Amnesty International Media Release
For Immediate Release
Monday, March 28, 2011
Amnesty International Deeply Disappointed by Supreme Court’s
Decision Rejecting Troy Davis Appeal
Contact: AIUSA media relations office, 202-509-8194, or
Laura Moye, 202-675-8582
(Washington, D.C.) -- Laura Moye, Amnesty International USA (AIUSA)
death penalty abolition campaign director, issued the following
statement in response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision today
to reject Troy Davis’ appeal of the federal district court’s
ruling that Davis did not prove his innocence:
“Amnesty International is extremely disappointed that the
Supreme Court rejected Troy Davis’ appeal. It appears that the
justice system is comfortable allowing someone to be executed
when there are lingering doubts about guilt in the case. No
objective person could confidently determine that Davis is
guilty beyond a reasonable doubt from the evidence available now
in his case. That leaves an ominous cloud hanging over an
irreversible sentence such as the death penalty.
“Because there was no physical evidence linking Davis to the
murder, nor was there physical evidence exonerating him, the
case rested on a group of witnesses whose credibility was
readily accepted for conviction, but so easily rejected in the
appeals process.
“The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles, as the final
fail-safe, has the opportunity to commute his sentence to life
and prevent the possibility of executing an innocent person.”
For more information, please visit:
www.amnestyusa.org
P.O. Box 55196, Atlanta, GA 30308
www.GFADP.org
GFADP@yahoo.com
Press Release
Contact: Kathryn Hamoudah
404.688.1202 or
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
404.819.4233
March 28, 2011
Georgians Say There is No Room for Doubt in Troy Davis Case
Atlanta - Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (GFADP),
Georgia’s statewide coalition of organizations and individuals
opposed to the death penalty, condemns the decision by the
United States Supreme Court to deny relief for Troy Anthony
Davis even though grave doubts permeate the case.
“The case of Troy Davis exemplifies all that is wrong with
Georgia’s death penalty system, of grave concern is the real
threat of executing an innocent person, “said, GFADP Board
Chair, Kathryn Hamoudah. “Proceeding with the execution of Troy
Davis would be callous, careless and irreversible. The state
should slow down to address the well-documented, serious
problems with a system that irreversibly takes human life,
rather than rush to carry out an execution of a possibly
innocent man.”
No physical evidence ties Mr. Davis to the crime and a weapon
was never found. He was convicted solely on the basis of faulty
eyewitness testimony – the single greatest cause of wrongful
convictions nationwide. Eyewitness misidentification accounts
for 75 percent of wrongful convictions in over 200 DNA
exonerations. Georgians have become increasingly aware of just
how unreliable eyewitness identification evidence is as we have
watched seven men exonerated – all convicted on the basis of
eyewitness testimony – after spending years in prison for crimes
they didn’t commit.
Across the nation states are moving away from the death penalty
because of growing concerns about innocence, unfairness,
discriminatory application, lack of efficacy, and other
reasons. The death penalty was intended to be reserved for the
worst offenders, but in practice, it is arbitrary and unfair.
The system is fraught with error, plagued by poor legal
representation, and discriminates on the basis of income, race
and geography - with the majority carried out in the South-
among many problems that leave it too broken to be fixed.
“Knowing what we know now-recanting witnesses, perjured
testimony and who the likely shooter is-I cannot see any jury
ever convicting Mr. Davis,” continued Kathryn Hamoudah. “Troy
Davis has strong innocence claims. There is no room for doubt
when a person’s life is on the line.”
By choosing to deny Mr. Davis’ claims, the courts have
ostensibly declared that it is permissible to execute a
convicted person who is likely innocent. GFADP believes that
this is a standard civilized society should not accept.
For more information or to set up an interview, contact: Kathryn
Hamoudah at 404.819.4233 and
khamoudah@schr.org
Dear Fellow Abolitionists,
Earlier today it was announced that Troy Davis’ appeal before
the U.S. Supreme Court has been denied.
Click here to read the response of NCADP's Georgia
Affiliate, Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
Needless to say, this puts Troy Davis at risk of another
execution date within as few as two weeks. This will be the
fourth time everyone involved with this case has to go through
this process. Please add your thoughts and prayers to ours as we
consider how this situation once again tears at Troy Davis and
his family and friends, and also how this will impact the family
and friends of Police Officer Mark Allen MacPhail, the victim in
this case. Then, join us in taking action to help stop the
execution!
If you are unfamiliar with this case, the nutshell is that seven
of the nine witnesses who testified against Davis at his trial
have changed their story, and no physical evidence links Davis
to the crime. Detailed information is
here. No one should be
executed, especially when there are so many doubts about guilt.
This case has generated widespread attention because so many
people in Georgia and throughout the world are disturbed by the
thought of a man being executed when so much doubt about his
guilt remains unresolved. Nothing can undermine public faith in
a criminal justice system faster than an execution when there
are still serious doubts about guilt.
Now is the time to re-invigorate the clemency campaign to
prevent this execution. The State Board of Pardons and Paroles
is the entity (not the governor) that can spare Troy Davis and
which can commute his sentence to life.
Amnesty International USA, a national Affiliate of NCADP, has
been taking the lead on the clemency campaign for Troy Davis,
and we encourage you to participate in the following actions.
Needed actions:
1) Please help amass petitions on Troy Davis’ behalf by signing
the online petition and by asking others you know to sign as
well. Sign the petition
here. Use this URL to facebook
and tweet it:
http://tinyurl.com/l79wpy
You can also print out and collect signatures on the
hardcopy petition (return them to the address on the petition
form), which you can access
here.
2) Please send these sign-on letters to people you know who are
clergy or legal professionals:
The religious leader sign-on letter is
here.
The legal professionals sign-on letter is
here.
3) Be prepared to come out for an international day of
solidarity:
If and when an execution date is scheduled, which now seems very
likely despite the fact that Georgia's supply of sodium
thiopental was recently confiscated by the
Drug Enforcement Agency, there
will be a global day of action. We will join our voices across
the U.S. and across the world to tell the parole board in
Atlanta that Troy Davis must not be executed. Vigils, tabling,
street-corner demos and other activities will be encouraged on
this day. We will use this action to drive up the number of
petitions and generate media visibility. Stay tuned for a date
and instructions.
Thank you.
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org