Troy Davis was convicted of killing a policeman but the chief witness seems to be in the frame, most of the other witnesses have recanted, 50 states have appealed for clemency and Amnesty International and the NAACP are campaigning for him.
He has always maintained his innocence but, perhaps partly as a consequence of an institutionally racist justice system , he is due to be executed in Georgia, USA on Wednesday 21st September.
In Michelle Alexander’s highly recommended book “The New Jim Crow,” (referenced by Brentin Mock) the author calls up the Georgia case McCleskey v Kemp. Like Davis, Warren McCleskey was a black man facing the death penalty after being convicted of killing a white police officer.
In his defense, McClesky teamed with law professor David Baldus to review 2,000 death penalty cases in Georgia. They found defendants charged with killing white people were given the death penalty 11 times more than those charged with killing black people; also, that Georgia prosecutors sought the death penalty in 70% of cases involving black defendants and white victims while seeking it in less than 20% of cases involving white defendants and black victims.
No problem, you might think, US President Barack Obama can surely stop this happening?
Well, so far he has remained silent on the issue.
The Atlanta Post explains the reasoning:
Unfortunately for supporters of Davis, Obama is in his second bid for president, which means that any call for justice for an African American would trigger a racial backlash from some voters, particularly those of the Fox-News, fear-mongering persuasion.
And given the tough and divisive first term he has had, the chances that President Obama will stick his neck out for a fellow minority is close to zero. Like it or not, this is a cold reminder of how little effect a Black man in the White House has had on ending or even addressing the very real applications of systemic racism and injustices, which is manifested on a daily basis in society at large.
So the hopes of Troy Davis lie with the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles. (UPDATE – CLEMENCY DENIED)
One of the many pleas made to the Board which was particularly persuasive was from America’s exonerated death row survivors.
Here is the text of their letter
HRI has added links to the individual stories of each of the survivor signatories below:
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, SE
Suite 458, Balcony Level, East Tower
Atlanta, GA 30334
Dear Chairperson Donald and Members of the Board:
We, the undersigned, are alive today because some individual or small group of individuals decided that our insistent and persistent proclamations of innocence warranted one more look before we were sent to our death by execution. We are among the 138 individuals who have been legally exonerated and released from death rows in the United States since 1973. We are alive because a few thoughtful persons – attorneys, journalists, judges, jurists, etc. – had lingering doubts about our cases that caused them to say “stop” at a critical moment and halt the march to the execution chamber. When our innocence was ultimately revealed, when our lives were saved, and when our freedom was won, we thanked God and those individuals of conscience who took actions that allowed the truth to eventually come to light.
We are America’s exonerated death row survivors. We are living proof that a system operated by human beings is capable of making an irreversible mistake. And while we have had our wrongful convictions overturned and have been freed from death row, we know that we are extremely fortunate to have been able to establish our innocence. We also know that many innocent people who have been executed or who face execution have not been so fortunate. Not all those with innocence claims have had access to the kinds of physical evidence, like DNA, that our courts accept as most reliable. However, we strongly believe that the examples of our cases are reason enough for those with power over life and death to choose life. We also believe that those in authority have a unique moral consideration when encountering individuals with cases where doubt still lingers about innocence or guilt.
One such case is the case of Troy Anthony Davis, whose 1991 conviction for killing Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail rested almost solely on witness testimony. We know that today, 20 years later, witness evidence is considered much less reliable than it was then. This has meant that, even though most of the witnesses who testified against him have now recanted, Troy Davis has been unable to convince the courts to overturn his conviction, or even his death sentence.
Troy Davis has been able to raise serious doubts about his guilt, however. Several witnesses testified at the evidentiary hearing last summer that they had been coerced by police into making false statements against Troy Davis. This courtroom testimony reinforced previous statements in sworn affidavits. Also at this hearing, one witness testified for the first time that he saw an alternative suspect, and not Troy Davis, commit the crime. We don’t know if Troy Davis is in fact innocent, but, as people who were wrongfully sentenced to death (and in some cases scheduled for execution), we believe it is vitally important that no execution go forward when there are doubts about guilt. It is absolutely essential to ensuring that the innocent are not executed.
When you issued a temporary stay for Troy Davis in 2007, you stated that the Board “will not allow an execution to proceed in this State unless and until its members are convinced that there is no doubt as to the guilt of the accused.” This standard is a welcome development, and we urge you to apply it again now. Doubts persist in the case of Troy Davis, and commuting his sentence will reassure the people of Georgia that you will never permit an innocent person to be put to death in their name.
Freddie Lee Pitts, an exonerated death row survivor who faced execution by the state of Florida for a crime he didn’t commit, once said, “You can release an innocent man from prison, but you can’t release him from the grave.”
Thank you for considering our request.
Respectfully,
Kirk Bloodsworth, Exonerated and freed from death row Maryland
Clarence Brandley, Exonerated and freed from death row in Texas
Dan Bright, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana
Albert Burrell, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana
Perry Cobb, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
Gary Drinkard, Exonerated and freed from death row in Alabama
Nathson Fields, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
Gary Gauger, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
Michael Graham, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana
Shujaa Graham, Exonerated and freed from death row in California
Paul House, Exonerated and freed from death row in Tennessee
Derrick Jamison, Exonerated and freed from death row in Ohio
Dale Johnston, Exonerated and freed from death row in Ohio
Ron Keine, Exonerated and freed from death row in New Mexico
Ron Kitchen, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
Ray Krone, Exonerated and freed from death row in Arizona
Herman Lindsey, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
Juan Melendez, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
Randal Padgett, Exonerated and freed from death row in Alabama
Freddie Lee Pitts, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
Randy Steidl, Exonerated and freed from death row in Illinois
John Thompson, Exonerated and freed from death row in Louisiana
Delbert Tibbs, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
David Keaton, Exonerated and freed from death row in Florida
Greg Wilhoit, Exonerated and freed from death row in Oklahoma
Harold Wilson, Exonerated and freed from death row in Pennsylvania
There is a petition to sign at Change.org
Update: The Parole Board has denied clemency and he is scheduled for execution tomorrow. 21/09 7pm Eastern Time
Update 21/09 – At time of writing, nearly three hours after scheduled execution, Troy Davis is in the execution room waiting ….
