valdes reports.
[Updated at 6:32 p.m.] Davis' attorneys have filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking for a stay of execution, the court has said. No decision yet.
[Updated at 6:28 p.m.] Earlier, this blog mentioned a protest outside the White House against Troy Davis' scheduled execution. Here is video of the protest:
[Updated at 6:20 p.m.] CNN's David Mattingly notes that according to the state Department of Corrections' schedule, Davis would have been offered a mild sedative, to calm his nerves, at 6 p.m.
[Updated at 5:58 p.m.] Davis' supporters outside the Jackson, Georgia, prison where he is to be executed are growing louder, CNN's David Mattingly reports. Frequent chants include: "Death Row? Hell No!" and "Free Troy Davis."
[Updated at 5:54 p.m.] CNN's David Mattingly notes that Davis, who had been scheduled for execution three previous times, "has never been as close to dying as he is at this hour." A previous scheduled execution was called off more than two hours before it was to happen; this time, Davis is a little more than an hour from the scheduled time.
"He has already said goodbye to friends and family visiting today," Mattingly writes. "He's been served his last meal. Everyone is waiting to see if a last-minute appeal now working it's way up the legal system might somehow stop or delay Troy Davis' pending appointment with lethal injection."
[Updated at 5:41 p.m.] The Georgia Supreme Court says it has unanimously denied a stay of execution for Troy Davis.
The court also denied his request for another appeal to be heard.
His attorneys will now ask the U.S. Supreme Court to halt the execution – Davis' last hope, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said.
"The United States Supreme Court has a procedure in place. They know when executions are coming; they are expecting an application, so I expect this will be acted on fairly quickly. ... It’s unlikely that a stay will be granted, but that possibility exists, and that’s Troy Davis’ only hope," Toobin said.
[Updated at 4:33 p.m.] With one eye on the clock, celebrity supporters of Troy Davis are using their platforms to continue to spread the word about the Georgia inmate.
[Updated at 4:31 p.m.] A Butts County Superior Court judge has declined to halt the execution of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Davis’ attorney Brian Kammer tells CNN the appeal is now being brought before the Georgia Supreme Court.
[Updated at 4:14 p.m.] Davis saw 25 visitors Wednesday during the six-hour window (9 a.m. to 3 p.m.) he was allowed to receive them before his scheduled 7 p.m. execution, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections.
The visitors included relatives, friends, clergy and an attorney.
[Updated at 3:06 p.m.] A look at Davis' schedule today at the Jackson, Georgia, prison where he is scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m., from CNN's John Murgatroyd:
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Visitation with family, friends, clergy and/or attorneys.
3 p.m.: Will undergo a physical.
4 p.m.: Last meal offered.
5 p.m.: Opportunity to record final statement.
6 p.m.: An optional sedative will be offered.
[Updated at 3:02 p.m.] About 100 people have gathered outside the White House in Washington, D.C., protesting Davis' scheduled execution in Georgia. The crowd consists mostly of students from Washington's Howard University, CNN's Lesa Jansen and Bob Kovach report.
One of the protesters, Howard graduate student Tamatha Scott, said in a CNN iReport video that the students marched from Howard to the White House, responding to student leaders' call to protest on Twitter.
“I started seeing the tweets about it late last night. It has been a very peaceful protest,” Scott said.
CNN's Lesa Jansen took this photo of the protest:
[Updated at 2:38 p.m.] An example of the high-profile support that Davis has received: Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey, posted the following to his Twitter account Wednesday afternoon:
"The State should not be executing Troy Davis. . . if there is even a chance that he is innocent, why execute?"
Davis has gained international support. Public figures including Pope Benedict XVI, Desmond Tutu and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, entertainers such as Susan Sarandon, Harry Belafonte and the Indigo Girls, and others have joined with Amnesty International, the NAACP and other groups in supporting Davis' efforts to be exonerated. On Wednesday, the French Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying it "deeply regrets" the parole board's decision.
[Updated at 2:32 p.m.] Outside the Jackson, Georgia, prison where Davis is to be executed at 7 p.m., many of the speakers have struck hopeful notes, and some say they hope to change the system for the future, CNN's Emma Lacey-Bordeaux reports.
Many are holding hand-lettered signs, with messages such as, "Spare Troy Davis." Some have produced signs showing Davis' picture and the message, "NAACP says too much doubt."
One of the signs carried outside the Jackson prison refers to the NAACP's stance.
[Updated at 1:34 p.m.] Dozens of people have already gathered at the prison in Jackson, Georgia, where Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET, CNN's Gustavo Valdes reported.
People gather Wednesday outside the prison in Jackson, Georgia, where Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed.
The Rev. Al Sharpton is among those at the site.
The group is praying and holding hands, Valdes reported.
[Updated at 1:28 a.m. ET] The Georgia Department of Corrections told CNN it has denied a request by Troy Davis' lawyers to conduct a polygraph test.
[Updated at 10:16 a.m. ET] The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles has declined to reconsider its decision denying clemency to Troy Davis.
