Troy Davis gets chance to prove his innocence
The U.S. Supreme Court gave Georgia death-row inmate Troy Davis a day in court to attempt to prove his innocence, using evidence not available to Davis at his original trial for killing a Savannah police officer.
As AJC reporter Bill Rankin notes:
“Since the 1991 trial, seven of nine key prosecution witnesses have recanted their testimony. This includes recantations from witnesses who testified they saw Davis shoot and kill MacPhail.
Others have come forward and said another man, Sylvester “Redd” Coles, has admitted to them he was the killer. Coles, who denied shooting MacPhail, was at the scene and the first person to implicate Davis.”
““The substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death clearly provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing,” Justice John Paul Stevens wrote. But Antonin Scalia, joined in the minority by Clarence Thomas, was unconvinced and unmoved.
“This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to convince a habeas court that he is ‘actually’ innocent. Quite to the contrary, we have repeatedly left that question unresolved, while expressing considerable doubt that any claim based on alleged ‘actual innocence’ is constitutionally cognizable.”
In other words, “innocence shminnocence. Fry him.” As his fellow justices noted, Scalia’s position allows no legal avenue for even an obviously innocent person to have his or her case heard.
Davis is still a long way from freedom. The court decision assumes his guilt but gives him a chance in a courtroom, before a judge, to prove his innocence. The recantations on which his appeal were built may very well prove to be unconvincing twenty years after the fact. But to kill him without giving him that chance would have been a travesty.
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159 comments Add your comment
Peadawg
August 18th, 2009
8:34 am
Booya! 1st! lol
Peadawg
August 18th, 2009
8:36 am
Now on topic…the evidence is veeery fishy. I would say too fishy to convict this man. From everything I’ve read about this, I honestly think he’s innocent.
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
8:36 am
Scalia is SUCH a scumbag. there really is no other word for it. (and, of course, his BFF, Thomas, was right there, attached at the hip)
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
8:37 am
Peadawg –
my gawd … is this TWO things we’re in agreement on ???
RB from Gwinnett
August 18th, 2009
8:47 am
Shouldn’t the “witnesses” who are now saying they lied under oath to the court 20 years ago be charged with perjury?
Another thing the justices might want to look into is why it takes 20 years for the state to execute someone? The death penalty has become a joke because of this drawn out appeals process and no longer a deterrant. In cases like Brian Nichols, it should be carried out the day after the appeal is concluded. This 20 years later stuff is a joke.
RB from Gwinnett
August 18th, 2009
8:48 am
USinUK, where do you live? US or in the UK?
Mrs. Godzilla
August 18th, 2009
8:49 am
Scalia…..pfui.
Remember this from earlier this year?
“WASHINGTON – Prisoners have no constitutional right to DNA testing that might prove their innocence, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday in a 5-to-4 decision.”
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/06/19-7
It’s way past time to relook at lifetime appointments for the Supreme Court.
Doggone/GA
August 18th, 2009
8:49 am
Actually, I don’t think he has to prove his innocence…he only has to prove there is enough doubt about his guilt to show that the prosecution cannot prove he is guilty. “Innocent” and “not guilty” are not the same thing. But if they, or someone, can prove someone else did the killing then, of course, that does show his innocence. I don’t know that they currently have enough evidence to throw the guilt onto someone else, but there DOES appear to be enough doubt about Davis’s guilt.
One of the most horifying things I heard on this case was someone who said he “should be satisified” that he had his day in court and that the sentence was upheld on appeal. SATISIFIED? If he’s truly not guilty, I don’t think there’s much satisfaction to be found in being executed for a crime he did not commit. And Scalia should be impeached for that opinion. Talk about lack of compassion.
Turd Ferguson
August 18th, 2009
8:49 am
After one is convicted and sentenced to death the evidence ALWAYS becomes fishy. Dont you know everyone in prison is innocent.
We should adopt a policy of indefinite appeals for any person sentenced to death…ya thats it.
Turd Ferguson
August 18th, 2009
8:50 am
Yes…lettuce start with SotoMayorMcCheese.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
August 18th, 2009
8:51 am
Well, I see there was a real ruckus on this blog last night. To top it off, @@ and Sister Dusty started whining about how unfair Bookman is. It’s just like a pair of women to wade in and start slugging and then start bawling when things get a little rough. It’s just the way women fight and it’s been that way, I reckon, ever since Eve started making excuses to Adam for eating that apple she wasn’t suppose to touch.
Anyhow, it’s just a shame we got the goods on this Troy Davis and was all set to shoot the juice in him next month and now the librul Supreme Court won’t let us do it. We got him fair and square, even if a few witnesses against him might of fibbed a little bit. I say it ain’t fair to let him off from what he’s got coming. He’s guilty. You can just see yourself from the picture he’s one of Those People.
