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Troy Davis put to death
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.
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/topvideos/2011/09/21/jk-mattingly-davis-execution.cnn"%5D[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.”
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/crime/2011/09/21/ac-annelie-macphail-davis-execution.cnn"%5D[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:
[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/politics/2011/09/21/vo-wh-troy-davis-protests.cnn"%5D[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.
soundoff (5,817 Responses)
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This is so messed up. Not one of the people defending Davis has said one thing about the supposed "liars" who sent him to the needle. THIS PROVES WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TODAY!
Because inwardly they know those "liars", as you call them, were RIGHT therefore, justice was carried out correctly today despite the dramatics from supporters in favor of letting the convicted killers go free.
IT IS REALLY SAD THAT PEOPLE WILL ALLOW OTHERS TO LIE ON MR DAVIS,AND HOW CAN OUR JUSTIC SYSTEM FAILS OUR AFRICAN AMERICANS ALL THE TIME. JUST TO GET A CONVICTION MAY GOD GIVE THE DAVIS FAMILY COMFORT THEY NEED AND MAY MR .DAVIS REST IN PEACE,NO ONE CAN JUDGE HIM.
This was not a case about petty theft. It was a case about MURDER where a jury convicted the accused and Justice was rightfully served today. May this serve as a deterrent from other similar crimes committed in this country as now you know all of the pleading, etc. will not change the way the law is written. Justice WILL be served on all and it was tonight!
President Rick Perry will make lethal injection mandatory for smoking pot.
The law of man was carried out. Meaning the "eye for an eye" Biblical ravings that were promulgated more than 1000 years ago were carried out. With no one giving the slightest thought of why we haven't become a little more civilized in the intervening years
ISAIAH 63:4 +++
For the day of vengeance was in my heart, and the year of my redeemed has come.
You are now in the loving arms of the Lord now Troy. We as Americans will never learn. There have been people put to death to find out later they were actually innocent. If it comes out that Troy was innocent, maybe we should put the people who prosecuted him in prison and on death row. We have a lot of corrupted people in this world and the officials of the law are the worse. As far as the family of the officer that was killed, all I can say is that I hope if they find out they executed the wrong man, may you feel guilt the rest of your life and may it haunt you forever.
Can't Hear you!
They are strangely silent because they know deep down that the "liars" were RIGHT! Justice was swiftly carried out today despite all of the drama exhibited by those who support letting mur-der-ers go free. Doesn't get you anywhere to plead. It just wastes your time and makes you look silly and justice will still be Carried Out! Let this be a lesson to you and others!
All you people defending him, prove his innocence. All you people criticizing those defending him, prove his guilt.
I am not some religious die hard, but it is amazing to me how some people that claim they are Christians support this. Puzzled by the contradiction, I have concluded that they either have not read the bible, or they ignore Christ's teachings.
If you have read the bible, and if you claim to believe in what Christ taught (aka, you claim that you are a Christian), I don't see how you can claim that what Christ taught was right AND what this court did was right. Specifically, like at what Christ teaches in Matthew 5:38-41
Christ wouldnt be popular if we wasnt executed.
@ATown
That wasn't the point of my post.
All I am claiming is that IF you claim that Christ's teachings are correct AND IF you claim that what the court did was correct, there is an apparent contradiction.
@droon
just saying, good can come through execution.
To Droon – AHH, yet another would be Biblical scholar. The Mosaic Law VERY strongly supported the death penalty and Jesus never once disobeyed the law or taught against it. He said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17). In response to the Pharisees, who criticized Jesus' apostles for not washing their hands before eating, Matthew also says, "“But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.” (Matthew 15:3-4) Anti death penalty??? Nahhhh Later in the New Testament – the "Christian part", Paul recognized the justice of the death penalty. When he was brought before the judgment seat of Festus, he said, “For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die” (Acts 25:11). By this, Paul admitted that there were offenses worthy of death and that the government had the right to administer death in those cases. So, don't use the Bible as your stepping stone to argue against the death penalty...it just ain't so.
Droon – there is only an "apparent contradiction" because you choose to interpret the Bible selectively. I was, am, and always WILL profess a Christian faith. I am not "pro-death" penalty. I am not "anti-death" penalty. I believe that it is within society's authority to decide whether the death penalty ought to be administered in extreme cases. I do not believe, as you seem to, that the Bible professes against the death penalty. In short, YOUR interpretation of the Bible is simply not very comprehensive.
@Ed
I never claimed I was a biblical scholar.
Here is what he says in Matthew 5:
(mind you, this is what Christ says, not one of his disciples. It is coming directly from Him!)
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.
In other words, Christ is claiming that Eye for an Eye is wrong.
Yes, this quote is not directly about the death penalty, but using simple deductive logic, we can rationalize assumptions about it.
Now Edd, You are takin things out of context. Jesus obeyed the laws.. but he did not agree with how the people treated others.
I do believe, that it was the Religious people who urged on for the death of Jesus.
And I believe, he said, who has not sinned cast the first stone.. he didn't list out which sin was worse...
