Troy Davis--Georgia's Link to Infamy

The Georgia Supreme Court and the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles must be on vacation at the beach, because all of their heads are buried in the sand. Or are their heads buried in the hourglass they are using to count the last moments of Troy Davis´ life?

In less than 24 hours, inmate Troy Davis is scheduled to be executed. Why should this be an issue? Nine folks marked him as the smirking shooter who blew away an off-duty Savannah police officer more than 18 years ago. So why not overdose him and send him to the Great Beyond?

One good reason is that seven of the nine upstanding witnesses have recanted their original testimony, and three others who were not in a position to testify have come forward with information about one questionable Sylvester "Red" Coles who, they say, confessed killing Officer Mark MacPhail.

Nineteen years after the fact, Troy Davis proclaims his innocence--an odd last minute reason for appeal after all these years, according to Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, DC. This watchdog group openly opposes the death penalty and is keeping a close eye on the disturbing turn of events in this case.

Does everything look so black and white in Georgia there is no room for error? Time has eroded into the original testimony and cast shadows on what seemed to be a cut-and-dried case. At the eleventh hour, there is a man proclaiming his innocence, and just who is listening? Former President Jimmy Carter for one, and South Africa Archbishop Desmond Tutu for another, along with demonstrations on Troy´s behalf in Europe. One can not buy that type of support, but is Georgia listening?

They listened but all they heard was an attack. Their defensive rebuttal came across as a stop-sticking-your-nose-in-our-business sort of way. Of course, they may have reason to be defensive in light of the fact that they have already executed twenty-two inmates on death row since the April moratorium was lifted, averaging about one a week. Sounds like they are trying to clean house, doesn´t it? Perhaps throwing the baby out with the bath water while they are at it.

Is he guilty? Did Troy Davis murder Officer Mark MacPhail in 1989? We can not know for certain--yet. But we do know there is enough growing evidence to the contrary that anyone with half a brain would see this information warrants at least a careful second look.

So the real question is, what is the harm in a new trial? After almost twenty years, what are a few more days or weeks? Where´s the fire? Is Georgia at risk of losing their twenty-two week execution streak if this doesn´t go off as planned? Is there a prize for the state with the most executions before the end of 2008?

Of course not, but that is how it feels. Suddenly Georgia,thrust into the international spotlight, is looking every bit like the barbarian we know it is not. However, things have to change and change quickly in order to save this man of uncertain guilt from a most certain death. At the very least, Troy Davis must be granted a new trial in the state of Georgia in order to sort out what really happened that tragic night in 1989.

We must all be vigilant in searching for the hard truth and for real justice in this case. If we ignore the possibility Troy Davis is innocent and do nothing to try and stop his execution this week, he doesn´t just lose his life: in every instance of apathetically ignored justice, we all lose. The last sand is pouring through the hourglass and time is running out.

The US Supreme Court must accept the responsibility to do the right thing. Let´s just hope it is not too late, or another person gets away with murder, again.

Poplar, Montana--are you paying attention?