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Death-row inmate Troy Davis denied clemency
The Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole has denied clemency for death-row inmate Troy Davis.
Davis was convicted of the 1989 killing of Savannah, Georgia, police officer Mark MacPhail.
Davis is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection at 7 p.m. Wednesday at a state prison in Jackson, Georgia.
"Monday September 19, 2011, the State Board of Pardons and Paroles met to consider a clemency request from attorneys representing condemned inmate Troy Anthony Davis. After considering the request, the Board has voted to deny clemency," the board said in a statement Tuesday morning.
The five-member parole board votes in a secret ballot.
Davis has gained international support for his long-standing claim that he did not kill MacPhail. International figures including Pope Benedict XVI, Desmond Tutu, and former 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.
He has been scheduled to die three times before, most recently in October 2008, when the U.S. Supreme Court granted a stay two hours before he was to be executed.
Since Davis' conviction in 1991, seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted or contradicted their testimony. There also have been questions about the physical evidence - and, according to some, the lack thereof - linking Davis to the killing.
Amnesty International reacted angrily to the clemency denial on Tuesday.
"It is unconscionable that the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles has denied relief to Troy Davis. Allowing a man to be sent to death under an enormous cloud of doubt about his guilt is an outrageous affront to justice," Amnesty International said in a statement Tuesday.
"Should Troy Davis be executed, Georgia may well have executed an innocent man and in so doing discredited the justice system," the statement said.
But the victim's mother, Anne MacPhail, said she's satisfied that Davis will be executed.
"Well, justice is done, that's the way we look at it. That's what we wanted," the mother told CNN. "I am very convinced that he is guilty."
She said she would not attend Davis' execution but family members would be there.
Anne MacPhail said she has not forgiven the convicted of killing her son.
"Not yet, maybe sometime," she said.
The NAACP and Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty had joined Amnesty International in organizing support for Davis, setting up about 300 rallies, vigils and events worldwide in the past week or so. In addition, they said that more than 1 million people have signed a petition in support of Davis' bid to be exonerated.
In a 2008 statement, then-Chatham County District Attorney Spencer Lawton described how Davis was at a pool party in Savannah when he shot another man, Michael Cooper, wounding him in the face. Davis was then driven to a nearby convenience store, where he pistol-whipped a homeless man, Larry Young, who'd just bought a beer.
Soon thereafter, prosecutors said, MacPhail - who was working in uniform, off-duty, at a nearby bus station and restaurant - arrived. It was then, the jury determined, that Davis shot the officer three times, including once in the face as he stood over him.
Davis' lawyers, in a federal court filing, insisted that there is "no physical evidence linking" Davis to MacPhail's murder. They point, too, to "the unremarkable conclusion" of a ballistics expert who testified that he could not find definitively that the bullets that wounded Cooper and killed MacPhail were the same.
Georgia's attorney general, in an online statement, claimed that the expert said the bullets came from the same gun type and noted that casings at the pool party shooting matched - thus came from the same firearm as - those found at MacPhail's murder scene.
Two decades ago, a jury convicted Davis on two counts of aggravated assault and one each of possessing a firearm during a crime, obstructing a law enforcement officer and murder. The latter charge led, soon thereafter, to his death sentence.
While reviewing Davis' claims of innocence last year, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia found that Davis "vastly overstates the value of his evidence of innocence."
"Some of the evidence is not credible and would be disregarded by a reasonable juror," Judge William T. Moore wrote in a 172-page opinion. "Other evidence that Mr. Davis brought forward is too general to provide anything more than smoke and mirrors."
The parole board denied had denied Davis clemency once before. The board has never changed its mind on any case in the past 33 years.
Read more CNN coverage on the Troy Davis case
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Thought for sure he'd get clemency, given that there were so many questions.
Obama bullies at work. Give a killer a break based on race. Now that is what we want in a president.
Imput – You are a moron. Please tell me what this has to do with Obama. I'll give you the answer – nothing.
Georgia Be ashamed of your legal system. Now does killing this man bring back the dead police officer? We are not God an one day we shall all find out. Then family saying they were waiting for the man to be executed. We shall pay for our sins. Give the man life being their are so many different stories, questions, etc.
At the very least Troy Davis sentence should be commuted to life-in-prison considering all the recantations there have been by the witnesses.
