Troy Davis has been sched­uled for exe­cu­tion on September 23 in Georgia, despite seri­ous doubts about his guilt. The state Parole Board has sched­uled a clemen­cy hear­ing on September 12 to review evi­dence relat­ed to the fact that sev­en of the nine eye-wit­ness­es that tes­ti­fied against Davis have recant­ed their state­ments. Davis’ lawyers say they have evi­dence exon­er­at­ing him and impli­cat­ing anoth­er per­son as the killer. The Parole Board pre­vi­ous­ly raised ques­tions about Davis’ guilt and grant­ed a stay of his exe­cu­tion 24 hours before his July 2007 execution date. 

Despite the wit­ness­es’ state­ments that they aren’t sure it was him and claims of new evi­dence, the Georgia Supreme Court has refused to grant Davis a new tri­al. Davis’ attor­ney feels the Parole Board is his best chance for relief, stat­ing, ​“We think the Georgia Pardons and Parole Board is the fail safe. We have some­body sit­ting on Death Row… who is inno­cent.” The recent devel­op­ments in the case have drawn sup­port for Davis from Amnesty International, civ­il rights activists, the European Parliament, and Pope Benedict XVI. More than 100,000 let­ters and peti­tions have been col­lect­ed by Amnesty International in sup­port of Davis.

(R. Cook, ​“Davis exe­cu­tion sched­uled; 7 wit­ness­es have recant­ed,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 3, 2008). See also Innocence. UPDATE: Parole Board Denied Clemency on Sept. 12: Execution Scheduled for Sept. 23.

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