PeaceTalks:Courts Refuse To Hear Evidence of Innocence in Death Row Inmate Troy Davis Case

George Cadman Of Free Radio Santa Cruz 101.1 FM interviews Jason Ewart, Troy Davis's attorney, about his case and the recent 4-3 decision by the Georgia Supreme Court to deny him an evidentiary hearing that may have led to a new trial.

Troy Davis has been on death row in Georgia for 16 years. He was sentenced to death for the murder of an off duty police officer, Mark MacPhail. There was no physical evidence and no weapon ever found. The case against him consisted entirely of witness testimony which contained inconsistencies even during the trial. Seven of the nine witnesses that testified at trial have since recanted their testimony and say that Troy was not the killer. Of the other two witnesses, one was not close enough to the scene to identify the killer, and the other is the principal alternative suspect in the crime.

One witness signed a police statement declaring that Davis was the assailant then later said "I did not read it because I cannot read." In another case a witness stated that the police "were telling me that I was an accessory to murder and that I would…go to jail for a long time and I would be lucky if I ever got out, especially because a police officer got killed…I was only sixteen and was so scared of going to jail." There are also several witnesses who have implicated another man in the crime but the police focused their efforts on convicting Troy.

Despite mounting evidence that Davis may in fact be innocent of the crime, appeals to the courts to consider this evidence have been repeatedly denied for procedural reasons.