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Ga. Won't Stay Execution Despite Witness Reversals

Carter, clergy, NAACP have asked for life sentence for Troy Davis

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 23, 2008 9:18 AM CDT
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(Newser) – A man sentenced to die tonight in Georgia is looking to the US Supreme Court after the state’s parole board and top court rejected clemency yesterday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Troy Anthony Davis was convicted in 1991 for murdering a police officer, but seven prosecution witnesses have since recanted testimony, leading to calls for his sentence to be commuted to life in prison.

Death-penalty opponents called for prison workers to take a sick day today in support of Davis, whose case has drawn the attention of Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI, among others. The NAACP called the penalty “a modern-day lynching,” while a pastor said the execution of an innocent man would “leave the blood of Troy Davis on all of our hands.”

Martina Correia, Troy Davis' sister, speaks next to Genevieve Garrigos, left, president of Amnesty International France, during a protest to denounce the death penalty in the US on July 2 in Paris.
Martina Correia, Troy Davis' sister, speaks next to Genevieve Garrigos, left, president of Amnesty International France, during a protest to denounce the death penalty in the US on July 2 in Paris.   (AFP/Getty Images)
This undated photo released by the Georgia Department of Corrections shows death-row inmate Troy Davis.
This undated photo released by the Georgia Department of Corrections shows death-row inmate Troy Davis.   (AP Photo)
People hold pictures of Troy Davis, who was sentenced to death in 1991, during a protest to denounce the death penalty in the United States, on July 2, 2008, in Paris.
People hold pictures of Troy Davis, who was sentenced to death in 1991, during a protest to denounce the death penalty in the United States, on July 2, 2008, in Paris.   (AFP/Getty Images)
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A chat with Troy Davis
AxisofLogic

Innocence claim unusual at this point in case
Associated Press

Prof: 'near unanimity that this trial was not reliable'
ABC News

 
death penalty • Pope Benedict XVI • Jimmy Carter • murder • Georgia • NAACP • Troy Davis

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