Should we Execute Troy Davis on Sept 21st 2011 Despite no Physical Evidence Against him ?

Challenging the death sentence to be carried out against Troy Davis by the state of Georgia on 21 September is important, becuase is it ever right to execute anyone without any physical evidence against them and a witnesses case which has completely fallen apart because of "Judicial rules" having been adhered to ?
Just because a group of people say it was you, does that really mean it was you ?

Studies showed that witnesses often identified the wrong person from the photos (in one study, almost half the time) and that police interviewing techniques often hampered information gathering.
www.apa.org...


The only chance he has left is hoping that enough people ask the Georgia, USA Board of pardons and paroles to provide Clemency by Sept 19th 2011 and that is enough to persuade them to prevent Troy Davis, victim of judicial lynching from being killed.

Davis has been on Georgia's death row for close to 20 years, after being convicted of killing off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah. Since his conviction, seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted their testimony, alleging police coercion and intimidation in obtaining the testimony. There is no physical evidence linking Davis to the murder.

Last March, the US supreme court ruled that Davis should receive an evidentiary hearing, to make his case for innocence. Several witnesses have identified one of the remaining witnesses who has not recanted, Sylvester "Redd" Coles, as the shooter. US District Judge William T Moore Jr refused, on a technicality, to allow the testimony of witnesses who claimed that, after Davis had been convicted, Coles admitted to shooting MacPhail. In his August court order, Moore summarised, "Mr Davis is not innocent."

One of the jurors, Brenda Forrest, disagrees. She told CNN in 2009, recalling the trial of Davis, "All of the witnesses – they were able to ID him as the person who actually did it." Since the seven witnesses recanted, she says: "If I knew then what I know now, Troy Davis would not be on death row. The verdict would be not guilty."

www.guardian.co.uk...

ATLANTA, Sept. 12, 2011, 5:300 p.m. - Reps. John Lewis (GA-05) and Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) sent a letter today signed by more than 50 other members of Congress to the Georgia State Board of Pardons & Paroles, urging a stay of execution for death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis and clemency in the form of a life sentence.
Prayer vigils in Atlanta have been planned for September 19th, the date of Davis’s clemency hearing, as well as a march from Woodruff Park to Ebenezer Baptist Church during the same week. The clemency hearing is the final appeal remaining in the case. www.reddingnewsreview.com...

Tens of thousands of siguatures,from Georgians, were collected by Amnesty International USA (google for their web site) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and other groups in a last minute effort to halt the scheduled execution.

savannahnow.com...

Correction: no physical evidence against him presented at trial.

Police obtained a pair of bloody shorts from Davis' home that he had been seen wearing the night of the shooting that were laundered to remove any evidence (cant get rid of the blood stains though). The police didnt obtain a proper search warrant for Davis mother's home, where the shorts were found, and it was excluded from court. This evidence was presented at one of his appeals however and was very damaging to his case.

I dont know enough to say with certainty that Davis is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but there is a significant amount of evidence, some not presented at trial, that he did it. Eyewitness testimony tends to be more accurate the quicker it is taken.

Everyone is so quick to want a free country back, but on all the main issues, that are intrinsically important to their Freedom and a Just system, they back stab, have strong opinions without any proof, and rarely get together to stop injustices or block the sell off of their freedoms.

This is such a case.

Stand up for each other.

Whether a criminal pulls a trigger or a state flips a switch or gives an injection - murder is murder. The death penalty is an asinine, hypocritical punishment. It puts us on the same level as the murderer. Besides that, just one wrongfully executed person is too many - and there's been people wrongfully executed.

if there is evidence that does prove the man guilty, then i can see why he should get punished... while i am against the death sentence i believe that if a man is guilty of a crime, he should be processed for that crime.

now... if there is no evidence, then obviously he must not be charged at all. innocent until proven guilty.

Well let's refer to why every properly-developed country has abolished the archaic crap.

Why the death penalty doesn't work:

-The truly guilty are often not tried properly because someone on the jury is "against the death penalty".

-Partisan maniacs want to kill anyone over any proposed "sin" that comes up regardless of the evidence so long as it's been hyped up enough. Refer to the Tea Party Republican debate and/or the Casey Anthony case for more info.

-What if new technology comes out that proves them innocent? Which of your loved ones would have to die for no reason for you to be against it? Who do you blame for the mistake? Are they criminally negligent enough to get the death penalty now?

-The system costs too much. It's often cheaper for them to serve in prison for the rest of their natural lives.

-Two wrongs don't make a right.

Americas justice system is anything but just. A D.A.s office is not intrested in truth and justice. Promotions , raises and bonuses are given out with conviction numbers. Judges work for the D.A.s offices. Judges rule according to the D.A.s recomendations.
So no D.A. or judge is going to admit to an error on a previous conviction because that would be admitting that they were wrong and people would start questioning the system..
It is much easier to kill an innocent man and bury the mistake than to appear to soft on crime, some one must be punished guilty or not, It gives the public a secure feeling.