TheLoop21.com

By: Michael E. Ross (Add to your loop)
Wed, 05/13/2009 - 00:00

The case of Troy Davis might end soon.

An international human rights organization announced plans for a global day of solidarity on behalf of a possibly wronged man — imprisoned not in Nepal or Myanmar, but right here in the United States — just four days after his stay of execution expires later this week.

The case of Troy Anthony Davis — a man from Georgia whose 1991 conviction in the killing of a police officer was based on circumstantial evidence — is gaining a slow but inexorable critical mass of attention.

And as the Nobel-winning Amnesty International ratchets up the pressure on state and federal officials to intervene in the matter, it's also raising public awareness of the case. It is the first potentially high-profile, bias-related death-penalty case of the Obama administration.

Davis remains on death row, and his 30-day stay, issued by the U.S. Court of Appeals 11th Circuit, expires this Friday, May 15. A global day of action is being planned for May 19th "all across the country and across the world," said Jared Seuer, a spokesman for Amnesty’s Southeastern U.S. office, based in Atlanta.

“We’re asking groups around the world to hold public rallies, demonstrations, vigils,” Seuer said. Amnesty International is also involved in an e-mail letter-writing campaign to Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue that has generated “well over 300,000” responses, he added.

“Basically we’re trying to produce as much political pressure as possible,” he told TheLoop21.com.

The story of Troy Davis

On April 16, the 11th Circuit Court rejected Davis' bid for a new trial in the August 1989 slaying of police Officer Mark MacPhail at a Burger King in Savannah, Ga. Voting 2-1, the court cited largely technical reasons for the rejection and extended Davis' stay of execution for 30 days to allow him to file a habeas corpus petition  — seeking release from unlawful imprisonment — with the U.S. Supreme Court.

The justices ruled that Davis could only gain a new hearing in federal district court if the court found that his petition “relies on a new rule of constitutional law, made retroactive to cases on collateral review by the Supreme Court,” or if it offered new facts in the case, previously unknown facts that would prove him innocent “by clear and convincing evidence.”

His conviction was based on circumstantial evidence and the gun used to kill the officer was never found. Since Davis’ trial, seven of the nine eyewitnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony, some alleging they were coerced by the police; one of the other witnesses has been implicated as the one who actually killed MacPhail. (Read our story about the lost potential with blacks in prison.)

As the days of decision dwindle down — some have speculated that Georgia could set a new execution date for June — count on the mainstream media to finally parachute in and update its long-ago early coverage of the Davis case.