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Your Black News: Troy Davis Set To Be Executed Oct. 27th
“All you have to do is remember two numbers, nine and seven; nine for the number of witnesses who originally testified against Troy Davis, and seven for the number who later recanted their testimony.” Those were the words of author and journalist Dave Zirin on Oct. 18 in Washington, D.C., where a crowd gathered to demand justice for death row inmate Troy Davis.
[...]
On Sept. 23, the date of Davis’ last scheduled execution, thousands around the world mobilized to demand that the U.S. Supreme Court hear his case, successfully forcing the court to grant a stay of execution. However, on Oct. 14, the court refused to hear his case outright and a Chatham County judge signed the execution warrant the next day. Davis’s execution has now been rescheduled for Oct. 27 [...]
Your Black World Headlines: 10/16/2008
Your Black News: United States Supreme Court Refuses Troy Davis Appeal
The United States Supreme Court today dismissed an appeal by Georgia death row inmate Troy A. Davis without comment.
Two weeks ago the nation’s highest court ordered a stay of execution only hours before Davis was to be killed by lethal injection for the alleged 1991 murder of a Savannah, Georgia police officer, Mark A. MacPhail.
Since his conviction in Georgia seven out of nine witnesses who testified against Davis have recanted their testimony, some claiming police coercion. Davis was convicted without a murder weapon and no physical evidence linking him to the killing.
World human rights leaders including former US President Jimmy Carter, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Pope Benedict XVI have decried the conviction and penalty in the Davis case.
MacPhail’s family has praised today’s Supreme Court’s decision saying justice will be served.
Others, many legal experts, scorned the decision as wrong-minded claiming that vengeance, not justice, would be served by executing a person whose conviction rests on doubtful accusations, faulty testimony, and a lack of material evidence.
Davis will likely be executed in the State of Georgia within days by lethal injection.
From Op-Ed News
Your Black News: Supreme Court Denies Mumia Abu Jamal’s Request For New Trial
The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal for a new trial for death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted in the 1981 killing of a Philadelphia police officer.
The justices did not comment on their action Monday, which leaves in place a federal appeals court ruling that upholds Abu-Jamal’s murder conviction, but orders a new sentencing hearing.
Officer Daniel Faulkner was shot to death after pulling over Abu-Jamal’s brother in an overnight traffic stop.
The case has drawn worldwide attention[...]
Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, has argued in numerous appeals that racism by the judge and prosecutors corrupted his 1982 conviction at the hands of a mostly white jury…
Your Black News: Execution Of Troy Davis Postponed For At Least, A Week
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a stay of execution for Troy Anthony Davis less than two hours before he was to be put to death by lethal injection.
Davis’ family and supporters, who for years have pressed for a new trial on claims Davis is innocent, broke into tears and song when they learned the high court had at least temporarily postponed the execution.
“I’ve been praying for this moment forever,” said Davis’s sister and most outspoken proponent, Martina Correia. Davis’ mother, Virginia Davis, said God had answered their prayers.
Just a few hours earlier, the mother and sister had given Davis what they thought could be their final good-byes at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson…
The U.S. Supreme Court’s justices are scheduled to meet Monday to decide whether to hear Davis’ appeal of a ruling issued by the Georgia Supreme Court in March. In that 4-3 decision, the state Supreme Court rejected Davis’ bid for a new trial or a court hearing to present new evidence.
In its order, the U.S. Supreme Court said if the justices decline to hear Davis’ case, “this stay shall terminate automatically.” If the court agrees to hear the case, the stay will remain in force until the high court issues its ultimate ruling, the order said.
The high court did not say when it would announce its decision whether to hear or deny Davis’ appeal.
Davis disclosed the news of his stay in a phone call to his sister and civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton.
“I truly feel blessed and I know we still have work to do,” Davis said, according to Sharpton. “With God, all things are possible.”
According to Sharpton, Davis said he had already recorded his last statement, as is customary for death-row inmates before they are to be executed…
More At The Atlanta Journal Constitution
NOTE: YourBlackWorld.com would be updating readers on this story as the night progresses.
Your Black **Breaking News**: Troy Davis Granted Stay Of Execution By Supreme Court
The U.S. Supreme Court has given a last-minute reprieve to a Georgia man less than two hours before he was to be executed for the 1989 slaying of an off-duty police officer.
Supporters of 39-year-old Troy Davis have called for a new trial as several witnesses have recanted their testimony. Protesters had arrived by the busload to protest the execution, carrying signs with slogans like “Justice for Troy Davis” and wearing blue T-shirts emblazoned with “I am Troy Davis.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton had accompanied members of Davis’ family to the protest, including Davis’ mother, Virginia.
Prosecutors have labeled the witness statements “suspect,” and courts had previously refused requests for a new trial.