And I believe, it says.. ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...
Droon – for every so called quote from the Bible purporting to be Jesus' condemnation of the death penalty, I can provide one that Biblical scholars (not just me) define as his support or at least his tacit approval of it as a viable punishment. We can do this ping pong game if you want – or you can concede right now that the words of Christ in the Bible do NOT condemn capital punishment. Either way, the result will be the same – that Jesus did NOT teach that capital punishment was agaisnt his Father's law.
Ed, you reallly dont know the bible, and you don't know Jesus.. Jesus wasn't here to Break the laws.. he was here to change people..
People have a difficult changing.. they STILL want to kill.. the murderers do it.. the courts do it.. no difference.. killing is killing.. there is a Reason for the old testament and the new testament... if there wasn't .. there would just be one testament..
Here's a question for you, Droon – and for the others poting here below your comment. We will agree that one of the Commandments is "Thou shalt no kill". Correct? OK...now, did Moses' presentation of the Ten Commandments to the Jews somehow miraculously prevent killing? Of course, it didn't. So, what was the penalty for killing another human being in a period of history where there were no prisons or jails? 30 lashes? 40? 100? In Jesus' time, while there was no death penalty in Hebrew law for property crimes, adultery was a capital offence for both participants." When the mob wanted to stone a woman for adultery, Jesus never told them that they were wrong for doing it – he simply told them to cast the first stone if any of them were themselves without sin. We do not know what he scratched in the dirt, but many people suspect he knew their individual sins and that they walked away in shame – and without any accusers, the woman was free to go – but given this PRIME opportunity to preach AGAINST the death penalty on principle, he was silent.
@Ed
Jesus taught that Eye for an Eye was wrong.
Can you please give a specific passage in which CHRIST HIMSELF says capital punishment is okay? (note: not one of his disciples, but Christ himself actually saying the words, or giving a parable in which killing another man as punishment is okay)
I can think of two passages in which Christ Himself (not someone else in the bible) says it is not okay.
1.) The passage I posted above
2.) John 7:53-8:11 in which Christ STOPS a capital punishment when a woman is being stoned.
To Cleopatra – I am just saying...but I find it amusing that you have chosen a demonstrably UN-Christian ID (Cleopatra) and you profess to know Jesus' intent....just ironic. Aside from that, my argument is that Jesus did NOT condemn the death penaly. What Jesus came on this earth to do in his lifetime and beyond is not the issue. What He did NOT do was preach agaisnt the death penalty on principle. My point is not the point you are attacking...see ya
@Ed
So you honestly believe in the case where he stopped the woman from being stoned that because he didn't speak out about the death penalty, even though he stopped it, that shows he wasn't against it because he should have said something?
Really? Take what Christ said and apply some basic deductive logic. The Bible isn't meant to spell every single thing out for mankind. It is to help people figure out how to live their life according to Christ, by taking his messages and applying to issues in modern time (in our case, the 21st century).
Don't Mourn, Organize
-Joe Hill, 1915
Wow, Droon – You went from insisting that the IMPORTANT thing was what Jesus said! You wrote: "(mind you, this is what Christ says, not one of his disciples. It is coming directly from Him!)" Now you suggest we need to look at what He did, etc. Again – you specified from the very beginning that you are NOT a Biblical scholar – NEWS FLASH – neither am I – but I am deriving MY comments from Biblical scholars – like St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. Augustine said in "The City of God": "The same divine authority that forbids the killing of a human being establishes certain exceptions, as when God authorizes killing by a general law or when He gives an explicit commission to an individual for a limited time." Aquinas said in "summa Theologiae": "The fact that the evil ones, as long as they live, can be corrected from their errors does not prohibit that they may be justly executed, for the danger which threatens from their way of life is greater and more certain than the good which may be expected from their improvement." Now, YOU can do your fireside interpretation all you want. I prefer to stand by Biblical scholars whom the WORLD recognizes as compelling.
Droon – I don't know about you. But MY Christian upbringing taught me that there are three persons in God (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit). They are united in one being, and that Being has existed for all eternity. In MY upbringing, the Bible is made up of the Old and New Testaments, and that ALL the writings in the Bible are the written inspired word of God. With that said, the Old and New Testaments do NOT directly or materially contradict each other. Apparently some Christians do not realize that Jesus and God of the Old testament are one and the same, as they merely represent two person in ONE God. Jesus was not a prophet with new insights for living, He was God in the flesh–the same God who gave us the Ten Commandments, and who said, "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made man" (Genesis 9:6). This is not to be confused with the 6th commandment, which in the King James Version reads, "Thou shalt not kill." The proper translation of the Hebrew word is found in the NEW King James Version, which reads, "You shall not murder." Once again, a distinction needs to be made between "kill," "murder," and "execute," three very different terms. Troy Davis' life was not forfeited in the sense of the 6th Commandment. His life was forfeited as per the context of the Old Testament, which Jesus NEVER refuted – and he was God! So, I don't HAVE to quote Jesus from the New Testament. HIS word carries back into the Old testament, where capital punishment is MORE than approved – it is mandated.
