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| Troy Anthony Davis |
JACKSON, Ga. — Proclaiming his innocence, Troy Davis was put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday night, his life — and the hopes of supporters worldwide — prolonged by several hours while the Supreme Court reviewed but then declined to act on a petition from his lawyers to stay the execution.
Mr. Davis, 42, who was convicted of murdering a Savannah police officer 22 years ago, entered the death chamber shortly before 11 p.m., four hours after the scheduled time. He died at 11:08.
This final chapter before his execution had become an international symbol of the battle over the death penalty and racial imbalance in the justice system.
“It harkens back to some ugly days in the history of this state,” said the Rev. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church, who visited Mr. Davis on Monday.
Mr. Davis remained defiant at the end, according to reporters who witnessed his death. He looked directly at the members of the family of Mark MacPhail, the officer he was convicted of killing, and told them they had the wrong man.
“I did not personally kill your son, father, brother,” he said. “All I can ask is that you look deeper into this case so you really can finally see the truth.”
He then told his supporters and family to “keep the faith” and said to prison personnel, “May God have mercy on your souls; may God bless your souls.”
One of the witnesses, a radio reporter from WSB in Atlanta, said it appeared that the MacPhail family “seemed to get some satisfaction” from the execution.
For Mr. Davis’s family and other supporters gathered in front of the prison, the final hours were mixed with hope, tears and exhaustion. The crowd was buoyed by the Supreme Court’s involvement, but crushed when the justices issued their one-sentence refusal to consider a stay.
When the news of his death came, the family left quietly and the 500 or so supporters began to pack up and leave their position across the state highway from the prison entrance. Mr. Davis’s body was driven out of the grounds about midnight.
Source: The New York Times, Sept. 22, 2011
In Europe, a Chorus of Outrage Over a U.S. Execution
PARIS — Even in a region long disdainful of American attitudes toward the death penalty, public officials, editorial writers and activists across Western Europe reacted with fury on Thursday to news that Troy Davis was executed in Georgia on Wednesday night.
Despite the divisive sovereign debt crisis, the sagging economy and conflict in the Middle East, the news media in Britain, France and elsewhere devoted continuous coverage to the Davis case this week, emphasizing that Mr. Davis, a black man, had been convicted of killing a white police officer in a Southern state. Many commentators denounced American justice as brutal and flawed.
More than anything, however, the outcry underlined the profound divergence in opinion concerning capital punishment in the United States and Western Europe, where the death penalty is no longer a topic of debate.
“The United States are a very democratic country, but these are barbaric practices,” said Laurent Fabius, a prominent Socialist lawmaker and former French prime minister, speaking on Europe 1 radio.
Robert Badinter, who as justice minister oversaw the abolition of the death penalty in France in 1981, called Mr. Davis’s execution a “defeat for humanity.”
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Source: The New York Times, Sept. 23, 2011
Troy Davis' execution and the limits of Twitter
Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis was executed amid a massive outcry by Twitter users, who documented every minute of his final hours. Will social media change the way people view the death penalty, or will the Davis case change the way social media users view politics?
On the night Troy Davis was executed for the death of officer Mark MacPhail, thousands of outraged Americans flocked to social media to register their disgust.
Celebrities like Martha Plimpton and Alec Baldwin tweeted about the case, and Outkast artist Big Boi posted photos from outside the jail to his TwitPic account.
"Troy Davis", "Letter to Georgia" and NO EVIDENCE were all trending topics in the US throughout the night.
But all the angry tweets and online petitions did nothing to prevent Davis being executed at 23:08 local time in an Atlanta, Georgia prison.
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Source: BBC News, September 23, 2011
Eyewitnesses recall Troy Davis' execution
Georgia (US), Sep.23 (ANI): Three journalists-Rhonda Cook of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and JoAnn Merrigan of WSAV News in Savannah and Greg Bluestein of the Associated Press, who have covered more than 20 executions between them in the past, were among five reporters allowed to watch the controversial death of Troy Davis at Georgia State Prison earlier this week.
Davis, who [allegedly - DPN staff] murdered an off-duty police officer, was executed by lethal injection after a tense four-hour delay.
According to the Daily Mail, here is what the reporters witnessed:
Rhonda Cook recalled the two words on Wednesday night that stopped the conversation among reporters instantly.
'Y'all ready?' a correctional officer asked.
"We were moments away from witnessing an execution. Media witnesses are as much a part of the execution process as the officers who escort the inmate to the death chamber or the officers who strap the condemned to a gurney," said Cook.
She described the execution chamber at Georgia State Prison in Jackson as grim.
She said Davis was sedated, strapped to a gurney and given a lethal injection.
"We were there as unbiased witnesses, sitting on the back row," Cook said.
Among those present to witness the execution were the two sons of murdered Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail-Mark MacPhail Jr., and William MacPhail.
