Sep 17, 2011
Troy Davis Clemency Hearing Scheduled for Monday
I have blogged (see here and here) about the story of Troy Davis, a man who has been on death row in Georgia, USA for over two decades. Davis is scheduled to be executed next Wednesday. Davis was convicted in 1991 of the murder of off-duty police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. There was no physical or forensic evidence linking Davis to the crime and the murder weapon was never found. Seven of the nine witnesses whose testimony was used to convict Davis later recanted, many of them saying that they were pressurised by the police into saying that Davis was the murderer. In March of this year the US Supreme Court refused Davis’ final appeal. (See my blog on the appeal here), setting the stage for Davis’ fourth execution date.
Davis’ execution is scheduled for Wednesday at 7pm at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison. Davis’ lawyers will make a final bid for clemency to the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles on Monday 19th September. In the lead up to the clemency hearing, community activists, including Robert Brooks from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), have been making impassioned pleas to the members of the Board to grant Davis clemency. If the clemency hearing is not successful, Davis will be executed on Wednesday.
The Amnesty International petition calling on Georgia District Attorney Larry Chisolm to act to halt the execution and the petition asking the Board of Pardons and Parole to grant clemency may be signed by following this link.
