Vol. 72/No. 37      September 22, 2008

Martina Correia, Davis’s sister, told the Militant that the death warrant is for a date between September 23 and 30. “If the U.S. Supreme Court doesn’t grant a stay or if we don’t receive clemency, more than likely the prosecution will push for the earlier date,” she explained.

Troy Davis was arrested in 1989 for the murder of an off-duty policeman and convicted and sentenced to death in 1991. There was no weapon, DNA, or other physical evidence linking Davis to the killing. Seven of the nine witnesses that originally testified against Davis have since recanted or contradicted their statements, some citing threats and pressure from the cops to finger Davis. New witnesses have come forward who say someone else committed the murder.

The prosecutors requested the death warrant before the U.S. Supreme Court goes back in session at the beginning of October. Davis has appealed for the court to take up his case.

The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, signed into law by President William Clinton, has blocked Davis from getting a new trial. Correia explained that after his conviction Davis had no lawyer for five years because Georgia would not provide one for post-conviction appeals. “Troy was convicted in 1991, and the law didn’t become effective until 1996, but by being made retroactive 10 years, Troy’s case got caught up in it,” she said.

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, which has the power to grant clemency, has decided to review Davis’s case beginning September 12.

The same day the board announced Davis’s hearing, it decided not to hear an appeal from Jack Alderman, who, like Davis, is also sentenced to death in Chatham County. Alderman is scheduled to die on September 16.  
 
 
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