Day of Action for Troy Davis

On Tuesday, May 19, in solidarity with Amnesty International’s Global Day of Action for Troy Davis, Rochester’s Judicial Process Commission sponsored a noontime vigil on Exchange Street in front of the Hall of Justice. Approximately thirty people gathered with signs and t-shirts that denounce the inhumanity of the Death Penalty and call for justice for one Georgia Death Row prisoner in particular, Troy Davis. High school and college students, long-time human rights activists, and concerned citizens were present and for twenty minutes in downtown Rochester, they stood with demonstrators from around the world that included 43 states and five continents to say Justice Matters for this innocent man.

Who is Troy Davis? In 1989, a young, white police officer named Mark MacPhail was murdered in front of a Burger King in Savannah, Georgia. This tragic crime set off an unstoppable manhunt for the killer. Sylvester Coles, who was present at the scene of the crime, went to police and accused a twenty year-old African-American man named Troy Davis. Without even questioning Mr. Coles, Troy was arrested. A highly-charged trial followed and Troy was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. There has never been any evidence connecting him to the murder. No murder weapon has ever been found. The prosecution based it case solely on nine “eye-witness” testimonies. Seven of those nine witnesses have recanted, mostly citing police intimidation. One other witness changed his testimony, and the one who will not recant is Sylvester Coles, who nine other people have implicated is the real killer.

Troy Davis arrived on Georgia’s Death Row on September 13, 1991. Since that time he and his family have fought endlessly to have the evidence of his innocence presented in a court of law. Every appeal filed by his attorneys has been turned down, not based on merit of the evidence but on legal technicalities. He has faced three execution dates in the last two years, each with last minute temporary reprieves. On April 16, 2009 the 11th Circuit Court denied his appeal for a new trial by a 2 to 1 vote, which makes way for the very real possibility of a fourth execution date to be set any day.

The dissenting Judge Rosemary Barkett stated, “To execute Davis, in the face of a significant amount of proffered evidence that may establish his actual innocence is unconscionable and unconstitutional.” On May 20, twenty-seven former judges and prosecutors filed a brief with Troy’s appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to avoid execution. They have said to execute him without hearing his claims of innocence would be unconstitutional.

Why is the case of Troy Davis so important? Because it represents all that is wrong and broken with the Death Penalty in America: racism, inadequate legal representation, unequal treatment under the law, the harshest of punishments that targets the poor and disenfranchised, the unreliability of eye-witness testimony, and police misconduct. Troy Davis represents so many of America’s two million incarcerated citizens, especially those on Death Row who have been killed without the opportunity to prove their innocence. By standing up for Troy Davis we stand up for all innocent prisoners who have no voice.

Many of the shirts worn by demonstrators on May 19 stated “I AM TROY DAVIS.” It is the message to Chatham County, to the State of Georgia and to the U.S. Supreme Court declaring that any injustice inflicted upon Troy Davis is injustice inflicted upon all of us.

Rosanne Fabi

For more information on this case visit: troyanthonydavis.org
Amnestyusa.org/troydavis