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On Aug. 17, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that condemned death row inmate Troy Davis deserves a chance to present new evidence in his case. Attorneys have long argued that Davis didn’t kill Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989 and that key witnesses have recanted testimony.

“The substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death, clearly provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing.”
— U.S. Justice John Paul Stevens, writing for the majority Aug. 17

“We should be prepared to go to the moon and back in order to avoid executing an innocent man. Every stone must be turned, every possibility fully explored, every alternative narrative put to rest to the extent possible. Justice demands no less of us.”
— From an Aug. 19 Augusta Chronicle editorial

“He should have been dead two years ago … Every delay is awful for us every time. I’m not saying Davis’ family isn’t suffering either. But Davis had a choice. Mark didn’t … I want it to be over.”
— Anneliese MacPhail, mother of the murdered police officer, in the Aug. 19 New York Times

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This morning, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that condemned Georgia inmate Troy Anthony Davis should get a chance to present new evidence in court, according to the AP and other news sources.

Keeping track of the Davis case over the past two years has been like watching a nail-biting tennis match — with a human life at stake. Davis, who was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of an off-duty Savannah police officer, has twice three times had his scheduled execution delayed as his case was reviewed, re-reviewed and shuffled from one court to another, yet he’d not been granted another day in court — until now.

According to the AJC:

The high court ordered a federal judge to “receive testimony and findings of fact as to whether evidence that could not have been obtained at the time of trial clearly establishes [Davis’s] innocence.”

The two dissenters on the Court were Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. Anyone surprised?

In his majority opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote that the questions about the Davis case indicate too great a chance that the verdict was wrong:

“Imagine a petitioner in Davis’ situation who possesses new evidence conclusively and definitively proving, beyond any scintilla of doubt, that he is an innocent man. The dissent’s reasoning would allow such a petitioner to be put to death nonetheless.”

(more…)

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This just in, from Amnesty International’s media relations director, Wende Gozan Brown: The country’s highest court has postponed its decision on whether to hear the appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, whose innocence claims have caused an international outcry.

Although a decision was expected today, the U.S. Supreme Court has opted to wait until it reconvenes in September — which will ward off a death warrant for Davis.

Davis already has had three execution dates set over the past three years, and once came within hours of execution before a last-minute stay was granted.

We’ll be updating this as the story develops. Stay tuned.

Here’s a statement we just received from Amnesty International:

“This delay is an indication that the Supreme Court is concerned by the gravity of Troy Davis’  innocence claims,” said Laura Moye, director of Amnesty International USA’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign.  ”We will continue to call on all authorities, including the Supreme Court, to finally hear the evidence that has motivated hundreds of thousands of people worldwide to raise their voices and demand justice.”

(Photo courtesy Georgia Department of Corrections)

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According to a story on Savannah’s WTOC.com, the country’s highest court will decide — perhaps as soon as tomorrow on Monday, June 29 — whether it will hear the case of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, whose execution has been delayed three times based on claims of his innocence.

According to WTOC, the U.S. Supreme Court will have a conference today to decide whether to take Davis’ case. The story also states: “Davis’ sister, Martina Correia, says the Supreme Court could have a decision by Friday or Monday or it could be as late as this fall.”

Seven of nine trial witnesses who helped convict Davis in 1991 have since recanted their testimony. The courts have consistently ruled against considering the recantations and other new evidence that suggest Davis might not have killed Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail.

The U.S. Supreme Court delayed one of Davis’ execution dates, but ultimately declined to hear the case. The latest appeal is based on a different legal claim.

More to come …

UPDATE: The U.S. Supreme Court is considering an unusual — and longshot — habeas corpus petition filed directly to that court. According to June 19 story on Savannah’s WSAV.com:

Davis’s lawyers have filed a habeas petition before the U.S. Supreme Court, but many assume that because of past rejections by the high court, that Davis’s last option may be a new trial at the local level.

Also, check out this L.A. Times story on Davis from earlier this month for some of the political complexities surrounding the case.

(Photo courtesy Georgia Department of Corrections)

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The U.S. Supreme Court today exempted a small Texas governing authority from the Voting Rights Act, a law that requires 16 states — including Georgia — to get the federal green light before changing the way elections are conducted. Gov. Sonny Perdue, pointing to the civil rights advances made both nationally and in the state, has argued the part of the law that restricts Georgia is no longer necessary. The court did not address that issue today.

From the New York Times:

The court, with only one justice in dissent, avoided the major constitutional questions raised in the case over the federal government’s most powerful tool to prevent discriminatory voting changes since the mid-1960s.