Cook said: "As the officer called our names, we lined up and left the room where we had waited for so long, oblivious to the last-ditch effort to spare Davis and the police presence and protests beyond the prison's walls."
Warden Carl Humphrey began the process by reading the execution order signed by Chatham County Judge Penny Haas Freesmann.
Then he asked Davis if he had any final words.
Yes, the condemned man said and he raised his head so he could look at Mark MacPhail Jr., who was an infant when his father was murdered, and William MacPhail, the dead officer's brother.
'I'm sorry for your loss,' Davis said.
Mark MacPhail, who was leaning forward, and his uncle did not move. They stared at the man who killed their loved one.
"I did not personally kill your son, father and brother. I am innocent," said Davis.
He asked his family and friends to continue to search for the truth.
And to the prison officials he said: "May God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls."
He then lowered his head. He turned down an offer for a prayer.
Within minutes, Troy Anthony Davis slipped out of consciousness and in 14 minutes he was dead.
"A three-drug cocktail ended his life. First pentobarbital put Davis in a drug-induced coma. The paralytic pancuronium bromide was second. Potassium chloride stopped Davis' heart," said Cook.
'The court ordered execution of Troy Anthony Davis was carried out in accordance with the laws of the state of Georgia,' the warden announced.
"Curtains in the death chamber were closed and we were quickly ushered out," Cook said.
Greg Bluestein of the Associated Press said that Troy Davis' execution was different from the others that he had covered.
I've covered about 10 executions in Georgia. None of them are easy. This was by far the most unusual," said Bluestein.
He said that the selected media had to wait for more than four hours in a sombre prison break room before being ushered into the execution chamber.
"By the time we were inside, officials had already strapped Davis to the gurney. There was a glass window with a curtain separating Davis from the witnesses, who sat in three rows of seats. There were about 20 of us," said Bluestein.
JoAnn Merrigan of WSAV News said that she reached the prison at 5:50 p.m. on Wednesday evening.
"At 6:02, I was taken into a waiting room where I stayed for around four hours with no knowledge of what was going on. Every so often, someone would come in and say the execution had been delayed. Around 9:00 p.m., I went to the bathroom and heard some people talking. Around 10:20 p.m., an official came and brought me out into a hallway where I was told to stop. Three men, including the warden, were walking around," said Merrigan.
She said Georgia's Attorney General Sam Olens was also there. He walked quickly one way, then the other.
"We arrived at 10:27 p.m. I walked into the room and sat in the front row, about a dozen people were also in the room. The room had a window showing the execution chamber.
Two men came in, the warden and another man. Then five guards escorted in Troy Davis and laid him down on the gurney. He appeared calm at this time. The five guards began methodically strapping in Davis. They started with each foot first, then each knee, then each arm. A fifth strap was laid across Davis's shoulders. At this point, Davis picked up his head to look around the room. I was about four to five feet from the window," said Merrigan.
Merrigan said there was complete silence during the pre-execution procedure.
"Two women then came in with heart monitoring equipment and strapped it to his chest. The two women then put a syringe into each arm, the left first then the right. Long tubes connected the needles through two holes in the cement wall. I understand that tubes were connected to two intravenous drips containing the chemicals," said Merrigan.
"The room was very quiet when the injections began. First, Davis received an injection of pentobarbital, a sedative. Second, he received an injection of pancuronium bromide, a muscle relaxer. Lastly, he was injected with potassium chloride to induce cardiac arrest.
After a short amount of time, Davis yawned, then closed his eyes. The room was quiet and all I heard was my pencil moving over paper," Merrigan said.
"One doctor checked his pulse and placed a stethoscope on his chest. Then the second doctor performed the same procedure. At the end, the second doctor looked at the first and nodded his head. The warden then said: 'At 11:08 September 21st, the court ordered execution of Troy Davis was carried out in accordance with the laws of Georgia," recalled Merrigan.
Source: ANI, Sept. 23, 2011
World, Black Community Shocked By Execution Of Troy Davis
The state of Georgia made Troy Davis the poster boy for the global movement to end the death penalty after many considered him to be unjustly executed due to a lack of evidence.
World figures, including Pope Benedict XVI and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, human groups and commentators urged the execution to be halted — but to no avail. On Wednesday, Davis was put to death by lethal injection for the 1989 killing of off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail despite doubts being raised over the conviction.
While there weren’t riots in the surrounding area of the execution site, many across the country were in tears and anguish over the execution.
The execution sparked angry reactions and protests in European capitals — as well as outrage on social media. “We strongly deplore that the numerous appeals for clemency were not heeded,” the French foreign ministry said.
“There are still serious doubts about his guilt,” said Germany’s junior minister for human rights Markus Loening. “An execution is irreversible — a judicial error can never be repaired.”
The European Union expressed “deep regret” over the execution and repeated its call for a universal moratorium on capital punishment.
