By Dennis J. Freeman
There are so many doubts surrounding the execution of Troy Davis. There are many unanswered questions about his capital murder case that continues to swirl in clouds of uncertainty. A circumvented criminal justice system that has been historically biased against black Americans, have now shown it is officially broken with its inept ruling to deny Davis his freedom.
The U. S. Supreme Court failed to keep its eyes on the prize when it denied Davis a last-minute reprieve, despite granting him a stay of execution in 2008. After surviving three execution dates, Davis, who maintained his innocence all the way up to right before he was to die, would not be allowed to make it through a fourth.
In the eyes of people in this country and around the world, America’s criminal justice system has been found guilty on gross human rights violations following the execution of the 42-year-old Davis. Davis, accused of killing police officer Mark MacPhail, was legally put to death by the state of Georgia, despite pleas from human rights organizations, celebrity supporters, elected officials and dignitaries questioning the clouds of doubts surrounding his case.
Those doubts arose when seven of the nine witnesses that testified against Davis at his 1991 murder trial, recanted their testimonies that he was the person who shot and killed MacPhail. The state of Georgia, apparently, didn’t give a hoot one way or another about those witnesses coming clean about their testimonies. Come hell or high water they were going to put Davis to death.
And this set off a lot of people. Former President Jimmy Carter was among those folks calling for Davis to be granted clemency. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pope Benedict XVI also pledged their support for Davis. Apparently that didn’t mean squat to the people that run Georgia’s criminal justice system.
That’s pretty unsettling for the people at Amnesty International AIUSA, which condemned Davis’ execution. The global human rights organization called for the death penalty to be eradicated.
“The U.S. justice system was shaken to its core as Georgia executed a person who may well be innocent,” said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International AIUSA. “Killing a man under this enormous cloud of doubt is horrific and amounts to a catastrophic failure of the justice system. While many courts examined this case, the march to the death chamber only slowed, but never stopped.
“Justice may be blind; but in this case, the justice system was blind to the facts. The state of Georgia has proven that the death penalty is too great a power to give to the government. Human institutions are prone to bias and error and cannot be entrusted with this God-like power. The death penalty is a human rights violation whether given to the guilty or the innocent, and it must be abolished.”
Amnesty International weren’t the only ones denouncing the killing of Davis. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has been in this fight for a long time, trying to get Davis’ conviction overturned. NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous was quite frank about the execution, sending out his thoughts in a stated newsletter.
In excerpts from that letter, which appears on the NAACP’s website, Jealous speaks directly about Davis’ execution.
“The State of Georgia has killed an innocent man,” Jealous stated. “Troy’s execution, the exceptional unfairness of it, will only hasten the end of the death penalty in the United States. The world will remember the name of Troy Anthony Davis. In death he will live on as a symbol of a broken justice system that kills an innocent man while a murderer walks free.”
Jealous went on to say that globally, Davis’ death will be entrenched in the minds of the rest of the world.
“The world will remember Troy’s name, as the death penalty supporters who expressed doubt in this case begin to doubt an entire system that can execute a man amidst so many unanswered questions,” Jealous said. “The world will remember Troy’s name, as death penalty opponents who remained silent in the past realize that their silence is no longer an option.
“The world will remember Troy’s name because we will commemorate September 21st each year as both a solemn anniversary and a call to action. The night they put Troy Davis to death will become an annual reminder that justice will not be achieved until we end this brutal practice of capital punishment.”
What is hauntingly disturbing about the push to kill Davis is that he was solely convicted on eyewitness testimony. There was no physical evidence presented by prosecutors that directly linked Davis to the crime. No weapon, no DNA linkage, no matching ballistics. What this case also shows is the race factor. You have a white police officer being shot and killed in cold blood by a black man.
The problem is the black man the state of Georgia put to death could very well be an innocent man. Even as he lay strapped down to a gurney, inhaling his last breaths, Davis managed to tell the MacPhail family he was innocent of the crime that sent him to death row, according to the Associated Press, who had a reporter present at the execution.
“I’d like to address the MacPhail family,” said Davis, according to the AP report. “Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I’m not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask … is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls.”
Cox said the heightened attention brought on by Davis’ plight will encourage Amnesty International AIUSA and others to continue the fight to end the inhumane practice of death penalty executions.
“Our hearts are heavy, but we have not lost our spirit of defiance,” said Cox. “Millions of people around the world now know of Troy Davis and see the fallibility of the U.S. justice system. As this case has captured the American conscience and increased opposition to the death penalty, Amnesty International will build on this momentum to end this unjust practice.”
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Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com
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The death penalty should be abolished.