Troy Davis' attorneys seek police file - Petition charges file will prove Davis' innocence

Lawyers for Troy Anthony Davis want a federal judge to force prosecutors to turn over police files they say conceal evidence not produced in his trial in the 1989 slaying of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail.

Those files contain material "corroborating the evidence of his innocence to be introduced at the hearing in this matter," the defense petition filed in U.S. District Court Monday states.

They also argue the police files will support Davis' allegations that Sylvester "Red" Coles committed the crimes for which Davis was convicted.

The Georgia attorney general's office, which is handling the appeal, has until Feb. 12 to respond.

Davis, 38, remains on Georgia's death row at Jackson on his 1991 conviction and death sentence in Chatham County Superior Court in the MacPhail slaying.

The victim, 27, was working off-duty at the Greyhound Bus Terminal/Burger King on Oglethorpe Avenue early Aug. 19, 1989, when he was shot twice and killed. He was rushing to help a homeless man under attack over a beer.

After prolonged appeals, the U.S. Supreme Court in August sent Davis' case to U.S. District Court with instructions that a judge must take testimony and determine where any evidence not available at the original trial "clearly establishes (Davis') innocence."

Chief Judge William T. Moore Jr., who is handling the case, has not set a hearing date.

The filing is part of a back and forth with the state for information to be used at the hearing.

Davis' lawyers contend seven of nine state witnesses have recanted their testimony, creating sufficient doubt about the verdict that an innocent man may be executed.

They also claim to have nine new witnesses not heard at the 1st trial.

The state contends the new evidence is simply rehashed argument already repeatedly rejected by appellate courts.

Davis' appellate team is expanding its inquiry beyond the MacPhail slaying to include the attack on Larry Young in the parking lot to which MacPhail was responding, and the assault on Michael Cooper at a party in Cloverdale hours before.

Davis' convictions included charges stemming from those 2 attacks.

Coles, who was at the MacPhail shooting scene, was never charged. He and his attorney went to police to accuse Davis only after he learned police "were on his trail," the Davis petition stated.

His petition also includes arguments that "certain state witnesses lied at trial as the result of police pressure" and Davis' defense lawyers did not have the entire file at his trial.

Savannah-Chatham police have repeatedly denied access to the files made under the state Open Records Act, the petition states.

TROY DAVIS CASE: WHAT HAPPENED

Off-duty police officer Mark Allen MacPhail was shot twice with a .38-caliber pistol as he rushed to assist a homeless man being beaten in the parking lot of the Greyhound Bus Terminal/Burger King restaurant on Oglethorpe Avenue early on Aug. 19, 1989.

MacPhail never unholstered his weapon. No murder weapon was recovered.

Prosecutors said Davis, then 20, shot MacPhail once in the heart while he was standing, then a 2nd time in the face as he lay on the asphalt parking lot surface.

Witness testimony said the gunman smiled as he fired the second shot into the fallen officer.

Davis fled to Atlanta ahead of a massive manhunt, then surrendered to authorities on Aug. 23, 1989.

Lawyers for Davis contend 7 of the 9 witnesses who testified against the defendant have recanted their testimony, which the defense contends was coerced by police.

They said Davis was the victim of mistaken identity, blaming Sylvester "Red" Coles for the shooting. Coles was placed at the bus station where the fatal shooting occurred but was never charged.

Testimony had Coles running from the scene as MacPhail ran past him to the homeless victim.

Source: Savannah Morning News, January 28, 2010

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