[Ppnews] Troy Davis gets last-minute execution reprieve

[Political Prisoner News]

Ga. cop killer gets last-minute execution reprieve

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jhQApEoEL-uLsrCXRQzPN5FmpNXgD93CMF5G0

By GREG BLUESTEIN – 36 minutes ago

ATLANTA (AP) ­ The U.S. Supreme Court gave a 
reprieve to a Georgia inmate less than two hours 
before he was to be executed Tuesday for the 1989 
slaying of an off-duty police officer.

Supporters of 39-year-old Troy Davis have called 
for a new trial as seven of the nine witnesses 
who helped put him on death row 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." 
A crowd of about 50 erupted in cheers when the 
stay, granted around 5:20 p.m., was announced.

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.

The stay will remain in effect while the court 
considers Davis' appeal. Davis wants the high 
court to order a judge to hear from the witnesses 
who recanted their testimony and others who say 
another man confessed to the crime.

Influential advocates, including former President 
Jimmy Carter and South Africa Archbishop Desmond 
Tutu, insist that there's enough doubt about his guilt to merit a new trial.

A divided Georgia Supreme Court has twice 
rejected his request for a new trial, and had 
rejected his appeal to delay the execution Monday 
afternoon. The Georgia Board of Pardons and 
Paroles also turned down his bid for clemency.

Davis was convicted of the murder of 27-year-old 
officer Mark MacPhail, who was working off-duty 
as a security guard at a bus station.

MacPhail had rushed to help a homeless man who 
had been pistol-whipped at a nearby parking lot, 
and was shot twice when he approached Davis and two other men.

Witnesses identified Davis as the shooter, and at 
the 1991 trial, prosecutors said he wore a "smirk 
on his face" as he fired the gun.

But Davis' lawyers say new evidence proves their 
client was a victim of mistaken identity. Besides 
those who have recanted their testimony, three 
others who did not testify have said Sylvester 
"Red" Coles ­ who testified against Davis at his 
trial ­ confessed to the killing.

Coles refused to talk about the case when 
contacted by The Associated Press during a 2007 
Chatham County court appearance and has no listed phone number.

Prosecutors have contended in court hearings the 
case is closed. They also say some of the witness 
affidavits simply repeat what a trial jury has 
already heard, while others are irrelevant 
because they come from witnesses who never testified.

Meanwhile, a man was set to be executed Tuesday 
in Florida barring a last-minute intervention by 
the U.S. Supreme Court. Richard "Ric Ric" 
Henyard, 34, was convicted of the 1993 shooting 
deaths of two sisters ­ 7-year-old Jamilya Lewis and Jasmine Lewis, 3.

Their mother, Dorothy Lewis, survived after she 
was raped and shot several times during a 
carjacking. Both girls, with their mother when 
they were seized by Henyard and an accomplice, 
were shot in the head when they cried out for her.




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