The execution had been scheduled for 7 p.m. EDT.
NOTE: YourBlackWorld.com would be updating readers on this story as the night progresses.
Your Black News: Rep. John Lewis: “Race Is Everything” In Troy Davis Case
From Democracy Now!
Death row prisoner Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed tonight at 7:00 p.m. despite widespread concern Davis is an innocent man. In 1991, Davis was convicted for murdering a white police officer. Since then, seven of the nine non-police witnesses have recanted their testimony. There is no direct physical evidence tying Davis to the crime scene. We speak to Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) and Troy’s sister, Martina Correia:
REP. JOHN LEWIS: This is a very sad and grave day in the state of Georgia, in our nation and in the world. A man that could really be innocent—and all of the evidence tends to dramatize and quantify that this man may go to his death later today as an innocent human being. And when you commit that final decision and later discover that he is truly, truly innocent of the crime that he’s been accused of committing, there is not any way to bring him back. I just think it’s wrong and it’s unfair, and it will be the greatest miscarriage of justice.
The majority of the people that testified in this case have now recanted their testimony and their position. And I don’t quite understand how the system of justice in America and in the state of Georgia can come any way close to being fair to this one human being. For the state of Georgia and for our judicial system in America to stand by and see this man executed would be a barbaric act, as far as I’m concerned.
AMY GOODMAN: You are a civil rights leader. How does race play in here?
REP. JOHN LEWIS: Race is everything in this case. This is a case involving a young African American male and a white—young white male police officer. And the cards are stacked against this young black man. This has a long history. This is not something that just happened in the past few years, but have been a long history in the state of Georgia, and especially in the American South, of being so quick and so apt to electrocute or provide capital punishment for low-income people and for people of color.
NOTE: YourBlackWorld.com would be updating readers on this story as the night progresses.
Your Black Politics: Troy Davis Still Set For Execution
Despite thousands of letters and phone calls and international outrage, Troy’s execution is set for 7:00 p.m. today.
He is totally innocent of any crime.
On Monday, Sept. 22, advocates for Troy Davis kept up the fight to stop his pending execution set for 7pm, Tuesday, Sept. 23. This case has garnered national and international attention.
A morning press conference called on the warden, prison guards, nurses and other medical personnel who will play a role in Troy’s death to refuse to take the life of an innocent man.
People occupied the Governor’s Office for most of the day, demanding a meeting with Governor Sonny Perdue. Two men, Rev. Marvin Morgan and Steve Woodhall were arrested when they refused to leave without seeing him.
Another delegation attempted to deliver a letter to State Attorney General Thurbert Baker, detailing the numerous witness statements of police coercion and intimidation committed by members of the Savannah police department and demanding an investigation. His staff not only refused to accept the letter, the group’s members were”banished” from coming onto the Capitol grounds for two weeks.
Shortly after the news conference, the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board re-issued a statement saying it would not grant clemency to Davis…
NOTE: YourBlackWorld.com would be updating readers on this story as the night progresses.
Your Black News: Your Black World Speaks With Martina Correia, Older Sister Of Troy Davis
Interview with older sister of Death Row Inmate, Troy Davis, by Tolu Olorunda.
If it was up to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Department and the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, Troy Davis would, at this moment, be an after-thought. As a matter of fact, he would have been executed as early as July 17, 2007. But due to the effervescent work of the international coalition of supporters, family and friends, who insist his innocence, Troy Davis is still believed to have a fighting chance at not only clemency, but exoneration. Since his conviction in 1991, Davis has remained on Georgia’s Death Row. The case of Troy Davis is one which has rallied international support and garnered national attention. None other than President Jimmy Carter and former Sen. Bob Barr are among that diverse group of supporters who seek clemency for Troy Davis. As Carter and Barr see it, “proper level of fairness and accuracy required for the ultimate punishment has not been met in Davis’ case.” Troy Davis is also fortunate to have a sister such as Martina Correia. Martina, a cancer survivor, has worked tirelessly, night and day, for the opportunity to witness, someday, her brother walk free again. I had the honor of speaking with Martina on the case of her brother, which, as she describes it, “is transcending across continent-lines.”
Thanks for being with us, Martina. Can you start by telling us – what you can – about Troy Davis — before the incident in 1989?
Before the incident, Troy was a young junior coach for the police athletic league; he did things in the community, always helping out little kids and people that had problems. If there was any problem, he would try to solve it. He used to line up the kids in his league, and buy them Ice-Cream and other snacks. But Troy spent most of his time at home, because I had a sister who was paralyzed from the neck-down, and Troy went to night school and worked. When my mother was working during the day, Troy took care of my sister. When he worked, he pretty much gave my mom his entire paycheck – eating hotdogs and soda for lunch. That’s the kind of person that he was.
What was it that took place on that fateful day in 1989?
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