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Where is the justice for me?: The case of Troy Davis, facing execution in Georgia Appellate Petition for Cert in Davis v. Terry The Legal
Process in chronological order. On Sept 7, 2005 the
Lawyers representing Troy Anthony Davis made oral argument before a three
Judge panel of the 11th Circuit US Appeals Court. See Summary of Oral Arguments below On Sept. 26, 2006 the three judges made their ruling and denied the appeal stating that despite 7 keys witnesses recanting their testimony, there is no evidence that Troy did not receive a fair trial. Read the full judgment . Troy is down
to his last appeal. Read Amnesty International's
TROY ANTHONY DAVIS The following is a copy of a letter sent by Troy's new lawyer to members of the media prior to the Oral Arguments phase of the appeal.. In the early morning hours of August 19, 1989, off-duty police officer Mark McPhail was murdered as he responded to an altercation and assault in a dark Burger King parking lot in a rough section of Savannah, Georgia. At trial, the prosecution presented to the jury a string of eyewitnesses who identified one of multiple youths at the scene, Troy Anthony Davis, as the individual responsible for Officer McPhail’s death. Mr. Davis was convicted of Officer McPhail’s murder, and of another shooting that occurred in a different location on the same night. He was sentenced to death. Friends,
Supporters and the Legal Team who attended the Oral Arguments
Summary of Oral
Argument – by Ledra Sullivan Troy Anthony Davis’ appeal took place on September 7th, 2005, in the
form of oral argument at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.
The judges, Hon. Joel Dubina, Hon. Rosemary Barkett, and Hon. Stanley
Marcus, presided over the hearing. Kathleen Behan, Troy’s lead
attorney, argued before the Court only a few of the many reasons to
consider the abundant and compelling evidence of innocence. Aside
from the fact that six of the seven eye witnesses who secured a death
sentence for Troy Davis have voluntarily come forward to say that they
were all lying, there were also multiple constitutional violations at
issue. Judge Barkett, seemingly baffled at the idea that the
recantations alone did not grant Troy Davis an evidentiary hearing,
referenced the idea that without them, the State had no case.
Troy’s case also involves possible a Giglio (Giglio v. United States 405
U.S. 150 [1972]) violation, referring to the State’s key witness,
Dorothy Ferrell, and possible promises made to her in exchange for her
testimony against Troy during his trial. This was never disclosed
during his trial, making it one of many fundamental problems originating
with the police department and district attorney’s office. The
Giglio violation led to the Brady (Brady v. Maryland 373 U.S. 83 [1963] )
violation, referring to the fact that the State did not convey mitigating
or impeaching evidence to Troy’s counsel, and as it is possible that the
State knew that many of their witnesses were committing perjury, there was
certainly impeaching evidence known to them. Because of the restrictions imposed by the AEDPA (Antiterrorism and
Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996), Troy must prove that his case is one
of actual innocence, that being the only way to bypass the gateway of
procedural default. The State, represented at the oral argument by
Susan Boleyn, contends that the multiple and almost total recantations
(with the exception of Sylvester Coles, who confessed to multiple people
that it was he, and not Troy Davis, who murdered Mark Allen MacPhail),
amounts to nothing beyond “rank hearsay,” a far cry from the promises
of credibility the State used to assure the jury during trial. Judge Barkett became vocal in her surprise at how the State could argue
that he should not receive, at the very least, an evidentiary hearing.
Judge Marcus referred to three witnesses involved in Troy’s case that
might merit a constitutional claim: the testimonies and recantations in
the form of sworn affidavits of Kevin McQueen, who testified during trial
that Troy confessed to him, and later admitted he lied; Dorothy Ferrell,
who testified during the trial that she saw Troy shoot MacPhail, and who
the police said was to have picked Troy Davis out of a line-up.
Dorothy Ferrell later said that she did not see the crime and did not pick
Davis out of line-up; rather, she was shown a photo of him and instructed
to implicate him. The third was Antoine Williams, who testified that
the man who assaulted Larry Young (which Sylvester Coles has never denied)
is the same man who murdered Mark Allen MacPhail. There were abundant comments and questions from the judges, and their
interest in the issues at stake here were evident. The ruling is
expected to take up to six months, and their ruling could result in a
number of options. All Troy Davis has ever asked for is the chance
to be tried in a court of law with the actual evidence, and now is the
time for justice to be served. It is certainly not attainable as long as
an innocent man sits waiting for a sentence of death for a crime that he
did not commit.
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