At 6:00 PM CDST this evening, Troy Anthony Davis will die for a crime that he likely did not commit.
All of the arguments are over. All of the pleas have been dismissed. All of the evidence has been filed away. Tee shirts and signs and editorials will focus on a new issue, a new problem, tomorrow. The world will forget about Troy Davis. Few will remember him after today.
Well, some may remember, quite vividly. The seven ‘witnesses’ that testified against Davis that later recanted their testimony may remember him. The police department and prosecutor might think about him now and then. The family of the slain police officer may wonder if they executed the right man.
Redd Coles may think about Troy Davis. Coles was there the night the officer was killed and several eye witnesses say that it was Coles that did the shooting. Coles testified that it was Davis that fired the fatal shots. Coles is one of the two ‘witnesses’ that has yet to recant his testimony. Troy Davis never owned a gun, but Redd Coles did. It was the same caliber of the gun that killed Officer MacPhail.
No murder weapon was ever found. No DNA evidence ever linked Troy Davis to the slain officer. There was no forensic evidence presented at the trial. All that the prosecution had was eye witness accounts, but that was enough to secure a conviction for capital murder against Troy Davis. And now, Troy Davis will die.
And so it is with justice in America. The Right Wing cheers the Texas Governor that brags of executing 234 inmates during his tenure in the Statehouse. Opinion pages are filled with comments from death penalty supporters that claim that Davis has had enough time to prove his innocence. All of the standard arguments for capital punishment have been discussed, refuted and discussed again. It’s all over now. The proper authorities have spoken clearly – Troy Anthony Davis must die.
William Stephenson Clark
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
There’s definitely inequality in our ‘justice’ system.
Justice is for sale at times, reasonable doubt sets some free, possession of crack cocaine has harsher sentencing guidelines than the more expensive refined cocaine those who can afford it may possess…
And where in all this mumbo jumbo of inconsistencies does value of human life fall? Does it fall in the same place as valuing life only before it leaves the birth canal? Once a person is born they better have chosen their parents well enough to ensure they are fed…
This is such a travesty. I’ve signed petitions, hoping such efforts might help in some small way, but even those national campaigns to gain attention for Troy Davis have fallen on deaf ears. Eye witness testimony is extremely fallible, and in this case witnesses have already recanted their prior testimony. Do the prosecutors have such an overwhelming need to be right, that they remain blinded by the inconsistencies in this case, or are they consciously ignoring this man’s right to life and liberty?
Another travesty occurring right now is the major news network blackout of the http://www.occupywallstreet.com protest in NYC. Even Yahoo.com has admitted to blocking emails about this event. The numbers of peaceful protestors ebb and flow between 200-1000 depending upon the internet sources you are using to try to stay abreast of their activities. This event was being filmed at http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution, but police have created multiple silly requirements of the group to create excuses to arrest them, such as don’t touch the benches or trees, and not being able to cover equipment or people with tarps as shelter. Right now they need gasoline for their generator and replacement cameras and batteries to resume filming. People from all over have called local eateries to provide food and beverages for the protestors.
When those in power, no longer represent the best interests of the masses, people take to the street. Corporate interests have control of our food, our water, and our news. Support those who stand up for your rights, through emails, phone calls, letters to the editor, or even getting out to protest yourself. Hoping someone else will create the change you want, will only allow the nightmare to continue. We each need to stand up in whatever way we can, because each of us is a part of the key to effecting change.
The US needs a rebellion like the first one and like those occuring in the middle east. Our democracy was adopted as a peaceful rebellion; a substitute for civil war. And this democracy does not work because of corruption; the same thing that precipitates the rebellions in the other parts of the world. US citizens are still fooled into believeing voting works. Each day it becomes more clear that we US citizens have been fooled, over and over, election after election. Our nation is as corrupt and unresponsive to citizen welfare as any in the world today. Rebel!
It’s just sad when those who have the power to do what’s necessary refuse to listen.
I have not been following this case – but I do have one question. What happened to Redd Coles?
From what I have found, Sylvester “Redd” Coles is alive and free. The other witnesses that did not recant, Darrell (?) Collins, is in prison on unrelated charges and refuses to be interviewed. Nine witnesses have names Coles as the shooter.
