Al Sharpton highlighted a troubling death penalty case in Georgia for the second night in a row on his Tuesday MSNBC show.
Troy Davis has been on death row in Georgia since 1991, and is set to be executed next week for the killing of an off-duty police officer in 1989. Yet significant evidence exists to cast doubt on the certainty of Davis' guilt.
As Sharpton summarized it, there is no weapon, DNA or fingerprint evidence tying Davis to the scene of the crime. In addition, seven of the nine witnesses whose evidence was used to convict Davis have since recanted their stories. People from Desmond Tutu to Pope Benededict have called for a new trial, and Amnesty International has denounced the impending execution.
Sharpton played footage of Davis' sister returning to the scene of the crime and casting doubt on one eyewitnesses' story. (That witness has since said that she pointed the finger at Davis because she thought she would be sent back to prison if she didn't.)
Davis has been granted several stays of appeal from the Supreme Court on down, but his final appeal rests with a Georgia parole board. Sharpton brought on Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Cynthia Tucker to discuss the case. Tucker said she did not have high hopes that the Georgia board will grant Davis clemency.
"They are heavily invested in the idea that they did it right the first time," she said. "...They don't want to admit that they may have made a mistake."
"We want justice for the family of the officer," Sharpton said. "We just feel they cannot get justice if the wrong person pays."
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