Troy Davis makes his case to federal judge, claims he's innocent

Attorneys for Troy Davis presented their side in the long-awaited evidentiary hearing Wednesday at the federal courthouse in Savannah. 

Davis, who is on death row, is trying to prove he is an innocent man in an argument that has not been used before. Davis's lawyers argue he should not be executed because it would be unconstitutional to kill an innocent man. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ordered the evidentiary hearing.  Davis must prove to the court he is innocent through new evidence.

On Wednesday, the courtroom fell silent as Davis entered from a side door. Davis, dressed in a white, prison-issued shirt and pants with blue trim, smiled briefly at his mother before sitting down at the defense table.

His defense team says seven of nine eye witnesses at Davis's original trial in 1991 have recanted their testimony.  On Wednesday, they called four witnesses who had testified in 1991 and who told the court that Davis was not the killer.  They also called two witnesses who said that another man had confessed to them he was the one who killed Officer MacPhail.

Several of the original trial witnesses said they had felt intimidated by police to name Davis, and one said he had been beaten by police the night of the murder.

The first witness was Antoine Williams, who was at the murder scene that night back in August of 1989. Williams testified that he never saw who shot MacPhail that night. He said he had tint on his car windows and that it was dark. He said when he heard the shots, he ducked down and that he had never told police he could pick out the shooter. He told the court he could not read at the time and initialed statements police gave him. Williams said before the original trial the prosecutor told him to point out Davis.

"I was scared and felt it was my duty to say it," Williams said. "But I never knew in my own mind he [Troy Davis] really was the one who shot the officer."

The second witness, Kevin McQueen, testified he had lied years ago when he told police that Troy Davis had confessed to him at the Chatham County jail that he had shot MacPhail. McQueen said he had had a fight with Davis in the jail and wanted to get back at him.

When asked what he hoped to get out of testifying today, he replied, "Peace of mind I guess." On cross examination, the state pointed out that McQueen has been convicted of several crimes, including robbery and sexual battery.

The third witness, Jeffrey Sapp, said he lived in the Cloverdale neighborhood back in 1989 when police swarmed the area looking for Davis. Sapp said he was questioned and said he knew nothing about the crime. Later, Sapp said he was taken to police headquarters and questioned by four to five detectives who were "angry and upset" and who kept telling him "just say Troy did it."

Sapp said he told police what they wanted to hear, because he was afraid of being arrested for selling drugs.

Another witness, Darrell Collins, said much the same thing. Collins was 16 at the time of the crime and said he was with Davis the night a homeless man was beaten and Officer MacPhail was killed. Collins said he was questioned at police headquarters for several hours and that when his parents left the room, police threatened that he would be charged with accessory to murder if he didn't finger Davis.

"I told them what they wanted to hear," Collins told the court.

On cross examination, the state poked holes in Collins' story, pointing out that Collins said at the trial that he felt police had pressured him, but Collins also said it was Davis who had attacked the homeless man that night. 

It was the attack on the homeless man that prompted the police call which Officer MacPhail answered and which led to his death.

The state also pointed out that Collins had also told police he'd seen Davis with a gun several weeks before the killing of MacPhail. Collins denied ever saying that.  The state then read part of Collins's original statement to police in 1989 in which Collins said that Davis had told him he'd shot MacPhail and walked away but then went back "to finish the job" because MacPhail had seen Davis's face. 

Collins' statement said Davis had told him that he'd fired a shot into MacPhail's head.  Collins again denied saying that, and said he had been told by police over and over, "Just say Troy told you he did it."

Later two witnesses, Charles Hargrove and Benjamin Gordon testified that another man - Sylester "Red" Coles - had admitted to them he was the actual killer.  Hargrove told the court that Coles and he had been smoking marijuana shortly after the murder and the shooting came up.  Hargrove said, "Coles told me that Troy took the fall for him." 

On cross examination, Hargrove openly admitted to being arrested over and over.  He called himself a career criminal (he was brought from the Chatham County jail to testify Wednesday) and said he had not come forward at the time to provide the information because he was concerned about outstanding arrest warrants against him. 

However, Hargrove told the state prosecutor that he had nothing to gain by coming forward now and that he had never been approached by the Davis defense team like witnesses from the trial had, alluding to the fact he had not been approached because no one from the Davis team knew the information existed.

Hargrove told the court that in 2000, he wrote Troy Davis a letter in prison saying what Coles had confessed to him.  It was that letter that prompted the defense team to contact Hargrove. 

Benjamin Gordon testified that he did not really know Troy Davis and that Red Coles was married to a relative of his.  Gordon testified that on the night of MacPhail's killing, he had been out with friends and one, Michael Cooper, had been shot. 

His friends took Cooper to the hospital but later went and got some guns and went back to the party where Cooper was shot and fired at the house.  Gordon then said he went home but heard one of his friends was at the bus depot, possibly in trouble, so he went there. 

Gordon testified that as he approached the parking lot, he saw Red Coles firing a shot into a man on the ground.  He said he went home but that police began swarming his neighborhood.  He told the court that he had been attacked by two police officers as he sat on his front porch and was accused of being the killer. 

Gordon later testified that in 1996 Red Coles admitted to killing MacPhail saying, "I shouldn't have done it."  Gordon testified he told Coles he needed to do something, because a "man is on death row."   

On cross examination, the state also poked holes in Gordon's testimony. Yet Gordon told the state prosecutor, "I've been carrying this burden for a long time, and I just think the truth should be let out."

Judge William Moore told the Davis defense team that the testimony from both Hargrove and Gordon was hearsay and for purposes of the evidentiary hearing, he would allow it.  "However, I don't know how much weight it will carry," Judge Moore said.  The judge earlier had indicated to defense lawyers that if they "wanted to talk about Red Coles, they should have called Red Coles as a witness."

Later, the defense rested but indicated to the judge it may want to rebutt possible evidence the state may submit.  We're told the state plans to submit evidence obtained from a pair of Troy Davis's shorts, which were found after the murder in 1989. 

The shorts reportedly contain some type of blood or DNA evidence.  The shorts were deemed inadmissable in the 1989 trial because they had been obtained from Troy Davis's mothers home without a warrant.  But apparently for purposes of the evidentiary hearing, the judge may consider them just as he allowed the testimony on the confessions from Red Coles.

Through much of the testimony, the slain officer's mother Annaliese MacPhail sat silently. At several points, she grasped her face in her hands, including when Davis entered the room.

Davis is now 41 years old. He is bald with a beard and wearing glasses. He appears to have gained weight and looks much more like a middle-aged man than in earlier pictures.

Mark MacPhail was 27 when he was killed.  The hearing continues Thursday morning.