There is now a very good possibility that an innocent man may be put to death. That should never happen.
I agree. Due to the amount of questions they should give him life in prison instead of death. This gives a way to free him should more evidence come forth that may prove him innocent.
Not sure this guy is innocent. At the very least, he shot someone in the face and pistol whipped another. That doesn't sound like a model citizen. No big loss to society.
Matt-At the very least? At the very least he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Hannah – he COFESSED and admitted to shooting the person in the face and pistol whipping the homeless guy (all with the same gun). And then they find the exact same bullet casing on the dead cop. This is not a coincidence. He's guilty. The recantations are just noise. No one has said he didn't do it, at best, 20 years later they are saying things like he ran away west instead of southwest like they testified to. It's insignificant parts of their testimony that they are recanting. Get all the facts (like the parole board reviewed) and you'll understand.
"...considering all the recantations.."
If a bunch of thugs lied then to thwart justice, then they are lying now to thwart justice.
US1776 – But it's ok to have an "innocent" man serve a life in prison term?
RE: "Not sure this guy is innocent. At the very least, he shot someone in the face and pistol whipped another. That doesn't sound like a model citizen. No big loss to society..."
So in your mind, committing crime A and B proves he committed crime C? That is not proof. Then you admit you aren't sure, but say that since he isn't a model citizen you'd pull the switch? Amazing. And I'll bet you and your friends hate Isam bercause, wait for it.... 'those people don't value human life'. It's because of cretins like you that I would never want to be tried by a jury in this country.
Pistol whipping a homeless man means the gun WAS IN TROY DAVIS' HAND at the convenience store. Can it be any stretch of your imagination to think everybody else in the store weren't fingering their firearms in such a public manner?
So if you question his conviction why should he be in prison for the rest of his life?
1989 and this guy is still alive? He should have either been executed or released a long time ago.
20 years too late.....sad.
Great news for justice!!!
Sad if he didn't do it
Unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable.
It would seem like people would wanna make sure without a reasonable doubt that he's guilty before they take anyone's life and in this case there's reasonable doubts so an innocent man could be executed and thats scary!!
The doubt is in no way "reasonable". Look at the actual facts and not the media hype from anti death penalty dream world thinkers and you'll agree. The case was reviewed at the highest levels and every fact was examined and it was found no reasonable doubt existed. Which is easier to believe – that a confessed criminal (confessed to shooting first person) is lying because he's trying anything to save his skin – or that a huge gov't conspiracy exists that includes lawers, judges, parole boards, and like 40 people with nothing to gain all designed to randomly pick some dude out and make a 20 year push to kill him for no reason???
@sanity..."with nothing to gain"? They have everything to gain because if they admit that they sent an innocent man to his death they couldn't handle the guilt so they have to keep denying. How do you explain prosecutors in cases where DNA has cleared the convicted person still insisting that the person was guilty of the crime? To say otherwise proves that they weren't concerned about justice, only convictions, winning at any cost.
You see Candace all these right wing evangelicals are the furtherest thing from true christians. I have ever seen in any christian teachings that it is ok to ever take a life........... Especially all you "right to life" idiots!!!
Merry Christmas!
is this god...you are 1 in the same no?
Cue those racists like bill wilcox who cheer to see a non-white man put to death
nathan, please take a long trip to somewhere other than the US and forget to come back, you are not needed here. We have enough idiots, one less like yourself will make it better.
anything that hurts bill suk cox is good for this country
well that did not take long for to resort to the profane name calling liberals are famous for Nathan. I come from a long line of patriotic people who have died in military conflicts from WW1 thru to Desert storm. So enjoy that freedom that my FAMILY helped to provide you. Also you can place that tree you want me to hit in the place where you no doubt get reamed very often. Have a great day
Nathan you just wish Bill Wilcox would suck your cox.
Or how 'bout this – the sentence that society has given to a killer is going to be carried out? Who cares what color he is or what color the victim is – you need to get past all of that and look at the fact that this man went crazy and was shooting people and he's lucky he didn't get 3 death sentences for 3 murders that day. Just because he looks all cleaned up and wide-eyed innocent now does not take away from that day. He needs to man up and take the punishment for the crimes he knows in his soul that he committed.