What we need on the courts is a bunch of judges like this Texas judge that went home at 5 p.m. and wouldn’t let a bunch of lawyers file a appeal with her because it was closing time. The guy got the Death Penalty that night and now they’ve went and put on her trial and are trying to get her removed from judging. There ain’t no end to what a bunch of libruls will try and do to get criminals off.
Have a good day everybody.
Turd Ferguson
August 18th, 2009
8:51 am
Shouldn’t the “witnesses” who are now saying they lied under oath to the court 20 years ago be charged with perjury?
ABSOLUTELY!!!
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
8:51 am
RB –
the clue is “inUK”
GA native currently living in London
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
8:52 am
TF –
“ABSOLUTELY!!!”
I second that emotion.
Doggone/GA
August 18th, 2009
8:53 am
“Shouldn’t the “witnesses” who are now saying they lied under oath to the court 20 years ago be charged with perjury?”
Maybe they should, depends on why they lied. If, as I think I remember reading, they were threatened and lied because of that threat…then that throws the guilt beyond them to whomever threatened them.
But at this point, I think it’s just a tad more important to get a possibly innocent prisoner his REAL day in court than it is to go after a perjurer or two.
RB from Gwinnett
August 18th, 2009
8:54 am
USinUK, how is it that you are on here posting during the hours people are generally awake in the US and not the UK?
Turd Ferguson
August 18th, 2009
8:55 am
Doggone/GA
August 18th, 2009
8:53 am
BS…complete and utter BS. If it were up to you this “retrial” or however you want to classify it, would continue indefintely.
Troy had his real day in court.
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
8:55 am
RB –
um. honey. it’s nearly 2:00 here. most people I know, regardless of where they live, are usually awake at 2 in the afternoon.
Doggone/GA
August 18th, 2009
8:55 am
“We should adopt a policy of indefinite appeals for any person sentenced to death…ya thats it.”
Or we could do the sane thing and do away with the death penalty.
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
August 18th, 2009
8:56 am
Who is hearing the dead law man’s case?
Cherokee
August 18th, 2009
8:56 am
Peadawg I’m impressed.
Scalia is a disgrace and should be removed from the Court, along with his BFF Thomas.
jconservative
August 18th, 2009
8:56 am
The decision was 3 – 2 with Breyer & Ginsburg joining Stevens.
I would agree with a new hearing. But the evidence has been looked at previously & Davis is still on death row. What is the term for government (in this case the prosecutor) getting locked in on a position? Bureaucratic regimentation?
I am back to my basic conservative distrust of government. The prosecutor (& Scalia also) says Davis is guilty & new evidence does not matter. That is pure big government “we can do no wrong” thinking.
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
8:57 am
“Troy had his real day in court”
yes he did. and it turns out that, during his “real day” a lot of the “real witnesses” really LIED.
I believe that, if YOU were in that situation, you would be fighting tooth and nail for justice.
RB from Gwinnett
August 18th, 2009
8:58 am
Doggie, I disagree. If this man spent 20 years in prison because of those who lied to the court, THEY should be the ones at the front of this investigation right now. If they were threatened into lying, the threatening party should be part of the ordeal too. For this whole thing to be about Davis and for the liars to be left out of it is wrong.
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
8:59 am
“Who is hearing the dead law man’s case?”
whiner, please explain to me – where is the justice if the wrong man is killed for the murder???
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
August 18th, 2009
9:00 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — About 60,000 senior citizens have quit AARP since July 1 due to the group’s support for a health care overhaul, a spokesman for the organization said Monday.
You can now call them Republicans.
he he
Peadawg
August 18th, 2009
9:00 am
“Or we could do the sane thing and do away with the death penalty.”
Bingo! IMO nobody should decide who lives and who dies except for God.
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
9:02 am
yep … nothing so funny as violence against wimmen.
Peadawg
August 18th, 2009
9:08 am
Ya that joke was a little harsh…still gave me a chuckle though.
Gale
August 18th, 2009
9:09 am
As RB said, the death penalty process is so broken that we may as well remove it. IMO there is one innocent person executed for the many, many awaiting appeals who are guilty. Also, there are many, many guilty persons who are released and murder or commit violent crimes again. Our penal system is broken. There are too many persons in prisons who, if not criminals when they went in, are so damaged when they get out that they become criminals.
ty webb
August 18th, 2009
9:09 am
Yeah, Turd. You should have said “against their will”(there are male prostitutes). We don’t want to offend the bedwetters.
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
9:09 am
“still gave me a chuckle though”
rape gave you a chuckle. hm.
Peadawg
August 18th, 2009
9:11 am
Oh lighten up UK. geeze
Kamchak
August 18th, 2009
9:12 am
yep … nothing so funny as violence against wimmen.
