Free Speech for Troy Anthony Davis!

There Is A Man Fighting For His Life In Your Backyard
by Melissa Jones

There is a man in your backyard; he is fighting for his very life.

No, don’t go look out your window, he is not there. He is in the “backyard” of your community, your state, your country. He is in a prison that you don’t see; don’t want to look at, in Jackson, Georgia. He is a man you do not know, a man you may have not even heard of. He is a man who was convicted of a crime, sent to prison and he is sitting on death row… in your backyard. He is sitting in prison although 7 of 9 “eyewitnesses” have recanted their testimony, and there is no physical evidence linking him to the crime.
I am writing about this man because he has been denied interviews with CNN, the Associated Press, 60 Minutes and Dateline … he has not been allowed to speak on his own behalf for 20 years. When Georgia denies the media access to the accused man, it is an abuse of his First Amendment rights.
I am writing about Troy Anthony Davis. He and his four siblings were raised in Savannah, Georgia. He was a young man waiting to enter the United States Marine Corps at the time this crime occurred. He was not yet even twenty-one. He was athletic, played for the Police Athletic League, coached football in his neighborhood. He helped his mother care for his paralyzed sister. His sister called him “the ambassador”. “Troy just wanted everyone to get along” she tells me.
Mr. Davis was convicted of the shooting death of a police officer, Officer Mark Allan MacPhail. Officer MacPhail was just doing his job on the night he was brutally shot. As the daughter of a retired Police Officer I have a great deal of sympathy for the family of this fallen officer. I want them to find peace. I want them to see justice done. I want them to know in their hearts that the person who committed this heinous crime; the person who stole a husband and a father away from his family has paid for his crime.
I have read and re-read every item that I can find in the newspaper, on the internet. I have spoken with state Representatives and Senators, Amnesty International personnel and attorneys. I have spoken to family and friends of Troy Anthony Davis and to Troy himself.
My opinion and that of many other people[1] is that Troy Anthony Davis is not guilty of the crime he was convicted of. His case is one of a lack of investigation, aggressive police tactics (intimidation and/or coercion) and a horrible lack of adequate legal counsel for an extended period of time. There is another man who has admitted to people that he committed the crime, Sylvester “Red” Coles. "In the years since Red Coles implicated Troy Davis in the MacPhail shooting, five new witnesses have implicated Coles as the shooter".[2]
Mr. Davis’ case is one where there is not a shred of physical evidence that ties him to the crime. This is a case where nearly every “eyewitness” crucial to the prosecution and conviction of Mr. Davis has recanted or contradicted the testimony that they state they were coerced or pressured into giving or signing. One “witness” signed a statement although he could not even read! One witness was a child at the time that he was questioned for hours without an attorney or a parent present. "I told them it was Red and not Troy who was messing with that man, but they didn't want to hear that," Collins, who was 16 at the time, said in his 2002 statement. "The detectives told me, 'Fine, have it your way. Kiss your life goodbye because you're going to jail.' After a couple of hours of the detectives yelling at me and threatening me, I finally broke down and told them what they wanted to hear." These “witnesses” were afraid of the police, of the other suspect.[3]

This case occurred not in your backyard, but in a Georgia county riddled with questionable cases. There have been approximately 133 death row inmates exonerated in the United States of America[4]. Of those exonerated, 5 have been exonerated in the state of Georgia. Of those 5, 2 were from the same county… the county that convicted Troy Anthony Davis, Chatham County.
The two men that were exonerated from Chatham County had similar problems in that there was misconduct by people testifying against them. One of the men, Earl Charles, eventually received a $75,000 civil rights settlement in his action against one of the detectives.[5] The other man, Gary X. Nelson was released “after it was revealed that his conviction was based on official lies, knowing use of false testimony, the suppression of evidence supporting his claims of innocence, and the hiding of information that implicated another man in the crime.” [6] Sounds eerily familiar.
This information makes me question the accuracy and fairness of trials in Chatham County. It makes me question everything about this case. Why push so hard to put a man to death without giving him the benefit of a new trial? Why ignore all of these recantations? Is there a political agenda in Chatham County that is going to make it possible to put a man to death without hearing the truth?
It also points to the fact that there is always the risk of an error in imposing the death penalty because we are human, we err. Until there is a way to be absolutely certain that a man (or woman) committed the crime for which they were convicted it only seems fair, reasonable and moral that we abolish the death penalty and instead impose the sentence of life in prison.
As Chief Justice Ward Sears said in her dissenting opinion of the Georgia Supreme courts decision in March, 2008 “I believe that this case illustrates that this Court’s approach in extraordinary motions for new trials based on new evidence is overly rigid and fails to allow an adequate inquiry into the fundamental question, which is whether or not an innocent person might have been convicted or even, as in this case, might be put to death.”
Although the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Georgia denied Mr. Davis a hearing in April 2009 Judge Barkett dissented saying “To execute Davis, in the face of a significant amount of proffered evidence that may establish his actual innocence, is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”
Mr. Davis is facing the possibility of lethal injection…again. He has already had to endure the torture of being told he would be executed three separate times. One of those times he came within 90 minutes of dying. He and his family have had to live through the horror of waiting, yet always hoping and praying. Each of those times there has been a last minute stay.
Troy’s family, his loved ones, his friends are facing the loss, again, of a gentle soul who is more worried about those that he might leave behind then he is about himself. His faith in God and his fellow man carries him through. His strength comes from his faith and his family. I visited Mr. Davis often within the last year and I have asked him what his greatest hope is. He did not say “Freedom” or “Justice”. He said “A new trial. I want to absolutely clear my name”.
I could write about what each “eyewitness” has said in their recantation. I could quote letters from the pope, actors, senators and a nun supporting Troy Davis. All of that would not help Troy Davis. No matter how much you read what I have written it will not help Troy Davis.
In order to help Troy Davis you should read about this case yourself. I challenge you to find the information and research the issues. I ask you to get involved in some way, to help save a man’s life, not for any other reason than it is the right thing to do. Supporters of Mr. Davis and death penalty opponents wear T-shirts that say “Innocence Matters!” I agree with that. I hope you do too. There is a man fighting for his life in your backyard… will you help him?
http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/ Troy Davis : Finality over Fairness
[1] http://www.troyanthonydavis.org/
[2] http://www.savannahnow.com/node/321975
[3] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/15/AR2007071501250_3.html
[4] http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=6&did=110
[5] http://www.law.northwestern.edu/wrongfulconvictions/exonerations/gaCharlesSummary.html
[6] http://edwardhumes.com/articles/mean_toll.shtml