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. It's not one of those death-penalty cases with a racy, tabloid edge. This may explain the MSM’s relative silence on this case, compared to the endless national coverage of Florida's Casey Anthony and Illinois' Drew Peterson murder cases.

But the outcome of the Davis case, or at least the outcome’s timing, may be complicated by the inclusion of Leah Ward Sears to the list of possible nominees to replace David Souter on the Supreme Court, as reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported this on May 1.

Sears is currently the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court and one of the justices who voted against Davis' execution. If she is being considered for the U.S. Supreme Court, it could snarl the state's case for a quick and antiseptic execution and has the potential to put the state of Georgia in an even more unfavorable national light vis-a-vis human rights and world opinion.

For Seuer of Amnesty International, it all points to an earthquake with three epicenters, all rumbling at the same time.

“The epicenter," he said, "is in Savannah where the courts are, in Atlanta with the governor and the board of parole, and the epicenter is in Washington, D.C., where the Attorney General, the Congress or the Supreme Court could step in and just change … everything.”

Michael E. Ross, a frequent Loop contributor, is a West Coast journalist who blogs frequently on politics, pop culture and race matters at Culchavox. He also writes for The Root and PopMatters.

Photo from Alecska at flickr.

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