Excerpt
GWEN IFILL (Newshour): Uproar over the case of a Georgia man convicted of murder two decades ago has revived questions about how the death penalty is applied there and across the nation.
Human rights groups lined the streets of Atlanta today to protest tomorrow's scheduled execution of convicted murderer Troy Davis.
GWEN IFILL: Uproar over the case of a Georgia man convicted of murder two decades ago has revived questions about how the death penalty is applied there and across the nation.
Human rights groups lined the streets of Atlanta today to protest tomorrow's scheduled execution of convicted murderer Troy Davis.
LAURA MOYE, Amnesty International USA: This is a case that has fallen apart. Without the benefit of physical evidence, it relies on witness testimony that has come completely unraveled.
GWEN IFILL: Davis was sentenced to death in 1991 for killing an off-duty police officer. Seven of the nine witnesses who testified against him have since recanted or contradicted their testimony.
That has brought Davis the support of prominent political figures ranging from former president Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan's appointed FBI director, William Sessions, to the European Union's top diplomat.
Today's parole board decision to deny his request for clemency was Davis' likely last chance. The lengthy legal battle has included two stays of execution and an intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008. The five-person state panel defended its decision, saying board members -- quote -- "considered the totality of the information presented in this case and thoroughly deliberated on it."
The debate surrounding capital punishment resurfaced as a political issue earlier this month in a Republican presidential debate. Governor Rick Perry was asked about his record in Texas, where he has presided over the execution of 234 death row inmates. That's more than any other governor.
COMMENT: First, I am NOT anti-death-penalty, just believe it should be applied very carefully. If there is doubt, error on the side of "life without parole."
Of course we don't have the actual details of the evidence in the Troy Davis case, but one has to ask SHOULD the death penalty be applied when conviction "without the benefit of physical evidence, relies on witness testimony" AND 7-of-9 witnesses may be discredited? My opinion, NO. The decisions made by the State is just people not willing to concede that they made a mistake.
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