SAVANNAH -- If the conviction of Troy Anthony Davis and his subsequent death sentencing resulted from "lies," then a "cop killer" has remained at large for 18 years, the top executive of the national NAACP says.
That is what occurred, asserted Benjamin Jealous, president and chief executive officer of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and it demands that Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm reopen the case.
"The interest of the state is in the truth," he told the Savannah Morning News in an interview.
Jealous was in Savannah Friday as part of "I AM TROY," a grassroots campaign and petition drive to spare Davis from execution at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison near Jackson.
The campaign is part of a nationwide initiative.
Davis, 38, was convicted and sentenced to die in 1991 for the murder of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail.
A litany of appeals has failed to sway various courts, although Davis has evaded execution three times.
On Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to consider the latest challenge by attorneys for Davis.
Jealous, along with state and Savannah Branch NAACP groups, wants Chisolm to reopen the case and find the assailant who is truly guilty.
They say seven of the nine state witnesses at the original trial have recanted their testimony. Execution of Davis will mean a possibly innocent man will die, they further argue.
Central to the position taken by Jealous is the testimony of seven of the nine witnesses.
Their trial testimonies were "lies," he said.
"If Troy Davis was convicted on lies, then the truth is: A killer's on the loose," he said.
The witnesses did not just question their prior statements.
"They contradicted it," he said.
By "voluntarily" coming forward and changing their testimony, each has opened him or herself to prosecution on charges of perjury, Jealous said.
He called it reasonable to believe that if the Davis jury had heard what the witnesses say now, "Troy Davis would not have been convicted."
But Jealous said Georgia courts have not listened to calls to air the new evidence that he called compelling.
He said the questionable testimony resulted from "multiple levels of coercion" - fear of "bad actors in the community," other witnesses or fear of police, he said.
Jealous, whose family was in law enforcement, said he understands the "fraternity" among police officers and the desire for resolution when one of their own is slain.
"I don't ascribe any bad motives," he said.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
All of these Johnny come lately people are basing the ENTIRE situation on the testimony of nine people as if that was the prosecution's entire case; not so yet the "rest of the story" is never mentioned by these people who have showed up twenty years after the fact and are attempting to thwart justice. Larry Chisolm, a fine man and experienced in the office of the district attorney in Chatham County, was recently elected and inherited this problem. He's a black man, thus the push by the NAACP to have him open the case when in fact the case has been closed and heard by more courts than I can list here and Davis has also been turned down by the board of pardons and parole. The real facts of the case determined him to be guilty - and what of the other two "witnesses"? Has their story changed? There actually IS a case that should be reopened but it's not the Troy Anthony Davis case. It's the case of three young white soldiers who were visiting Savannah from Ft Stewart after a bachelor party for one of them - they were convicted of a murder which they could not possibly have done even though there were eye witnesses who placed them elsewhere at the time of the murder.Troy's guilty
And if Chisolm to reopens the case and finds the assailant who is truly guilty is colored, then what?
In 1991 Davis the death penalty was imposed......this is 2009.....this murdering thug has already lived 18 years through the appeals process. Enough is enough! Prepare the dirt nap cocktail, and administer it as soon as possible.
I agree with coastal. Here it is 20 years later and numerous appeals rejected. Time to get on with the sentency. Justice delayed is justice denied.
If the executions would take place in less than a year after conviction, the states would save millions/year and these cases wouldn't drag on for decades.
The so called "Capital Punishment" laws in this country (Not just in GA) are nothing more than a welfare system for the legal profession...Lawyers make a fortune off the taxpayer in countless appeals. And since the laws are written by lawyers, that isn't going to change.
The appeals were rejected on procedural grounds. The fact that seven of nine witnesses have taken back their testimony has never been considered in a court of law. Please read what those witnesses said when they took back their testimony; it is chilling. http://www.sc-abolish.org/images/stories/2009/TroyD/amr5102307.pdf
How can you be sure that Troy Davis is guilty - when there was no physical evidence, no gun, no video, no confession, and seven of nine witnesses have recanted their testimony? THINK!
The tone of many of these comments exemplifies the dehumanizing effect of capital punishment, not only on the person being put to death, but on the community at large. Not only should Troy Davis not be put to death for the murder of Officer McPhail, no person should be put to death by the state for this or any crime. It is barbarous and has been abandoned by most of the democratic world. It is past time for Georgia and other states to follow suit.
I usually 100% death penalty but this case wasn't based on evidence that I would want to lose my life or a loved one's life over. There was no concrete evidence and the eyewitness testimony (which is all the conviction is based on) is almost always incorrect. Most you sound like a lynch mob because a white cop died by a supposed black perp. If there was evidence other than the eyewitness evidence I would willingly be the executioner, but way too many doubts exist in this case to put a man to death.
The NAACP will lie to get a black off the hook
Whenever I think ignorance in the world is dead, I tune in to these message boards. Thank you, all of you, for reminding me that there are truly idiots out there. It is entirely possible that Mr. Davis is an innocent man. I honestly have no clue. For you all to claim that you know the truth truly and clearly shows your ignorance.
If not 100% sure he is guilty, then he should not be put to death. there is doubt that he is guilty. I say give him a new trial. Meanwhile if he is not guilty, there is a killer who has gotten away with murder so far. Punish the guilty, not the innocent. This has nothing to do with race.
How many trials do you suggest giving him?
