mst3k4evur
Inactive
Member of the Month - 4/09
Ameeerrrrrricaaa, F**k Yah!
Posts: 3,701
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Post by mst3k4evur on Aug 24, 2010 10:30:49 GMT -6
Georgia death row inmate hasn't proved innocence, court rules August 24, 2010 11:56 a.m. EDT STORY HIGHLIGHTS A death row prisoner in Georgia has not proven his innocence, a federal court ruled, according to papers released Tuesday. Troy Davis faces execution for the killing of a Savannah, Georgia, police officer in 1989. The Supreme Court granted a stay of execution for him in 2008, and another federal court later granted him another one, as he fights to overturn his conviction. Davis has always maintained his innocence in the killing of Officer Mark MacPhail. Witnesses claimed Davis, then 19, and two others were harassing a homeless man in a Burger King restaurant parking lot when the off-duty officer arrived to help the man. Witnesses testified at trial that Davis then shot MacPhail twice and fled. But since his 1991 conviction, seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted their testimony. No physical evidence was presented linking Davis to the killing of the policeman. www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/08/24/georgia.death.row.denial/
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Post by SubSurfCPO(ret) on Aug 24, 2010 13:49:13 GMT -6
an excerpt from the Rome News Tribune. romenews-tribune.com/view/full_story/9257238/article-Judge--Death-Row-inmate-Troy-Davis-failed-to-prove-innocence?instance=home_news_lead_storyThe ruling by U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr. sets the stage for Georgia to resume plans for Davis' execution nearly 20 years after a Savannah jury sentenced him to death for the slaying of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. In June, Moore heard two days of testimony from witnesses who sought to cast doubt on Davis' conviction. Some said they falsely incriminated Davis at his 1991 trial, either out of spite or under pressure from police. Others said they had heard another man confess to being MacPhail's killer. In his ruling, the judge concluded that "while executing an innocent person would violate the United States Constitution, Mr. Davis has failed to prove his innocence."
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Post by SubSurfCPO(ret) on Aug 24, 2010 15:01:45 GMT -6
I was reading between the lines here, but it seemed that the defense tried to present something slick with regards to the 8th amendment and the judge shot it down in flames.
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Post by Matt on Aug 24, 2010 18:17:28 GMT -6
Get on with it. This guy has had more bites at the apple than anyone.
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Post by Charlene on Aug 25, 2010 20:43:48 GMT -6
Great op-ed about this: It wasn't even closeBy Savannah Morning News Created 2010-08-25 00:18 Tom Barton Methodical. Meticulous. Thorough. Those were three words that came to mind after reading U.S. District Judge William T. Moore's lengthy, heavily-footnoted ruling in the Troy Anthony Davis saga Tuesday afternoon. If Davis maintains he got a bum rap back in 1991, when he was sentenced to death for killing a Savannah police officer in 1989, he can't say that Judge Moore didn't give him and his legal team every opportunity to prove his innocence 19 years later. Davis got his shot. And it was a good one, too. He got a dispassionate judge who's no one's fool. He got a jurist who is appointed, not elected. He got a fair-minded man who was willing and able to listen to everything he and his anti-death penalty attorneys wanted to present in his courtroom. For a guy on Georgia's death row, it doesn't get much better than that. And Davis came up short. Again. Indeed, it didn't appear to be a close call for Moore. Those much ballyhooed recantations from seven witnesses? Of little or of dubious value. Those witnesses who claimed another man killed Officer Mark MacPhail? Either not credible or based on hearsay. At face value, the recantations seemed the most compelling evidence in Davis' favor. How can the State of Georgia take a life when such reasonable doubt may exist? How? Go to page 143 in Moore's 172-page order. Start reading. There, he addresses a written recantation from Dorothy Ferrell, a guest at the Thunderbird Motel. That's right across Oglethorpe Avenue from the Burger King/bus depot parking lot where MacPhail was murdered. During Davis' trial, Ferrell's testimony was used to show that the shooter wore a white shirt and to directly identify Davis as a gunman. But more recently, at least on paper, Ferrell claims she never saw who shot the officer. Ferrell had no obvious connection to Davis. That made her the proverbial "star witness," in the judge's words. But Davis' attorneys wouldn't play this potential "get out of prison free" card in Moore's courtroom this summer. She didn't speak. Why didn't they put her on the stand even though she was at the federal courthouse? Were Davis' lawyers afraid of what she might say? At the same time, Moore heard from witnesses who said Ferrell's testimony wasn't coerced. So who's more credible? That's an easy call - the person who's answering questions under oath, not the person who chooses to sit mutely outside. Executing an innocent man is never justified. But after watching Moore for years and after reading this ruling, I'll offer one more word on this case: Enough. Tom Barton is the editorial page editor of the Savannah Morning News. savannahnow.com/print/944797
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Post by Californian on Aug 25, 2010 21:41:30 GMT -6
Can we kill him now?
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Post by reapwysow on Aug 25, 2010 22:24:42 GMT -6
When I pass by him in hell , I'll use my last bit of saliva to spit on him.
Of course I may beat him there if GA doesn't stop being stupid.
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Post by Potassium_Pixie on Sept 11, 2010 22:37:47 GMT -6
When I pass by him in hell , I'll use my last bit of saliva to spit on him. Of course I may beat him there if GA doesn't stop being stupid. And why do you think that you are going to hell? Hell is only for scumbag murderers.
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Post by SubSurfCPO(ret) on Sept 11, 2010 22:45:24 GMT -6
When I pass by him in hell , I'll use my last bit of saliva to spit on him. Of course I may beat him there if GA doesn't stop being stupid. And why do you think that you are going to hell? Hell is only for scumbag murderers. Oh no, it is not only for those people young one. Some of us feel that even though we have led good lives, for the most part, that there are some actions for which we cannot forgive ourselves and therefore we must pay the ultimate price. It may have nothing to do with murder. Even good people feel that a life well spent may not undo some past indiscretions. There are also some of us that have walked a narrow line, but have no doubt about where we will spent eternity. We will joke about it nonetheless. Things are clearer and at the same time foggy with age, experience and wisdom.
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