Georgia: Troy Davis hearing set for June 30

Federal judge directs both sides to provide witness lists, evidence by June 11.

A June 30 hearing was scheduled Tuesday for convicted murderer Troy Anthony Davis to present his innocence claims in the 1989 slaying of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail.

Chief U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. also ordered attorneys for Davis and the state to file their lists of all witnesses, affidavits and other evidence by June 11.

Davis, 40, remains on death row at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison at Jackson for his 1991 conviction and death sentence in the MacPhail case.

The U.S. Supreme Court in August sent the case to federal court with instructions for the court to take testimony and determine whether evidence not available at the original trial "clearly establishes (Davis') innocence." MacPhail, 27, was shot twice and slain early Aug. 19, 1989, as he rushed to help a homeless man being beaten in the parking lot of the Burger King restaurant/Greyhound Bus Terminal at Oglethorpe Avenue and Fahm Street.

Davis' attorneys contend 7 of the 9 prosecution witnesses have recanted their testimony, creating sufficient doubt about the verdict and that an innocent man may be executed.

They also claim to have 9 new witnesses not heard from at the 1st trial.

The state, represented by the Georgia attorney general's office, contend the new evidence is simply rehashed argument already rejected by appellate courts.

In his 29-page order, Moore said both parties will be required to disclose discovery information before the hearing.

He found the state had not shown specific reasons for its requested questions in the case and denied them.

Those questions involved such issues as the contents of affidavits concerning timing of information to attack credibility of the affidavits.

They also included any notes of interviews with those providing "innocence" affidavits.

He did allow a question that went to when the evidence Davis is relying on became available.

And he directed Davis' lawyers to respond to the first time anyone acting for Davis contacted those providing affidavits.

But Moore rejected Davis' attorneys efforts to review police files regarding Davis and Sylvester "Red" Coles in the slaying of MacPhail and assaults on Larry Young and Michael Cooper as well as Mark Wilds.

He ruled they had not established evidence to "warrant discovery of the police file."

Davis' team contends Coles, who was at the MacPhail shooting scene, learned police were looking for him and accused Davis to shift blame.

Questions

Chief U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. Tuesday ordered attorneys for Troy Anthony Davis to answer specific questions by May 27. They are:

-- When, if ever, any member of Davis' family or friends provided names in the affidavits Davis now relies on?

-- When, if ever, did any of the people providing affidavits come forward to the defense team and provide information contained in those affidavits?

-- When was the 1st time anyone acting for Davis on the defense team contacted those offering affidavits?

-- When was the 1st time any of Davis' family or friends made contact with any of those offering affidavits?

Source: SavannahNow, April 28, 2010

Comments

He Spent 27 Years on Death Row as a Wrongfully Convicted Man. What Comes Next?

23-hour solitary confinement. 115-degree heat. Jimmie Duncan is haunted by the decades he spent in Louisiana’s Angola Prison—and how, even after being released, he still isn’t truly free. Jimmie “Chris” Duncan wiped the sweat off his forehead as he assessed his temporary home from the parking lot of a rundown motel in central Louisiana. Sure, there’s drug dealing and prostitution, he said on a recent summer afternoon. And he suspected his neighbors were cooking meth on a floor below the room he paid $350 a week to rent.

Florida executes Harold Gene Lucas

Florida state officials executed 74-year-old Harold Gene Lucas by lethal injection on Tuesday evening, concluding a 50-year legal saga stemming from the 1976 murder of a 16-year-old girl in Bonita Springs. STARKE, Fla. -- A man convicted of killing a teenage girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends was put to death Tuesday in the first of three executions planned this month in Florida. Harold Gene Lucas, 74, was pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. following a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke, authorities said. He was sentenced to death for the 1976 shooting attack on Jill Piper and the wounding of her friends, Richard Byrd Jr. and Terri Rice.

Ex-corrections officials urge governor to commute Kansas death sentences

Former Kansas corrections officials are urging Governor Laura Kelly to grant clemency to the state's death row inmates. Former Kansas Corrections Secretary Roger Werholtz has several reasons why he thinks the state should abolish the death penalty. Werholtz, who served as secretary from 2002 to 2010 and returned on an interim basis in 2019, uses his discussions with peers and family members of victims as well as experiences of seeing wrongly convicted people getting exonerated as his guiding points.

