Posted October 22, 2007 to Politics | Section Home | Print

Georgia Death Row Inmate Case Underscores Need to Remain Vigilant When It Comes to U.S. Justice System

By Marc H. Morial

Back in July, not too long after Mychal Bell, a member of the Jena 6, was tried wrongly as an adult for aggravated battery in the alleged attack of a white classmate, there was another case of southern justice gone awry percolating under the radar in Savannah, Ga.

It was that of 39-year-old Troy Anthony Davis, a death row prisoner for the past 15 years, who was convicted of murdering a White police officer - his case built entirely upon what was most likely coerced eyewitness testimony with no physical or DNA evidence or a murder weapon.

He was just 24 hours away from a lethal injection when the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles granted him a temporary stay in light of seven of nine non-police witnesses recanting their original testimony.

Next month, the state's Supreme Court will decide whether to grant Davis a new trial in light of these new developments. Martina Davis-Correia, his sister, and representatives of Amnesty International, recently met with me at the National Urban League's headquarters in New York City.

Her brother's story made me realize just how imperfect our nation's justice system - at least in the South - is.

Many of the original witnesses were very young and had criminal histories, Davis-Correia told me. They felt intimidated by local law enforcement authorities and worried about their own fate. One witness, a police snitch, now says law enforcement authorities paid him to lie on several occasions.

Shortly after Davis landed on death row, the Georgia Resource Center - which defended death row inmates - took a huge hit in funding at a crucial time for his case. He had no attorney and couldn't depend on the state to help him out. As witnesses began to recant, there was no one to take their new testimony down.

After all the new information emerged, the courts told Davis there was nothing he could do. Evidence of police coercion had not been raised during the original trial so his petition to introduce new evidence was denied by a state court. The state Supreme Court and 11th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals concurred with the lower court's decision, and the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Davis' case. How an innocent man could still be executed because of a legal technicality is beyond my comprehension. It defies logic and any concept of fairness and justice.

The outpouring of support for her brother's cause has given Davis-Correia and Amnesty International, which is lending legal support, hope that justice will finally be done.

But Davis' case is yet another reminder of why Americans of all colors must remain vigilant in ensuring the integrity of our justice system. We can't take anything for granted obviously.

"Troy's case has really exposed the death penalty in the South: the racism, the recantation, the coercion; the witnesses, how they were treated, no physical evidence, no DNA, no gun," his sister recently told Democracy Now. "In November, I'm prayerful that with all the attention and things going on and the truth, that the courts will come in and do what's right and give Troy a new trial. That's all he's ever asked for, for the witnesses to be able to tell the truth without duress."

On his part, Davis seems to be using his ordeal as a wake-up call to help other African-Americans protect themselves from similar plights.

"My situation is a situation that should have never happened. But together, if we pull together as a people, I'll be coming home. And when I come home, we can bring more brothers and sisters out, bring them home, gather them together, and as one people, we can make a change in this wicked world," Davis told Naji Mujahid, a reporter with Free Speech Radio News and D.C. Radio Co-op in a July interview.

Let's just hope the Georgia Supreme Court next month will make the right decision and pave the way to sending him home soon.

Marc Morial is president of the National Urban League.