They are not people after they have been shamelessly commoditized as Turd Lemonade did at 8:59.
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
9:13 am
peadawg – just wanting you to think about it. s’all.
redneck recluse
August 18th, 2009
9:13 am
Whiner – please the report facts – here is the end of the article.
“He said AARP gained some 400,000 new members during the same period and that 1.5 million members renewed their membership.
The membership loss figure was first reported Monday by CBS News.”
Not giving all the facts makes you look like a big government liberal.
That’s what they do, selective facts. I report, you decide.
Paul
August 18th, 2009
9:14 am
USinUK, Mrs. Godzilla
Please key in on this: “This Court has never held that the Constitution forbids the execution of a convicted defendant who has had a full and fair trial but is later able to”
“This Court.” That doesn’t mean the current members of the US Supreme Court. It means the Supreme Court in all its decisions since its establishment. So this isn’t just about Scalia and Thomas.
Interesting that no Court, even “Liberal” courts, have rendered a different decision? Interesting, too, that no Congress, even the current Congress, have introduced legislation to remedy this?
On a side note, eyewitness testimony is generally recognized as some of the most unreliable of all evidentiary sources. Unless you’re a prosecutor whose case it will help. Or a defense attorney whose case it will help.
mm
August 18th, 2009
9:15 am
Turd,
I can’t take it anymore. Lettuce is a vegetable. Geez you wingers need to learn how to spell. I’ve seen some of the signs at your tea parties and town hall meetings. Hilarious.
Whiner,
I don’t call them republicans, I just call them idiots. That’s what republicans do. Support things that are not in their best interests.
Bosch
August 18th, 2009
9:16 am
It’s cases like these that make me stop, pause, and ponder my belief in the death penalty. Obviously, Troy Davis, if found to be innocent, is an example of the travesties of our judicial system, but don’t forget about the family of the man who was killed – all this is hell for them too.
Doggone/GA
August 18th, 2009
9:16 am
“Troy had his real day in court”
So he should be HAPPY to be executed. Why am I not surprised at your response?
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
9:18 am
Paul –
which is why stare decisis is important – however, that doesn’t mean that it predetermines every case before the SC.
and, as for these witnesses, this isn’t about a mistake (”it was night and I thought the guy’s blue car was black”) … this is about people who deliberately lied.
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
9:20 am
G’morning Bosch –
“don’t forget about the family of the man who was killed – all this is hell for them too.”
which was why I posted my 8:59 to whiner.
if you were the brother of the man who was killed and saw that witnesses had recanted their testimony, would you push for the guy to be killed? or would you want the person who is actually GUILTY to be found and tried??
Doggone/GA
August 18th, 2009
9:20 am
“For this whole thing to be about Davis and for the liars to be left out of it is wrong.”
I never said to leave them out. I said to deal with Davis FIRST.
Paul
August 18th, 2009
9:21 am
A tie-in to the previous thread: as I started reading, I wondered how the victim died. Was he hit with a rock? Did the assailant beat him with a baseball bat? Did the assailant chase him with a gasoline-soaked rag and light him on fire?
Then I read the victim was ’shot.’
That means a gun… right?
Peadawg
August 18th, 2009
9:21 am
“would you want the person who is actually GUILTY to be found and tried??”
That’s what I’d do if I was a relative.
Paul
August 18th, 2009
9:24 am
G’morning, USinUK
My reference was to eyewitness testimony in general. It’s a pretty appalling score – even including the “I was ten feet away and looked right at him” type.
My point wasn’t about precedent – it was about Justice Scalia’s statement about the history of ALL decisions so rendered – even by “Liberal” Courts. And the always-incredible recognition that no Congress, even the current one, has sought to remedy this.
Hey Bosch
Do you still hate trees?
Gale
August 18th, 2009
9:24 am
Paul, interesting point. If there was a gun, what tied that to Davis? Was he the owner of the gun? Did they find gunpower residue? (I hate it that I pick up so much from law and CSI type TV that I don’t even watch.)
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
9:25 am
Peadawg –
“That’s what I’d do if I was a relative”
I could hug you for that. I feel the same – and can’t imagine carrying with me the questions/doubt/guilt if someone was murdered by the state on my family’s behalf for a crime they didn’t commit.
USinUK
August 18th, 2009
9:27 am
Bosch …
thought about you on the way home last night … overheard on the train:
“I don’t care that there’s a match on … what about ME???”
yep. football season has started.
Gale
August 18th, 2009
9:28 am
Y’know, USinUK, I always hate that even though I disagree with a SC decision, I usually find that I cannot fault the logic behind it within the narrow confines of a case. Of course, I also agree with the logic of the desenting opinion in many of those same cases. Sorta like Sotomayor’s saying that background determines the factors a judge will consider, isn’t it?