Florida set to carry out 14th execution this year in the nation's busiest death chamber

MIAMI (AP) — A Florida man convicted of fatally shooting a 16-year-old girl who rejected his romantic advances and wounding two of her friends is set to be executed Tuesday in the first of three lethal injections scheduled this month in the state. Harold Gene Lucas, 74, is set to receive a three-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke starting at 6 p.m. He would be the 14th prisoner put to death this year in Florida, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has already signed death warrants for two more executions set for later this September.

Indiana high court sets Nov. 5 execution date for convicted child killer

The court’s decision came a little more than two months after Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita asked the justices to schedule Weisheit’s execution. State attorneys argued Weisheit had exhausted his state and federal appeals, had no active stay of execution, and could lawfully be put to death. The inmate’s attorneys opposed setting a date, saying they needed more time to pursue available legal proceedings and possible executive clemency. The defense additionally pointed to public records that it said showed the Indiana Department of Correction lacked the drugs needed to conduct an execution and had no lawful source from which to obtain them.

Oklahoma Sets November Execution Date for Air Force Veteran Jim Pavatt Amid Claims of Wrongful Conviction

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals has scheduled the execution of Air Force veteran and longtime death row prisoner Jim Pavatt for Nov. 12, as his attorneys continue to challenge his conviction and contend that prosecutors relied on false arguments, disputed forensic evidence and an alleged confession they later described as bogus. Pavatt, who served nearly 22 years in the Air Force and rose to the rank of master sergeant, was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 killing of Rob Andrew in Oklahoma City. His execution is scheduled for the day after Veterans Day.

Arizona AG seeks execution date for man convicted in 1995 trooper killing

Trooper Bob Martin was killed during a traffic stop on the Beeline highway; execution for his killer could be as soon as January PHOENIX (AZFamily)—The Arizona Attorney General is asking for an execution date to be set for a man convicted in the killing of an Arizona State Trooper over 30 years ago. On Aug. 15, 1995, Trooper Bob Martin was shot and killed while performing a traffic stop along the Beeline Highway.

Iran Crackdown on Christians Intensifies, Ministry Reports Dozens Killed and Hundreds Detained

September 3, 2026: A widening crackdown on Christians in Iran has reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 33 Christian ministers and the detention of more than 130 others in recent months, according to Iran Alive Ministries, a Texas-based organisation supporting underground house churches in the country. Hormoz Shariat, founder of Iran Alive Ministries, told Baptist Press that at least 33 Christian ministers associated with the ministry had been killed amid intensified government pressure on Christians linked to the underground church movement.

Hanging of Osaka Arsonist is Japan’s First Execution Under Takaichi Government

As a majority of the international community has abolished capital punishment. Japan and the U.S. are the only two countries in the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations that put people to death. The execution of Takami Sunao—an arsonist whose 2009 attack in Osaka killed five—on August 21, 2026, was Japan’s first use of capital punishment in just over a year. Over a Decade from Sentencing to Execution Takami Sunao was executed on August 21, 2026 , for a 2009 arson attack at an Osaka pachinko parlor that killed five people. In July 2009, Takami poured gasoline on the floor of a pachinko parlor in Osaka and set it alight, killing 5 customers and staff members and injuring 10 more. While the defense argued that he was in a state of diminished capacity, the Supreme Court finalized his death sentence in February 2016. The execution took place 17 years after the initial crime and 10 and a half years after the death sentence was finalized.

Florida | Jury recommends death sentence for Jeffrey Crum in killing of 12-year-old girl

BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — A Hernando County jury has recommended the death penalty for a 65-year-old man who was found guilty last week of raping and killing 12-year-old Jennifer Odom. Sentencing for Jeffrey Crum was held this week. Crum abducted Odom in 1993 after she stepped off her school bus in Pasco County. Her body was found in a Hernando County orange grove six days later.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog