Should This Man Die?

[AiA in Atlanta]

There is a man on death row here in Georgia (where I am living) who allegedly killed a policeman. 7 of the 9 witnesses have recanted their testimony and one of the other witnesses has been said to have confessed to the murder, yet this man will die.

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court cleared the way Tuesday for a Georgia man to be put to death for killing a police officer, two weeks after it halted his execution to consider his appeal.

In a case that attracted involvement by such luminaries as former President Carter and South Africa Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the man, Troy Davis, had asked the high court to intervene in his case and order a new trial because seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted their testimony.

The justices granted Davis, 39, a reprieve on Sept. 23, less than two hours before his scheduled execution. But they declined Tuesday to give his appeal a full-blown hearing.

The court's stay of execution also expired with the appeal's denial, allowing Georgia to set a new date for Davis' execution.

Davis was convicted of killing off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. At his trial in 1991, prosecutors said Davis approached McPhail with a "smirk on his face" and shot and killed the 27-year-old officer who was moonlighting as a security guard at a bus station in Savannah.

But seven witnesses who helped put Davis on death row have since recanted their statements. Three other people have said one of the witnesses who testified at Davis' trial later confessed to killing the officer.


Amid the concerns, Georgia's pardons board postponed Davis' execution in July 2007, less than 24 hours before it was to be carried out.

A divided Georgia Supreme Court twice rejected his request for a new trial, and the pardons board turned down his bid for clemency last month after considering the case again.

[Rainbow Moonlight]

Not from the death penalty for this crime.

[freediver]

Isn't there another thread with the exact same title?

[AiA in Atlanta]

Isn't there another thread with the exact same title?

Same title, different convict. Why fuss over thread titles yet let your moderator harass members with impunity?

[boxy]

No man should die at the hand of the state, unless they're at war.

Asking if this guy is guilty or not is another question, though. I dunno.

[Hebe]

No. But of course he will because it's easier. And what does a smirk on his face have to do with anything?

[boxy]

And what does a smirk on his face have to do with anything?

We like our killers emotionless, of course...

[cynik]

"No man should die at the hand of the state, unless they're at war."

The state has hands? What is a state, anyway?

How many folks need to get together and decide to dictate their will in a given geographic area before a tribe of bandits becomes a state?

By the way, it is not so good to be back. I note that the election thread is pretty much a carbon copy of previous incarnations, with the absence of my good self trying to inject a dose of financial reality and order.

What is the news, smokers?

Entertain me. Tell me something that interests me. Cause this forum is just as boring as hell, as far as I can see.

[xbz]

I do not believe in the death penalty (except for my neighbours and numerous other people who give me the shits in my day to day life but its just a mind thing in my mind a bring out my AK47 and blow their heads off)

[Jovial Monk]

Violence just begets more violence.

So, not in favor of death penalty.

Except for spammers!