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Marc Morial is the president of the National
Urban League and past two-term Mayor of New Orleans. He is a Columnist
for MaximsNews.com |
NUL: GEORGIA
DEATH ROW INMATE CASE UNDERSCORES NEED TO REMAIN VIGILANT WHEN IT COMES TO
U.S. JUSTICE SYSTEM: 12/10/2007 (MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 12 October 2007 -- Back
in July, not too long after Mychal Bell, a member of the Jena 6, was tried
wrongly as an adult for aggravated battery in the alleged attack of a white
classmate, there was another case of southern justice gone awry percolating
under the radar in Savannah, Ga.
It was that of 39-year-old Troy Anthony Davis, a death row prisoner for the past
15 years, who was convicted of murdering a white police officer -- his case
built entirely upon what was most likely coerced eyewitness testimony with no
physical or DNA evidence or a murder weapon.
He was just 24 hours away from a lethal injection when the state's Board of
Pardons and Paroles granted him a temporary stay in light of seven of nine
non-police witnesses recanting their original testimony.
Next month, the state's Supreme Court will decide whether to grant Davis a new
trial in light of these new developments.
Martina
Davis-Correia, his sister, and representatives of Amnesty International,
recently met with me at the National Urban League's headquarters in New York
City.
Her
brother's story made me realize just how imperfect our nation's
justice system - at least in the South - is.
Many of the original witnesses were very young and had criminal
histories, Davis-Correia told me. They felt intimidated by local law
enforcement authorities and worried about their own fate.
One
witness, a police snitch, now says law enforcement authorities paid him to lie
on several occasions.
Shortly after Davis landed on death row, the Georgia Resource Center - which
defended death row inmates - took a huge hit in funding at a crucial time for
his case. He had no attorney and couldn't depend on the state to help him
out.
As
witnesses began to recant, there was no one to take their new testimony
down.
After
all the new information emerged, the courts told Davis there was nothing he
could do.
Evidence
of police coercion had not been raised during the original trial so his petition
to introduce new evidence was denied by a state court.
The
state Supreme Court and 11th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals concurred with the
lower court's decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Davis'
case.
How
an innocent man could still be executed because of a legal
technicality is beyond my comprehension.
It
defies logic and any conceptof fairness and justice.
The outpouring of support for her brother's cause has given
Davis-Correia and Amnesty International, which is lending legal support, hope
that justice will finally be done.
But
Davis' case is yet another reminder of why Americans of all colors must remain
vigilant in ensuring the integrity of our justice system.
We
can't take anything for granted obviously.
"Troy's case has really exposed the death penalty in the South: the racism,
the recantation, the coercion; the witnesses, how they were treated, no physical
evidence, no DNA, no gun," his sister recently told Democracy Now.
"In
November, I'm prayerful that with all the attention
and things going on and the truth, that the courts will come in and do what's
right and give Troy a new trial.
That's
all he's ever asked for, for the witnesses to be able to tell the truth without
duress."
On his part, Davis seems to be using his ordeal as a wake-up call to help other
African-Americans protect themselves from similar plights.
"My situation is a situation that should have never happened. But
together, if we pull together as a people, I'll be coming home.
And
when I come home, we can bring more brothers and sisters out, bring them home,
gather them together, and as one people, we can make a change in this wicked
world," Davis told Naji Mujahid, a reporter with Free Speech Radio News and
D.C. Radio Co-op in a July interview.
Let's just hope the Georgia Supreme Court next month will make the right
decision and pave the way to sending him home soon.
By Marc H. Morial
President and CEO
National Urban League
Labels: United
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