Troy Davis supporters gather, say they still have hope

Supporters of Troy Davis gather for a Saturday event, saying the case is getting attention in the New York Times today

By JoAnn Merrigan
Published: May 23, 2009

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Supporters of convicted cop killer Troy Davis are gathering today in Savannah. They want to show support for Davis and the latest efforts by his attorneys to keep him from being executed.

Davis was convicted for the 1989 killing of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, who was murdered as he went to the aid of a homeless man who was being pistol-whipped.

Davis and his family continue to assert he's innocent and that there is no physical evidence in the case, and that many of the original witness in the trial have now recanted.

Saturday, supporters were given a boost. Bob Herbert of the New York Times has a column about the Davis case. Earlier this week, a group of 27 former judges and prosecutors, including the former director of the FBI William Sessions, joined in an amicus brief in support of a new petition by Davis's attorneys to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The brief asks that the Supreme Court intervene in the case because Davis can make a showing that new evidence in the case has not been reviewed.

At Saturday's event, Davis's sister Martina Correria said more people are joining their fight locally. Bishop Kevin Boland of the Catholic Diocese of Savannah says "when a person's life is at stake, there should be no doubt whatsoever."

The family of Mark MacPhail along with prosecutors in the case have told us in the past they don't buy the so-called witness "recantatations" and that the case has dragged on long enough. They say justice should be served.