With your surroundings you must think ignorance a good bit.
Troy Davis deserves one fair trial. When 7 of 9 eyewitnesses recant their testimony, and there is no other evidence; any rational person must question the fairness of the original conviction.
If the original posters are jurors and the NAACP is on trial, the verdict is quite predictable. It's very sad and pathetically outdated. It's not just the NAACP that believes Troy Davis deserves a new trial; leaders around the world and millions of colorblind people are following this case and are stunned by Georgia's steadfast resistance to granting a new trial.
Please do not forget the second point the NAACP raised: in the typical rush to convict someone, anyone, regardless of whether he or she is innocent (a mentality generously demonstrated by the "hang him now" and "he's guilty, I can feel it in my bones" crowd), the police and the courts err in favour of **letting a cop-killer walk free** so that they can have "closure" by killing someone for the crime. Davis, in this instance. Yes, that is just the second point; the first, main, primary, and focal point is that Davis is most likely innocent. Killing him may bring a sense of closure for some cops, but it still lets the actual killer continue to walk free. Have a sense of priority: if you don't care about the state killing an innocent man, don't you care about the actual killer still being out there?
Well over two hundred convicted murderers have been released from Death Row. Why? Because new evidence proved them innocent. There is new evedenc in the Troy Davis case and yet due to a technicality he has been denied a new trial. No one should ever be executed when there is a shadow of a doubt of their innocence. In this case it is more than a shadow. This is not the American system of justice that I know.
And who has determinded if the "nine" people are telling the truth? Davis has had no new evidence to support his claim of innocence. For all anyone knows, these nine people may be relatives and/or friends who are just trying to thwart the system. NAACP needs to be disbanded for its rabble-rousing, hate-mongering dogma and its continuous interference with the criminal justice system.
The NAACP does nothing to actualy advance colored people. They stir up unwarranted controversy, speak in 1/2 truths and rarely with all of the facts, boycott states or counties for stupid reasons, etc. If they were really worried about advancing colored people, they would worry about proper education, a good family environment, putting drug dealers of all races away for food and strong police presence working with the community in all black neighborhoods and housing projects, etc. Instead, they want nothing to do with the police but condem them and nothing to do with the government except try to get every tax dollar they can from working citizens. This organization has outlived its usefullness.
How much of the recanting was due to pressure from the naacp?Did the naacp badger these witnesses until they just got tired or became fearful for thier own lives?Twenty years is along time to remember someone's face.The first ID is the best ID.
The NAACP mission is to root out stubborn,to all posted negative comments about the NAACP,vestiges of disparity and bigotry with in the United States Judiciary System will continue thriving in order to fulfill the mission our founders so eloquently articulated with a long,proud track record as America's oldest and largest civil rights organization.Since, we have seen gross miscarriages of justice against young black men in Jena,Louisiana...a resurgence of noose displays and other forms of intimidation the NAACP will be heard to ensure the U.S. justice system treats all people equally.
I think that the people who recanted their testimony should be prosecuted for perjury.
i just read an article in the paper about "black on black" crimes...i guess black on white crimes is o.k. in the eyes of the naacp.
Justice is the goal of our judicial system. In this case, the system left to its own devices will not provide a thorough or just outcome. The politicization of death penalty cases is a cause for concern, as results take on a larger meaning than the guidelines of law. As the rest of the world watches, our reputation as a nation under God is on the line. And our reputation with God.
1. The NAACP had nothing to do with the witness recantations. Why spread a rumor like that?
2. The alternate suspect in this case is also an African-American. Trying to make this into an issue of blacks siding with blacks reflects narrow-mindedness.
3. The prosecution has basically no case for guilt left. It is relying on unreliable witnesses, including one whose own relatives and friends have implicated him in the murder.
4. In order to function properly a democracy needs people to speak their conscience when they feel that the justice system has not upheld fundamental fairness. Fortunately, some people in the NAACP and elsewhere are willing to stand up against the execution of a man who may be innocent. They can only ask the legal system to pay attention.
I am always amazed at the reactions of folks. Why would we want anyone, regardless of color, executed for something he did not do? We have one of the greatest judicial systems in the world but errors can and are still made. Innocent people have been executed. For all those who call themselves religious/Christian how can we allow this to happen? When it is your family member hanging in the balance I am sure your feelings would be different. Yes, it costs a great deal of taxpayer money but how can we put a price on any life? Troy Davis deserves a new day in court. We, as citizens, need to demand it.
Racism and prejudice haven't gone away. They simmer slowly beneath the surface until something erupts and fans the flames. It's easy to get lost in a diatribe about the NAACP. If we downplay the NAACP then we can ignore what they say about Troy Davis and if the state kills an innocent man in our name, we canwalk away freed of guilt, by covering our eyes and looking the other way. The case regarding Troy Anthony Davis is about injustice not white versus black. In the heroism of Officer MacPhail, color was not a factor. He gave the ultimate sacrifice in response to an injustice. He saw a person writhing in agony and responded to his pleas of mercy. He ignored a key element separating much of humanity from each other: the pigmetation of one's skin that causes others to turn away. He only saw a person in need and he responded. The death of Mark Allen McPhail and the heartache endured by both families is tragic. The unbearable pain is enormous and cannot be denied nor can it be extinguished with another senseless death. Troy Davis needs a new day in court to avoid a double tragedy. The time for asking questions and seeking peace is now, not posthumously!