Supporters of Davis have been hoping that some last-ditch efforts might help save him from being executed on Wednesday night. Earlier Wednesday, his team filed an appeal asking to stay his execution.
[Posted at 9:13 a.m. ET] Attorneys for Troy Davis, facing execution in Georgia at 7 p.m. Wednesday, have filed a request to stay his execution in Butts County Superior Court.
Davis is scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday night in Jackson, Georgia, for the 1989 shooting death of off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail.
The parole board declined to grant Davis clemency Tuesday following a hearing Monday in which it heard testimony calling into question physical evidence and witness statements that a Chatham County jury relied on in convicting Davis in 1991. In Georgia, only the board - not the governor - has the right to grant clemency.
Since Davis' conviction, seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted or contradicted their testimony. Davis' supporters say the original witnesses were fearful of police and spoke under duress.
Other witnesses also have since come forward with accounts that call Davis' conviction into question, according to his supporters.
© 2011 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Contact us | Work for us | Help
Good riddance to bad rubbish. By his own admission he was involved in the shooting by being a co conspirator on that grounds alone he should burn. Bye bye Davis.
If you're capable of sneezing someone to death, I don't WANT you in the US (but I might like to see you do that on a YouTube video).
Sorry. That reply went in the wrong place.
Davis made no such admission. None.
Seriously people, stop inventing "evidence" that doesn't exist.
To all of you who are rejoicing over this unmerited execution, I pray that you will fall flat on your face and ask REPENT. How can you rejoice? No one has the right to Kill anybody (BUT GOD)!!!!! The family of the victim I pray that you all seek GOD and ask for forgiviness. Hate, racist, rejoicing all one's death and most of all enjoying the moment. None of this will bring the victim back. Quit trying to be the judge because their's only one judge and that's GOD almighty himself. The justice system stinks and will always stink. Everyone that agreed to this execution need to repent. I pray for you all. Nothing good will come out of this rejoicing party that you all are having. R.I.P Troy and to the Davis family Look to the hills whence cometh your health for your health (and Strength) cometh from the LORD. I do not agree with killing anybody. Somebody need to do away with this type of JUSTICE!!!!!!!!!!
TO Soundoff,
WHO are you to Judge? You are not GOD and you was not at the scene.
I refuse to visit or tour the united states for any purpose. This just adds to it. If I show up in Georgia and sneeze I may be put on death row.
If you can really sneeze someone to death, I don't WANT you in the US (but I might like to see you do that on a YouTube video).
Please let me be the FIRST AMERICAN to say, please stay away if that is your feeling. We have rules, you break the rules in a premeditated fashion, you give up the most! This man killed other people. It is not up to us now. We are in a system that has rules, he murdered someone in a state with capital punishment, now 22 year later and approximately $1.5m (minimal) later that we have spent on this, it is time to stand before your accuser. If that is right or wrong in the eyes of God is not my decision, however, the law in GA says it is.
Good ...we don't want you here.
Well, that's just stupid.
Carl I agree, I am to shame to say that I am from GEORGIA, AMERICA or anywhere else that's murdering a human being.
Why do we kill people, who kill people to teach them that killing people is wrong? someone answer me please
No. We're done trying to teach them anything. It's for justice and balance. Maybe even a little vengence, which I have no problem with. When you take another life, or worse, multiple lives, society has a right to want you gone. To turn it around, why should such a person expect to continue living after denying that to others? Maybe more importantly why would they want to? Would you?
We are carrying out the law. If you kill individuals in a premeditated fashion the law of your state is set and you should be willing to suffer the conscequences. If you rob a bank and get away you get to keep the money. If not guess what.....you suffer teh consequences. PS, would there be that much comotion if he was white? I think not.
we kill convicted murderers to protect society...just like you would kill a rabid animal.
well put KWS
Did you think repeating that again was clever?
I disagree with the death penalty, but that statement is not very clever, or very useful, or even slightly original. The state executes people not because killing people is wrong, but because murdering people is wrong. Not all killings are murders,and state sanctioned executions clearly do not fit the bill. You aren't even at square one of a reasonable discussion with this shopworn cliche.
MinorityGal – I am a supporter of the death penalty, however, this case raises serious doubts. Your comment at the end of your post (f after 20 years you have not been able to prove your innocence) turns a key tenet of jurisprudence on its head (as did the supposed re-opened evidentiary hearing ordered by SCOTUS, but ran as a kangaroo court in the end).
There is a fundamental reason that it is the prosecutor's responsibility to prove guilt, but not the defendants responsibility to prove innocence. You cannot prove a negative. You cannot, in the whole, prove you did not do something. See 'proving a negative' for reference. You can only raise doubts, sometimes very serious doubts, such as in this case.
Do I think it significantly more likely than not that he did indeed shoot and kill that officer? Yes. But enough doubt has now been raised that to ensure the integrate of our legal system, and the application of the death penalty, he should either receive a completely new trial, or have his sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole.
