Supreme Court Rejects Troy Davis' Appeal
Three weeks after granting him a reprieve until they could review his appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to give Troy Davis a full hearing on his death penalty appeal. Davis was scheduled to be executed September 23, but was granted a stay two hours before he was set to die.Davis was sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of off-duty Savannah policeman Mark MacPhail.
The high court's ruling clears the way for the state of Georgia to set a final execution date for Davis. All of his current appeals have now been exhausted.
The Davis case has drawn widespread support because seven of the nine witnesses from his original trial have recanted their testimony. But prosecutors have called their new stories "suspect" and appeals courts have repeatedly rejected Davis' requests for a new trial.
Appeal for New Trial Rejected
The Georgia Supreme Court has twice rejected Davis' appeal for a new trial.
On Aug. 19, 1989, an off-duty Savannah, Georgia, police officer, Mark Allen MacPhail was working a moonlighting job as a security guard for a Greyhound bus terminal when he heard a homeless man cry out from the Burger King parking lot next door.
When MacPhail went to help the man, who had been hit in the head with a pistol, he was shot in the face and chest and died. Nine witnesses testified at the 1991 trial that Davis assaulted the homeless man and then, with a smirk on his face, shot MacPhail when he came to help.
See Also:
High Court Turns Down Ga. Death Row Inmate
Earlier Articles:
Cop Killer Gets Last-Minute Reprieve
Court Turns Down Appeal of Troy Davis
Execution Set for Troy Anthony Davis
Condemned Killer Gets 90-Day Stay
Photo: Mug Shot
Comments
Justice will be done. He’s guilty and no amount of liberal protest will keep him from paying the ultimate price.
Bottom line is that if his execution goes through, the Supreme Courts of Georgia and of the United States are accessories to murder, and so are you all who have advocated this execution. The only person against whom there is actual evidence, Sylvester “Red” Coles, is also the only person who from the start of this trial claims that Davis is actually guilty.
So what is our “justice” system anyway? Are we now to start executing innocents on the basis of the perjury of the guilty? Because that’s what it looks like to me in this case.
No DNA, No fingerprint, no evidence, only eyewitness preasure. this is Democracy and Justice. GOD BLESS AMERICA.
A person’s politics should never enter serious discussion about life and death. I support a death penalty under very strict conditions. The Troy Davis conviction does not meet any condition that I would consider to execute an individual.What justice is served if the wrong individual dies for the actions of another? Who would want that on their conscience and why would we not continue searching for the person who commited the crime? Why doesn’t officer McPhail’s family want the real killer brought to justice? Do they just want a “Standin”? It really is a terrible situation.