…

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the court, said the larger issue of whether dramatic civil rights gains means the advance approval requirement is no longer necessary ”is a difficult constitutional question we do not answer today.”

The court’s avoidance of the larger issue explains the consensus among justices in the case rendered Monday, where they otherwise likely would have split along conservative-liberal lines.

Justice Clarence Thomas, alone among this colleagues, said he would have resolved the case and held that the provision, known as Section 5, is unconstitutional.

”The violence, intimidation and subterfuge that led Congress to pass Section 5 and this court to uphold it no longer remains,” Thomas said.

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President Barack Obama has named U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nomination to replace retiring Justice David Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court.

From the New York Times:

Judge Sotomayor, 54, who has served for more than a decade on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals based in New York City, would become the nation’s 111th justice, replacing David H. Souter, who is retiring after 19 years on the bench. Although Justice Souter was appointed by the first President George Bush, he became a mainstay of the liberal faction on the court and so his replacement by Judge Sotomayor likely would not shift the overall balance of power.

(more…)

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NPR and MSNBC, citing anonymous sources, both report Supreme Court Justice David Souter has notified the White House that he plans to retire at the end of the current court term. (The Supreme Court declined to comment on the reports.)

The reports say Souter would remain on the bench until President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace him is confirmed. It would be the first Supreme Court Justice pick by the president. NPR says most observers expect the president to make his first appointment to the court a woman.

Since Obama was elected, many Peach State political observers have pointed toward Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears as a worthy nominee if a vacancy appears on the bench. Sears announced her retirement from the highest court in the state last October. She steps down on June 30.

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Jetski enthusiasts, bass fishermen and bass were shocked — shocked! — Monday after the U.S. Supreme Court said it wouldn’t consider the decades-old legal war between Georgia, Florida and Alabama about how those three states share water from Lake Lanier.

The court’s decision raises fundamental questions about Georgia’s rights to Lake Lanier, a huge federal reservoir outside Atlanta that serves as the city’s main water source. It could also play a key role in deciding related water-rights disputes in lower courts.

Monday’s decision involves a 2003 water-sharing agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers that would have allowed Georgia to take far more water from Lanier for its drinking supply over the coming decades. The deal would have allowed Georgia’s withdrawals to jump from about 13 percent of the lake’s capacity to about 22 percent.

Florida and Alabama contested the pact, arguing that larger withdrawals would cripple downstream flows into their states. They said the lake was initially built for hydropower and providing water to Georgia was not an authorized use.

And now Lake Lanier is the primary source of drinking water for metro Atlanta! Yikes. Gov. Sonny Perdue! Sir, what’s your take on this?

“While we are disappointed with the Supreme Court’s decision today to not correct a flawed ruling by the D.C. Circuit, it is important to remember that this decision simply maintains the status quo in terms of the operation of Lake Lanier by the Army Corps of Engineers.

We felt strongly that Supreme Court review of this case could have resolved a major piece of our ongoing water negotiations, and we will now move forward continuing to work with our neighbors and other stakeholders to reach consensus on a plan that fairly shares our limited resources and adequately protects the headwaters of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint River Basin.”

Thanks, governor! Other officials will most likely weigh in throughout the day. We’ll include their thoughts as they become available.

UPDATE: After the jump, view Florida Gov. Charlie “Tan-tastic” Crist’s statement on the matter.

(more…)

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Chatham County District Attorney Spencer Lawton has penned an editorial, published yesterday on AJC.com and Sunday on SavannahNow.com, to let people know why the upcoming execution of Troy Davis doesn’t weigh on his conscience.

The only problem: All of Lawton’s points are supported by evidence that supposedly hasn’t seen the light of day — except that it has. In fact, most of Lawton’s revelations have been addressed and contradicted by published reports and court documents. He also glosses over evidence that suggests Davis — who is scheduled to die Oct. 27 — could be innocent.

Lawton writes:

Many people are concerned that an innocent man is about to be put to death. I know this and I understand it. I am not likewise concerned, however, and I want to explain why.

The only information the public has had in the 17 years since Troy Davis’ conviction has been generated by people ideologically opposed to the death penalty, regardless of the guilt or innocence of the accused.

While they have shouted, we have been silent. The canons of legal ethics prohibit a lawyer — prosecutor and defense counsel alike — from commenting publicly in a pending criminal case. Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled, the case is over and I can tell our side.

After the jump, a dissection of Lawton’s ensuing argument.

(more…)

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On Oct. 14, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the final appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis. Two days later, the state set Davis’ execution for Oct. 27. The high court’s decision followed a refusal by the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles to commute Davis’ sentence, despite evidence someone else committed the crime.

