Local and national groups appeal to district attorney to re-open Troy Davis Case
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Troy Davis (left) of Savannah has been on death row for 18 years in connection with the 1989 death of police officer Mark MacPhail
A group is meeting this afternoon to formally call on Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm to investigate evidence suppporters say points to the innocence of Savannah death row prisoner Troy Davis.
Davis has been on death row for 18 years for the 1989 murder of Savannah police office Mark MacPhail.
Thursday the group gave petitions with about 4,700 signatures to Lydia Sermons of the Chatham County District Attorney’s office.. Supporters say in the light of new evidence, that Chisholm should give Davis a new trial.
Supporters say since his conviction, seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted or contradicted their original trial testimony. Thus far, Davis’s appeals have been denied and no court hearing has been ordered to examine what supporters say is new witness testimony.
Davis’s lawyers have filed a habeas petition before the US Supreme Court. The court may decide this month whether or not it will hear the case.
Meanwhile, supporters in Savannah are appealing to the new district attorney. “We elected Mr. Chisolm because we believed in his pledge to bring more fairness and transparency to the criminal justice system here in Chatham County,“ said Dr. Prince Jackson, Jr., President of the Chatham County branch of the NAACP. “We are asking him to investigate the case to ensure that an innocent man is not executed. That would not bring justice to this community.“
Sermons told that Chisolm has no plans to become involved in the Davis case until all other appeals have been exhausted. How3ever, Reverend Nelson B. Rivers, III, who came to Savannah to represent the National NAACP says Chisolm could re-open the case at any time. “He has the authority to put the brakes on and the time is now,“ he says.
“We believe a careful consideration of this new evidence is warranted, “ Rivers told me. “If Davis is put to death and then it’s determined he was innocent, it’s too late, a life has been lost. We urge the district attorney to review the case now.“
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