 On Monday August 18, 2009, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that condemned murderer Troy Anthony Davis should get another chance to prove he is innocent before the state executes him.
The court said an evidentiary hearing should be held to determine if Davis is not guilty of the murder of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail.
Davis was convicted for the 1989 death of Officer MacPhail, but seven out of nine eye witnesses, who named Davis as the shooter, have recanted their testimony.
Justice John Paul Stevens wrote the opinion for the majority, with Justices Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg concurring. Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented. It is unclear how Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Justice Samuel Alito voted or if any of them abstained.
Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm made a brief statement about the case, but a spokeswoman said Chisolm is very limited in what he can say, because, depending on the outcome of the hearing in federal court, the case could come back to Savannah for a new trial.
Chisolm said the ruling was not a shock. “I thought the court would look at it very seriously. I thought that they would either have oral argument or some other proceeding to really take a good look at this case,“ he said.
He also warned it will be some time before this case will be resolved.
“There’s an opportunity that the defendant can appeal once again or it could mean that the evidence suggests that the case be sent back to Savannah for trial,“ he said.
Davis has always maintained his innocence in the 1989 killing of Officer Mark MacPhail. Witnesses said Davis, then 19, and two others were harassing a homeless man in a Burger King restaurant parking lot when the off-duty officer arrived to help the man. Witnesses testified at trial that Davis then shot MacPhail twice and fled.
A jury only took afew hours to decide that Troy Davis was guilty because all the witnesses adamantly identified him but they were coerced by the police into making false statements. The DA's office never cared to question any witness who offered exculpatory evidence, obviously because they relied exclusively on testimony that was obtained through coercion.
Prominent figures ranging from the pope to the musical group Indigo Girls have asked Georgia to grant Davis a new trial. Other supporters include celebrities Susan Sarandon and Harry Belafonte; world leaders such as former President Jimmy Carter and former Archbishop Desmond Tutu; and former and current U.S. lawmakers Bob Barr, Carol Moseley Braun and John Lewis
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