Troy Davis was convicted of murdering a police officer on the basis of 'eyewitness' testimony. There was no gun, no fingerprints, no DNA, no hairs, no shoe impressions, nothing to physically connect him to the commission of this crime except for the word of a group of people. All but two of those people have recanted their testimony. Sylvester "Red" Coles, one of the people who testified against Davis, has been identified by 9 people in sworn affidavits as the shooter. Some are willing to swear that after the shooting, Coles had a weapon. He was the alternative suspect in the case, and yet he was not the one convicted, Davis was; not only convicted, but sentenced to death, and has been refused a new trial time and time again.
What is happening in this country? Last night Troy Davis received yet another reprieve; he was two hours away from dying when he was granted a stay by the Supreme Court, which is going to decide whether or not to hear his appeal. From the Washington Post:
Davis wants the high court to order a judge to hear from the witnesses who recanted their testimony and from others who say another man confessed to the crime.Let's hope that this time they do decide to hear the case. To continue to keep this man on death row and perhaps execute him because the prosecutor calls the witnesses recanting "suspicious" is ridiculous. What is suspicious (imo) is their refusal to even consider that they could possibly be wrong, and their obvious eagerness to put a man to death.
1 comment:
This is what happens when vengeance takes the place of justice.
I would support the death penalty if it were cut and dried but it seems that half of them executed it is not so. And the other half that actually show remorse in the case of their sentence, is it necessary to execute them?
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