Word: ‘Unconscionable and unconstitutional’
Troy Davis’ request for a new trial is denied — again.
Despite key witnesses recanting their testimony, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 16 rejected longtime death row inmate Troy Davis’ request for a new trial — the latest and possibly last in a lengthy series of appeals.
“Davis has not presented us with a showing of innocence so compelling that we would be obligated to act today.”
— Judges Joel Dubina and Stanley Marcus, writing for the majority in their rejection of Davis’ request
“To execute Davis, in the face of a significant amount of proffered evidence that may establish his actual innocence, is unconscionable and unconstitutional.”
— Judge Rosemary Barkett, writing for the dissent
“I am disgusted, I am saddened by it, but I’m not deterred in my determination to fight for my brother.”
— Davis’ sister Martina Correia in an April 16 WTOCTV.com article
“We believe that justice will be served and the courts will do what they’ve done for the past twenty years and deny him.”
— Mark MacPhail Jr., the son of the police officer whom Davis was convicted of killing, quoted in the same WTOC-TV story
“You have to plan your own funeral: saying goodbye, your last meal, what to do with your body, who will be there to witness it.”
— Davis, describing his reaction to being read a death sentence in an April 14 conference call with his supporters, as reported in the Emory Wheel
(Photo courtesy Georgia Dept. of Corrections)