Thanks for the info. As I said before, I have not been following this case but if there is this much question as to his guilt, then how will executing him allow the truth to come out?
I am not death penalty supporter because I truly believe if God wanted the death penalty, then he would have executed Cain when he killed his brother Abel.
But another reason is simply economic. We tend to spend millions on the express purpose to execute one person in America.
But we cannot seem to find an extra dollar for investing in America’s future?
The world has truly been turned upside down. Especially when a group of Republicans applaud a governor bragging about 234 executions. And then a few short weeks later, Republicans yell out for an uninsured man in a coma to die.
And this is the party that claims to be pro-life???
my heart goes out to him and his family.
Mine goes to the family of the slain officer
Mine goes to both families.
If anyone remember Republican Bob Barr from Georgia? He was on MSNBC tonight and even this guy, who is a staunch death penalty supporter, said that this case warrants another look.
There were also several Death Row Wardens who sent a letter to the Georgia Board about this case.
With this many doubts about this man’s guilt, maybe we should refrain from applauding the next time some GOP presidential candidate brags about being in charge when 234 executions have been done all in the name of justice.
My thoughts and prayers go out to both families, and to the many who mourn the premeditated killing of a human being.
Isn’t it strange the political party that wants small government, wants government to stay out of their business is the same one that applauds (literally!) the government department of justice and the prison system? Republicans don’t trust government, they say. Yet they trust this system which is government. They trust this system in life and death decisions.
Makes my head spin.
Hey, my head began spinning a long time ago. But when Evangelical Televangelist Pat Robertson justifies divorcing a spouse who is afflicted with Alzheimers and declares that person ‘the walking dead’ – anything is possible anymore.
Speaking of Pat…..I have not heard back from his organization regarding my last question if the walking death label also applied to spouses in a coma or those suffereing from severe mental disorders.
I’ll be sure to report back to class if I ever do hear from this guy again…
Well, the Supreme Court has chosen not to stay the execution and Troy will indeed die tonight.
It is sad to think that it is likely that an innocent man will die and the guilty man, who testified against him, is still free and living in the City of Savannah.
Our national thirst for blood is insatiable, even if it means that the wrong person is sheds the blood.
I heard on MSNBC that the request for a polygraph of Troy Davis was even turned down earlier.
One has to wonder how this case would have been handled differrently if the Troy was some fat cat from Wall Street?
Money does seem to play a heavy-handed role in who gets executed and who does not.
Sad, sad, sad.
There was another execution and this one was a white man in Texas who was convicted of dragging that black man , James Byrrd, behind a truck until his mangled body was in pieces.
Although there were witnesses that testifed they saw the victim in the truck, there was also DNA evidence of the victim’s blood on all 3 men who were eventually convicted.
And this is what is the difference between the Troy Davis case and this Texas guy’s case -DNA evidence placed him with the victim
As I understand the Davis case – there was no physical evidence of any kind, no DNA, no nothing – other than witnesses, who all but 2 out of 9 have recanted their testimony.
I have stated before – I do not support the death penalty. But at least this TExas guy was convicted with more than just witnesses testifying.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/21/lawrence-russell-brewer-executed_n_974926.html
If it is possible for something to be worse than the execution of Troy Davis, it is the comments made by some about the case and the execution. Even on MSNBC, the supposed liberal media, the overt racists and bloodthirsty thugs are screaming for a brutal death for Troy Davis. My faith in humanity is severely shaken.
Whenever I hear some Republican yammering on and on about how we need to defeat Muslims because they are an ungodly people because they have Sharia Law and cruel treatment of women.
I shake my head and say …….WTF…….
Especially when I hear a crowd applauding 234 executions, shouting out for an uninusred man to die and then some so-called fake Christian leader calling Alzheimers victims the walking dead.
What the Hell is happening to our country?
I complain often about women’s inequality. Truth is our country sucks at equality. Minorities still get the shaft, and of course, the biggest difference is net worth — if you have the bucks you can be treated with the dignity denied other human beings.
Thank you fellow bloggers at Triple Ps for being a respite on our journey. We all need a soft, safe place to fall occasionally.