This morning, the Georgia Parole Board stupidly declined to halt the execution of Troy Davis. And in the State of Georgia, that means he's out of options, so tomorrow, after 22 years in prison, Troy Davis will be put to death.
In 1989, a group of people was beating a man in a parking lot, an off-duty cop tried to break up the melee, and he was shot and killed. Troy Davis was in the crowd that day and was identified as the shooter by a number of eyewitnesses. He has always proclaimed his innocence, saying he was actually trying to help the victim, asking why he would shoot a complete stranger. Nevertheless, he was convicted and sentenced to death.
Subsequently, seven of the nine supposed eyewitnesses have recanted (including the victim himself) and now say it was definitely not Davis. They say they were cajoled, coerced and pressured by police interrogators into fingering Davis.
The weapon was never found and there is no physical evidence of any sort to suggest that Davis committed the crime.
There is some evidence that another person may have admitted to the killing.
Among a great many others, Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict, and former FBI Director William Sessions have each asked that Davis be taken off Death Row, citing persistent doubt, dubious police tactics, and tainted testimony. Countless thousands of letters and petitions have been sent asking for mercy.
Cops understandably take a dim view of cop-killers, but the original conviction has all the earmarks of a set-up, a frame job. And yet the Georgia Parole Board is unmoved. Troy Davis is very possibly an innocent man, but tomorrow, they're gonna kill him anyway.
Why? Georgia Goddamn!!
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