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Troy Davis (Credit: Georgia Department of Corrections, File)
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In a last minute effort, protesters tried to save Troy Davis, the man convicted of killing off-duty Savannah officer Mark MacPhail, from lethal injection. Davis was supposed to be executed at 7 p.m. EST, but an appeal was sent to the U.S. Supreme Court. According to MSNBC the state delayed the execution to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision. The ruling could take as long as seven days or be announced as soon as tonight.
Davis had served 22 years on death row for the 1989 murder, but since his conviction, many doubts were raised about his guilt.
Davis testified that he had been drinking with Sylvester Coles when Coles got in a fight with a homeless man, Larry Young, over a beer. Young’s please for help were heard by MacPhail, and when Davis saw a police officer coming towards the fight he ran away. Davis maintained that Cole was the shooter, while Cole claimed Davis committed the murder. Cole has never been charged with the murder. Besides eye witness accounts, no other evidence was found.
However, out of the nine eye witnesses, only two (including Cole) have stuck to their story adding that they were coerced by police. According to Amnesty International, one million supporters have signed a petition on Davis’ behalf including Pope Benedict XVI, the NAACP, Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and Reverend Al Sharpton, who fought for Davis until the last moment.
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Do you think Troy Davis’ execution should be upheld?
