In Re Troy Davis

Outcome: Petition Granted!

Description: Troy Davis has been on Georgia's death row since 1991 despite strong evidence of innocence. He was convicted of a 1989 shooting death of an off-duty police officer in Savannah, GA. Since his trial, 7 of the 9 civilian witnesses against Troy have signed sworn affidavits stating that they were pressured by police to implicate Troy Davis. Many others have come forward implicating another man in the shooting. I learned about the case on July 3, 2007 while serving as Director of the Indigent Criminal Defense Clinic at Emory Law School. I was asked to help by simply writing a letter to the parole board. The more I read about the case, the more obligated I felt. My pro bono work on this case, thus far, has included writing several amicus briefs to the GA and US Supreme Courts, participating in a public grassroots advocacy campaign, and networking with the criminal defense bar and the innocence community to encourage their participation. This case should be particularly troubling to all because it highlights the unique vulnerabilities of the indigent and the systemic failure to protect the innocent in our criminal justice system. The trial and post-conviction records reveal a less than zealous defense team at trial. There was minimal pretrial investigation, no eyewitness expert testimony presented or other means to educate the jurors about the dangers of misidentification or false snitch testimony. The prosecutor's zeal and superior oratory skills won out over reason. The result is a conviction and a death sentence based on highly unreliable evidence - false snitch testimony and sketchy eyewitness identification testimony. For instance, one witness was standing over 160 feet away looking into a dimly lit parking lot at four male strangers, all of the same race and general age group, as they moved quickly about the parking lot for a few seconds before fleeing the scene. Another identified Troy at trial two years later despite the fact that he could not identify the shooter on the night of the shooting or one month later. Troy's early post-conviction appeals - a critical stage in death penalty cases - suffered a devastating blow when federal funding was slashed, which left Troy virtually unrepresented from 1991 through 1996. In the meantime, with his life hanging in the balance, court after court refused to provide him relief. Troy was scheduled to die on July 17, 2007, September 23, 2008, September 29, 2008, and October 27, 2008. Each time, he narrowly escaped death, once with only 90 minutes to spare before the lethal injection. Because there are so many people committed to the cause, I am confident that Troy will find justice and walk out of Jackson prison one day. In the meantime, I continue to do whatever I can to help because there are many more people like Troy, imprisoned, some sentenced to die, for crimes that they did not commit. I believe our justice system is defined by our response to our mistakes. Until we figure out an effective way to identify and protect the innocent, we are all in jeopardy. For more information about this case, please visit www.innocencematters.us and www.freetroydavis.com