Troy Davis

Mark MacPhail

Troy Anthony Davis (born October 9, 1968) was convicted of the August 19, 1989, murder of Savannah, Georgia, police officer Mark MacPhail. Davis has been on death row in Georgia since 1991. Throughout the original trial and subsequent appeals, Davis maintained his innocence, claiming he was wrongfully convicted of the crime as a result of false identification. Between the trial and first set of appeals, seven of the nine prosecution eyewitnesses who had linked Davis to the killing have unofficially recanted or contradicted part of their original trial testimony, claiming police coercion and questionable interrogation tactics, but none have recanted as required by law. Amnesty International, a human rights organization, has taken up Davis' cause, although Amnesty International is officially neutral as to whether Davis is guilty or innocent.[7] The advocacy group strongly condemned U.S. courts that refused to examine Davis' evidence and organized rallies and letter-writing campaigns to persuade the Georgia and federal courts to grant Davis a new trial or an evidentiary hearing.[3] Many prominent politicians and leaders, including former President Jimmy Carter,[8] Al Sharpton,[9] Pope Benedict XVI,[9] Nobel laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu,[9] Presidential candidate Bob Barr,[9] and former FBI Director and judge William S. Sessions[10] have called upon the courts to grant Davis a new trial or evidentiary hearing.[11] - Wikipedia