We cannot execute when such significant doubt has been legitimately raised as to the actual guilt of the defendant and maintain the justness of capital punishment.
IMHO
This is the South's symbolic execution of President Obama! There is NO WAY they would grant clemency even though they know he's innocent! The South is a snake pit of racism carried on by the Republican Party!
Oh let's not forget that this guy killed another man before the cop and beat another. That is ok. Let's just forget that. Take your racist crying @ss somewhere else. Get out of the slavery days and move on to the 21st century.
So I guess, based on your premise, that the execution tomorrow in Texas of the white supremist for the dragging death of a black man is a good thing? It certainly is to me, as is the Davis execution tonight? And the white rapist-murderer in Texas who got a stay from the Supreme Court yesterday? Why? Because he objected to one of the drugs used in the lethal injection. Get on with it. They are guilty and deserve to die.
If you spare him the death sentence because there is reasonable doubt as to whether he is guilty it seems that you have to release him. The idea that it's okay to give people life in prison when you are uncertain about their guilt is ridiculous.
I say kill him. Inject him and hope the needle blows out, so he can lay there half dead and watch them put the needle back in. He killed someone and received the death penalty. Let it be known that here in Georgia, if you come down here acting like a uneducated monkey, we will put you to death. It's been a long time since he killed that person. In that time, they have slapped some glasses on him and made him look innocent. The fact is, he deserves the death penalty...and today, he'll get it.
This is just why your user name is GHOST!! No one sees you and your thoughts are just haunting. If this were your child/relative should we kill them too with lack of evidence!!
You picked the right user name, Ghost a figure of everyone's imagination. Poof please disappear..
wow. Lmao. Sad.
This is the South's/Republican Party symbolic execution of President Obama! There is NO WAY they would grant clemency even though they know he's innocent! The South/Republican Party are a snake pit of racism!
Georgia should burn to the ground! When there is doubt you should give life until it is confirmed. I CALL ON ALL TRAVELERS TO STOP VISITING GEORGIA AND CAUSE THEM TO HANG THEMSELVES! GEORGIA REALLY IS SATANIC WORSHIPERS !!!
This is not a fair justice system and Georgia will suffer from all this! Don't fly Delta Airlines. Do not buy Coca Cola products in protest of these unfair board members! If Troy was guilty then the facts would remain but there are too many loopholes to hang an innocent black man. Stop them from this injustice!
yes, please stay away from Georgia. We don't want you down here.
And stay out of Texas, too, as well as the 32 other states who have the death pealty. Also don't mess with the feds or the military...they have the death penalty as well. Not much left, is there?
This is TIm Tucker with a breaking news report. Millions of people are dying from famine in Africa, but the world and most of the US seem to be focused on the death of a cop killer. For a live report we no go live to Ali Williams while DIane finishes causing more famine by destroying the buffet catering table in our studios, Ali.................
Wrong time to be funny upside down face off spring
Quick to kill slow to appeal too much doubt I am embarrass to say I'm from Georgia
feel free to leave.
a
We cannot suppose this is a level playing field. We are talking about Georgia and blacks. The witnesses were probably browbeaten at the time and are scared to come forward now. Racial hatred and fear run deep in Georgia.
I oppose the death penalty, but can't shake the impression that few seem to know anything about this case. Davis was found guilty for a good reason – there was no doubt at all that he committed both crimes. Almost everything I've read recently about this case is just spin from Davis advocates. F'example, this is not a case of racial injustice. There was strong physical evidence tying Davis to both crimes. Most of the so-called 'recantations' were transparently false or failed to refute original, damning testimony. Evaluate the facts of the case for yourself – you can start by checking out http://legalcases.info/troydavis/ to read the trial record and appellate decisions. Spare Troy Davis, but please don't make him an icon of racism or injustice!
I've reviewed the original case and the new information. While I have reasonable doubts either way, I have fewer doubts that Coles killed MacPhail than I have that Davis killed MacPhail.
Speaking of people who know the case first-hand, several jurors have stated publicly that had they known then what they know now, Davis would not be on death row.
dis world is crazy!! so what he killed a cop what about the COPS who killed sean bell, Amadu Diallo, and Denise gay!! what about them!!
what do any of those cases have to do with this other than those people were black, I see you failed to mention Kelley Thomas who was beat to death by cops a few months ago, oh that's right he is not black so you do not care.
How much money they have for lawyers deterimines the sentence of a killer. In the past, more than one Movie Star's Spouse has been mudered and no one spent any time in Prison.
This world... Not dis world...
I'm guessing you just noticed the color of his skin and didn't read up on the story. This man also shot another man in the face just prior to shooting the police officer. I'm not sure I agree with the death penalty, but he is not innocent. Police officers that are killing innocent people should face the same penalties. Grouping all police officers as killers though is obviously bad logic. Please don't take everything your read or hear for face value.
What is really crazy is that people like you think THIS is spelled like DIS. Please stop making America look like idiots!