As these words are spoken, Troy Davis’s life may be measured in hours if Georgia has its way. His case is proof positive of how easy it is for a state to send someone to the death house and how hellishly difficult it is to fight one’s way off. His case is ripped throughout with false testimony, with 80% of his witnesses now admitting as much. Of nine people who testified at trial, seven have recanted, saying they were forced by the cops to lie on him. One, Jeffrey Sapp, swore by affidavit that, “The police came and talked to me, and put a lot of pressure on me to say Troy said this or Troy said that. I got tired of them harassing me, and they made it clear that the only way they would leave me alone is if I told them what they wanted to hear. I told them that Troy told me he did it, but it wasn’t true. Troy never said that or anything like that.” But the recantations have fallen on deaf judicial ears, both in Georgia and in Washington. Indeed, there has never even been a hearing on these recantations.
In another era, Davis would have had a new trial, but that was before the draconian AEDPA law of 1996 [The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act] signed by Bill Clinton, by the way, that makes it increasingly difficult for judges to grant relief or even to get hearings. Indeed, even the state court judge, Georgia Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears, in her dissenting opinion, noted that the bar has been set so high for granting a new trial that no one could meet it, not even Troy Davis, an innocent man. If Troy Davis is to be saved, it’ll take the people you to demand it. For more information, contact amnestyusa.org or troyanthonydavis.org. From death row, this is Mumia Abu-Jamal.
These commentaries are produced by Noel Hanrahan for Prison Radio.
