Troy Davis is Executed Despite Claims of Innocence
September 22, 2011 TheFreshOutlook  |
Troy Davis was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday as the US Supreme Court rejected his final appeal for clemency.
Despite countless petitions and protests, death row inmate Troy Davis was executed by lethal injection on Wednesday.
Davis was convicted for the murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. The US Supreme Court found him guilty of shooting Mr MacPhail after the off-duty officer interrupted an alleged fight between Davis and a homeless man.
The 42-year-old had always denied the charge and pleaded innocent until the very end. “I was not responsible for what happened that night,” he said. “I did not have a gun. I was not the one who took the life of your father, son, brother.”
The dispute arose after many witnesses recanted or changed their testimonies.
In addition, no weapon or DNA samples linked Davis to the crime scene.
Last night, Davis’ lawyers described the execution as a “legal lynching.” They reported that 48.4% of death row inmates were black males and accused the case as being “racially bigoted.”
The date of execution had already been delayed four times this year and this final appeal gained support from many high profile characters, such as Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Nonetheless, the US Supreme Court denied Davis’ appeal at 23:00 on Wednesday.
After more than four hours considering the eleventh-hour appeal for clemency, judges issued their rejection of the final paper.
“The application for stay of execution of sentence of death presented to Justice [Clarence] Thomas and by him referred for the Court is denied,” it read.
Davis was pronounced dead at 23:08 (03:08 GMT Thursday), whilst 400 people gathered outside the jail in Jackson, Georgia.
According to witnesses, Davis protested his innocence in a final speech.
“For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls,” he said.
“All I can ask … is that you look deeper into this case so that you can finally see the truth. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight.”
Besides strong support in the US, protests have erupted across the world. Amnesty International organised a march outside the US embassy in Paris today, where around 150 people held photos and banners to protest Davis’ innocence.
“We’re beyond disappointed,” said Amnesty International’s Laura Moye.
“We’re shocked and we’re outraged … We cannot be sure that an innocent man wasn’t killed tonight.”
By Catherine Rees
[Image courtesy of Alain Bachellier]