I guess those gleeful cheerleaders are repugnant to god. Those who feel glee just thinking about people being tormented in hell for eternity will be watching from front row seats. For you fundamentalists who don't get what I'm saying please reply and ask for clarification.
Nathan, go to Greenland without a parka for a few days – so we don't have to worry about you comming back to society.
Bill thinks it will erase his insecurity issues. Sad
People like you are what's wrong with this country, you're sick...
Mr Davis got his trial. The police officer didn't get his. For 22 years we have housed this person and now he must face the music. The next life should be a better one for you Mr Davis. Dont be afraid to die, your victim didn't have a choice. Remember this, "No one gets out of here alive."
you are sick Bill. Wake up. People like [kids like you] you are drowning America. Wake up!
May I remind you that this blog is for one to express their thoughts or opinions about diffrent matters I just happen to express mine and doing this has nothing to do with the way this Country is today you may want to talk to your local Senator or Congressman or Woman if you don't like the way they are doing things or better yet Mr.Obama
No you're what is the problem with this country.
People like who??
bad very bad....humans are scary animals
hell with his victims huh.....pressure from those just dont like the death penalty should not over ride what was done in a just court of law...
And yet again, as Antonin Scalia has held it, the US reserves the right to execute innocents. This is a sad day for the American criminal justice system and an even sadder day for those who believed in it. The reasonable doubt surrounding this case is overwhelming, and I hope it will be studied for years as an example of corruption of justice. For an archive of reporting on the case, check out Democracy Now!'s coverage, including an interview with Jesse Jackson from this morning http://www.democracynow.org/tags/troy_davis/tags/troy_davis
So you've reviewed all of the evidence against the man? Poured over every court docket? Or are you parroting what you've read in the news?
Unless there were people in 1989 screaming "reasonable doubt" then chances are only recent media is drawing attention to this case at all. If he were white, we wouldn't even hear about it. I love how you people put your blinders on to damn near everything in the world so you can continue imagining that life is beautiful and great. He shot a man in the fact. He pistol whipped a homeless guy. Then shot the cop. Witnesses recant all the time - that doesn't mean any other evidence is automatically inadmissible, should be completely discounted and the person free to go out and continue their previous bad behavior. Instead of just sucking down what the media is feeding you, how about you actually sit down, research this case and then come back and post FACTS to support why he should be commuted. But just parroting the media and holding on tight to recanted witnesses is NOT enough to save this man from lethal injection.
That's the problem with CNN.com, too many bleeding heart, left wing, liberal commies. I'm going back to FOX.
@canuck, thank you for helping to make those labels meaningless. When idiots like you throw those words around like that anyone with an IQ in double digits can see that they have no more meaning than schoolyard taunts, and you as someone too dumb to know it.
@canuck – And you think FOx is much better?!? Where the hell do you think FOX gets it's information from the library. Moron!!!!
Yessirree Georgia! No one can claim they're more barbarian than y'all!
Well, except those who murder in cold blood and want clemency, Time to wise up!
fail.
Another triumph for the Tea Party.
Working hard, everyday, to take the Country back - to the 13th Century.
Wow, someone has a chip on there shoulder. What the hell does the Tea Party or any party have to do with this?
Idiot.
Oh Jimmy! Go have a hormone shake, read a book or something.
The 13th century. That was a GOOD time, because we would simply execute idiots like you, and there was no gay, liberal press to decry it.
Quit sucking off your boyfriend and open your eyes to reality. Life aint pretty especially when you murder a cop.
Good one. These vigilantes feel 'justice is served' as long as someone gets convicted. Their reasoning: well, he committed other crimes, so signs point to guilty. These are the same morons who were outraged that, gasp, evidence did not prove Caylees mom killed her, because they 'knew' she was gulity. You can't persuade fundamentalists and racists with facts any more than you can communicate with a reptile.
RE: "You can't persuade fundamentalists and racists with facts any more than you can communicate with a reptile..."
Heh, heh. I love it! They have reptile dysfunction.
Miss Demeanor
I'd understand you better if you started trying to make a logical argument...
I don't think so. Signs say you have 'reptile dysfunction'. Lucky us.
So true.Ithought god was compassionate and knows the whole truth so why can he let an innocent man die.
I'm an extremely ardent supporter of the death penalty but there's just so much doubt that here that it defies logic that he his clemency request was rejected.