@Ed,
You do realize that Thomas Aquinas wrote that in a time where there were no mass scale prisons, correct?
Furthermore, do actions not speak words? Just because Christ didn't literally speak the words doesn't mean that his message was not conveyed.
Furthermore, maybe you missed the part of the New Testament where Jesus rejects some of the Old Testament teachings. In case you missed this, it was in Matthew 5.
I said "I am not a biblical scholar" because that is not my career. I did study the bible for close to 5 years, and I have studied the philosophies of Aquinas when I was in college. I took several religion classes, some of which focused on multiple religions, some of which focused on classical Theism.
I am done arguing about this. I am going to continue living my life with one important aspect that Christ taught: forgiveness.
Have a wonderful day.
The true injustice in this was that when given his final opportunity, Troy Davis chose to meet his judgment and his maker with a lie on his lips. The efforts put forth on his behalf and the accommodations he was afforded to in so many ways shed reasonable doubt as to his guilt failed. They failed for one reason – because the TRUTH is that he was guilty. But, one must simply equate him with the violent dog about to be put down. You can bathe it, trim it, make it look as if it could win a dog show, but inside, it is still the vicious animal it always was. Troy Davis was arrested, charged, indicted, tried and convicted. In the two decades since, he was well groomed, and maybe even became more eloquent – perhaps gullibly more convincing to his supporters – but to the end, inside he remained the vicious animal that he was on the day he took the life of an innocent human being. The world is slightly less violent with Troy Davis no longer part of it.
Devil is coming after you now. But Troy will be safe in the Lord's arms. Burn in hell Ed.
Grow up, Tony. It's people like YOU who are the contradiction. You would ask that a convicted man, guilty of murder, be set free, and suggest that he is being held in Jesus' arms (It is possible, if he went to his Maker with a clean soul – and no one knows for sure if he repented), but you will also suggest that I burn in Hell....wow...what a piece of work you are!!!
Well, Ed... there is no need to argue with you. I am just saddened by the death of a good and innocent man. At least, executing another person is an act of barbarism, in Orient and in Occident. By the way, I don't wish you to burn in hell.
To Tony – I say Tomato, you say To-MAH-to. You say innocent, I say guilty. I have WAY more on my side than you do. Emotions and the belief that the death penalty may be wrong on principle do NOT erase his conviction by an impartial jury and an exhaustive appeals process in which he was unable to insert even a shred of reasonable doubt over two decades. Heck, he was probably even convinced of his own innocence, despite the fact HE is the one who commited the murder.
You're right, Ed. Here are my biblical passages:
1. "Don't mourn, Organize!" Joe Hill, 1915
2. Billy Holiday's Strange Fruit:
"Southern trees bear a strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the gallant South, The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth, Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh, And the sudden smell of burning flesh! Here is a fruit for the crows to pluck, For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, For the sun to rot, for a tree to drop, Here is a strange and bitter crop."
Enjoy these beautiful words in memory of Troy Anthony Davis.
To Tony – I will remember those words you wrote for about 5 minutes, and I will remember Troy Anthony Davis much like I will remember Lee Harvey Oswald, John Wilkes Booth, James Earl Ray – murderers whose middle names are part of history only for the reason that they committed equally heinous acts agaisnt society. I will remember Tony Davis as a murderer whose celebrity was elevated by opponents of the death penalty who disregarded his guilt – their opposition to the death penalty being their over-riding motivation. Tony Davis will fade into history as little more than a Wikipedia entry for most people, and a tragic symbol to the family of the man he murdered. I will probably remember YOU longer – as one of many caught up in the court of public opinion who were gullible enough to suggest a man was innocent because to execute him (guilty or not) was uglier to them than the truth. THAT is what I will remember.
reasonable doubt – a jury of his peers found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The eyewitness testimony is the weakest evidence, look at the material evidence. this man murdered an innocent man, and got what his peers thought to be a reasonable punishment.
Score one for Whites. It's your world, everyone just lives in it. But when you get attacked again, and it will happen again, don't expect me to help out. You're on your own. Your house. Your rules. Handle your business.
Hey Eli!!! Apparently you were unaware that Troy Davis was found guilty by a jury of SEVEN black jurors and FIVE white jurors – the SAME 12 who recommended the death penalty. Were you also unaware that the majority of witnesses against him were also black? This wasn't a white vs black conviction and execution. This was the execution of a murderer. OH...maybe you also missed the news of the execution in Texas of the WHITE man who was executed (after only 13 years of waiting – not TWENTY – like that given Davis), or maybe you haven't seen the news about the 19-year old white man accused of capital murder in Mississippi of a black man?? It is people like YOU who play the race card who set back the advances of black America every time you open your mouths. You must have a poster of Al Sharpton on your bedroom wall – remember Tawana Brawley?????
crickets
This proves their whole case is racist BS!
So what happens to the people who recant there testimony?