Update: Troy Davis’ last appeal was rejected and the lethal injection began at 10.53 pm. He died at 11.08 pm.
The last words of Troy Davis were reported as:
I’d like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I’m not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask … is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls
Human rights investigations 
15 replies on “Troy Davis: Black as Charged?”
if he was white i bet with my life you wouldnt even notice..
90 percent of these guys say they werent there there is no proof in this country that an innocent man ever been executed,as matter of fact every one of them the evidence is overwhelming.most of you dont care about troy davis most of you dont like the law ,just as many white guys are excecuted as black ..go to china see how many are executed a year or the middle east were beheadings happen every day the usa id kind compared to most,this thug killed that guy and he is craping his pants now,,of course he didnt do it they all say that…
Did you not just read the statistical information in this article there is no proof wake the fuck up stop being so blind damn
Yes, in fact, we do oppose capital punishment, whether the guys being executed are white or black, American, Chinese, Iranian or Middle-Eastern, innocent or guilty.
There’s a whole bunch of information on innocent people executed (in the US) on http://www.justicedenied.org/executed.htm
[…] of moral courage and political expediency means Obama has kept silent over the execution of Troy […]
[…] of moral courage and political expediency means Obama has kept silent over the execution of Troy […]
oh so its that easy to throw a black man under the bus, even. when witnesses. change their stories. that’s. what is wrong in america today,no one is taking the time to check into. the innocens. of a person on trial for murder,but so quick to say yeah that thug did it,because its so easy to blame a person but hard to see their innocens. we all need to check ourselves. on that topic because people, mainly black people are dieing and being locked up for life,because faulty witnesses,and corrupt. cops just want to get someone for the crime and take the easy way out.instead of doing their jobs, and finding the real criminal in these cases just stick it to the first black. man you can find. I don’t what anybody says, if you were not there at the time of the crime you says, if you weren’t. there at the time of the crime you shouldn’t. hollar. guity. murder is suppose. to be the hardest crime to prove. in court beyond a reasonable doubt. for a black man, its guiltuy untill proven. innocent. in this white america. we all have to remember that god is the only judge, and he who bares false witness shall have their reward. and remember man is not suppose to judge man………. rest un peice troy… from another brother in the struggle. my black people slavery hasn’t. gone anywhere. y’all better recognize. they are just doing us in a different way. god help us. joe from cali. free keith slaughter jr. 296years
You are right on with your comment. My family is going through a terrible injustice at this time. The systems in place in this very racist Milwaukee, Wisconsin are if u are young and black u must be guilty. Some of the judges are very biased and some of the police are just corrupt (SEE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL Oct.23, 2011). Young black men of the USA do not come to Milwaukee especially if u have a clean record. They don’t give u a chance. If the detectives have to set u up with help from the d.a. they will set u up. The corrupt ones know who they are and so do their superiors. We need some help here. The black politicians here don’t want to touch this subject and neither do our black organizations. This is too sad. When will we come together and see the light of what is truly going on here. Justice is not for us, I don’t care how innocent u may be. Yes God Please help us all.
they wont be happy until we have another civil war
Can we PLEASE stop playing the race card ??? I wouldn’t blame racism so much as a flawed judicial system. Take for example the West Memphis Three. 3 innocent teenagers spent 18 yrs. on death row because they dressed in black & listened to metal music. It’s a matter of putting a face to a crime as quickly as possible to put the community at ease…… Incase you didn’t know, the jury on the Davis case consisted of 7 black & 5 white jurors, also out of the 6 prominent people who rallied for him, 5 of them are white. The real issue is INJUSTICE.
All of the 34 witnesses that testified against Davis were black. Some even knew him personally. Using race in this case is absurd. “Black as charged?” ….how about “Guilty as charged !”. I hope the Macphail’s find some closure and peace. A killer that smiled after the second shot to Macphail is executed. Get over it.
He just said they recanted and were coerced to say negative things about him read and stop being so blind the world is not peaces and rainbows
The late Mr. Troy A. Davis lost his life after putting up a grave fight. None of our justice-system judges, parole board members and even the highest court here in this country would listen to him! His persistent to say he was not the person to killed officer MacPhail; he lived a haunted life behind bard; but in those 20 years his perseverance and his life continue to be unpredictable. For a human-race to kill one and other and for a justice system play a role that ended a man life not knowing his guilt or innocent weigh very heavy on the minds and hearts of all races; blacks, whites, green, blue, brown and anyother color one want’s to make themselves. We all saw how his appeals went on and on; not one person stop to say that there is something about this case that me me want to give this another expertly look and a new hearing to see how much concrente facts that is given by the presiding prosecutor. Since there were no prosecutor could get another conviction, they let this appeals one right after the other to go on without taking any actions that would have prevent Mr. Davis death. It’s a sad look upon the state of Georgia and the city of Savannah. Mr. Davis will continue to walk his birthplace until the real killer come forth….no matter how long it takes. His sole is gone; but in Savannah, his spirit is not at rest!
[…] Troy Davis: Black as Charged? […]
very sad and disturbing case