Source: Associated Press, Sept. 22, 2011
GEORGIA:
Here is a beautiful photo essay of Wednesday night by Amnesty SDPAC Scott Langley
http://www.deathpenaltyphoto.org/galleries/troydavis/2011execution/index.html
(source: Amnesty International USA)
Michael Moore calls for boycott over Davis execution
Outspoken filmmaker Michael Moore is calling for an economic boycott of Georgia in response to the execution of Troy Anthony Davis.
The case, more than 20 years in the making, garnered national and international attention, with Davis supporters calling for authorities to reconsider the facts. Davis was convicted of killing an off-duty Savannah police Officer Mark MacPhail, but activists called attention to the fact that several witnesses recanted their stories and at least one juror has said they made a wrong decision to convict.
“I ask all Americans with a conscience to shun anything and everything to do with the murderous state of Georgia,” Moore said on his website this week.
Moore said he is asking his publisher to pull copies of his memoir “Here Comes Trouble” from Georgia bookstores. If the book isn’t pulled, Moore vowed to “donate every dime of every royalty my book makes in Georgia to help defeat the racists and killers who run that state.”
But Gov. Nathan Deal doesn’t seem to mind.
“We think it’s cute that he thinks anyone in Georgia would buy his book, but if any Georgian does, I’m happy to double the royalties and buy a pack of gum for a charity of Michael Moore’s choice,” Deal’s spokesman, Brian Robinson, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Source: WSB TV News, Sept. 24, 2011
Troy Davis' Sister Recounts Last Moments With Executed Brother
The sister of Troy Davis, the Georgia man executed Wednesday night, said her brother was calm and treated his last moments with his family like any doting uncle would: he watched his 3-year-old niece's latest ballet moves.
"Our last moments were joyous. My brother was giving us charge as to what he wanted us to do, telling us to hold our heads up, telling my nephew to continue to be all that he could be... My niece was showing him her ballet shoes and telling him to stand on his tippy toes like a ballerina," said Kimberly Davis from her Savannah, Ga., home.
Davis' family last saw him between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesday when there was still hope that his execution might be stopped. The execution was postponed briefly by the Supreme Court for a legal review, but at 11:08 p.m., Davis, 42, was dead from lethal injection.
"When we left my brother yesterday, my brother told us to hold our heads up and be strong because if the state of Georgia did succeed in executing him, they would only take his physical body and not his soul," she said, crying at times. "My brother said he only wanted to be a free man and right now, he is free."
Davis was convicted of the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail and sentenced to the death penalty. Members of the MacPhail family are convinced Davis was guilty, but many other observers are not.
Before being executed, Davis said, "I'd like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I'm not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent."
Witnesses said Davis' eyes fluttered as he received his 1st injection and lost consciousness, and that the entire process of lethal injection lasted about 15 minutes.
Following Davis' death, the Twitter and Facebook world buzzed with the lyrics of Strange Fruit, the poem sung by Billie Holiday about the lynching of black men in the South. Some felt Davis' death equated to a modern day lynching.
"That's what it is--a lynch mob in the state of Georgia, Chatham County," said Kimberly Davis.
"We're going to carry on and continue to fight to bring down the death penalty," she said. "This fight didn't start with him and it's not going to end with him."
Davis had his execution stayed 4 times over the course of his 22 years on death row, but multiple legal appeals during that time failed to convince a court of his innocence.
Public support grew for Davis based on the recanted testimony of seven witnesses from his trial and the possible confession of another suspect, which his defense team claimed cast too much doubt on Davis' guilt to follow through with an execution.
On Wednesday, busloads of Davis supporters gathered outside the White House and outside the Georgia State Prison in Jackson. Davis' 17-year-old nephew, Anthony, helped lead a group of men from Morehouse College to the prison, Kimberly Davis said.
"One college student drove in from San Francisco by herself," Ms. Davis said. "So many people said that we're part of your family, we've been fighting the cause for your brother and we'll do whatever to continue the cause."
The protesters, wearing t-shirts that said "I am Troy Davis" and holding signs that said "Too Much Doubt," cheered when the execution was briefly halted and cried when it was carried out.
The family of MacPhail feels that justice has been served.
Joan MacPhail-Harris, the widow of the slain police officer, told The Associated Press Wednesday that "it's a time for healing" now that Davis' execution has occurred, that she saw "nothing to rejoice" over in Davis' death and that she was praying for his family.
"I will grieve for the Davis family because now they're going to understand our pain and our hurt," she told the AP in a telephone interview from Jackson.
"I'm kind of numb. I can't believe that it's really happened," MacPhail's mother, Anneliese MacPhail, told the AP in a telephone interview from her home in Columbus, Ga. "All the feelings of relief and peace I've been waiting for all these years, they will come later. I certainly do want some peace."
Kimberly Davis said of the MacPhail family, "The only thing we can do is pray that God can give them peace."
Source: ABC News, Sept. 23, 2011
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