“[T]he death penalty undermines human dignity. Any judicial error in its application is irreversible and irreparable. I therefore solemnly call on the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles to reconsider its position.”

— France’s Secretary of State for Human Rights Rama Yade, in an Oct. 15 statement

“not one, not two, but SEVEN witnesses went back on what they originally said……AND there is no physical evidence / dna???? just goes to show that cats are going to need more than just Obama to help us all.”

— “Professor X,” responding to a post on AllHipHop.com

“I’m not a great fan of the death penalty. I wish of course that none of this had happened, but it has. … The law is the law. It says you kill a police officer, you’re subject to the death penalty.”

— Chatham County District Attorney Spencer Lawton, speaking to the Associated Press

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I’ve read much of today’s coverage about the U.S. Supreme Court’s deflating decision not to review the appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis — whose execution the high court halted last month, less than two hours before it was scheduled.

Davis’ case caught international attention after seven of nine trial witnesses recanted their testimony, many of them claiming police coercion. Another three people who didn’t testify later claimed that another man — one of the two who failed to recant his testimony — confessed to them that it was he who pulled the trigger on Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail.

Here’s my favorite quote so far about the high court’s decision, from a verbose but eloquent essay by CBS legal analyst Andrew Cohen:

Why the Justices turned away from a case they had sniffed at last month may forever remain a mystery. But what is perfectly clear is that Georgia has now created a virtually unassailable bar to criminal defendants whose shaky convictions are later subverted through the discovery of new evidence.

Thanks, Georgia.

For background on the case, click here.

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After giving the case intense consideration, the nation’s highest court will not hear the appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, according to an email from Amnesty International.

Essentially, this means Davis has run out of appeals — despite the fact that seven of his nine trial witnesses have recanted their testimony. His execution date — the third in just over a year — likely will be set soon. This time, there will be little to no hope for a stay.

For background on the case, click here.

More to come …

UPDATE: The U.S. Supreme Court’s order states:

The motion of The Innocence Project for leave to file a brief as amicus curiae is granted. The petition for a writ of certiorari is denied.

Basically, the justices will not review Davis’ case (including a decision from the Georgia Supreme Court), but will allow did consider a “friend of the court” brief from the Innocence Project, the nonprofit dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted inmates. Apparently, the amicus brief did not sway the justices.

According to Amnesty International:

In denying Davis’ petition for a writ of certiorari, the Court has effectively ended a longstanding battle to have new evidence in Davis’ favor heard in a court of law.

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The nation’s highest court is expected to announce tomorrow whether it will hear the appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, Savannah’s WTOC 11 reports.

If the court takes the case, Davis’ innocence claims might finally be reviewed. If not, the decision will pave the way for his execution. He’s been scheduled for execution twice in the past year — and on both occasions received a last-minute stay.

The decision is expected between the hours of 10 a.m. and noon. Stay tuned.

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Troy Davis

On Oct. 10, the U.S. Supreme Court met to decide whether to hear the appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, whose innocence claims have generated international attention.

No word yet on whether the high court will take the case. If it does, Davis’ execution — which was delayed twice in the past year, both times within 24 hours of his scheduled death — will be put on hold.

If it doesn’t, a new execution date will be set. And Davis likely will have exhausted every possible appeal.

Check Fresh Loaf for updates — and check out our Troy Davis page, where you’ll find excerpts from the recantations of witnesses who testified against Davis at his 1991 trial, as well as a gallery and video of the grassroots movement to raise awareness about the case.

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Georgia's death chamber

Defense attorney Steve Bright, who arguably knows more about the death penalty than anyone in Georgia, likes to tell a story about former Virginia Gov. Douglas Wilder.

In the four years Wilder was the state’s top executive, he commuted only two death sentences. One was for a man named Earl Washington. On Wilder’s last day in office, Jan. 14, 1994, he signed an order that stated:

“A review of the record … demonstrate[s] that Earl Washington Jr. received a fair trial and his appeals were well represented and considered. Recently, newly discovered evidence has become available as the result of the initiatives of the Attorney General’s Office. It is clear from precedent in past cases … that there are no provisions under Virginia law whereby such newly discovered evidence can now be considered by the courts.”

The inability of the courts to consider new evidence — even in a death penalty case — troubled the governor. The hunch proved fortuitous. Eight years after Wilder commuted the sentence, DNA evidence showed that Washington was the wrong guy.

Now, a similar claim has been raised in Georgia, in the case of death row inmate Troy Davis.

For the rest of the story, click here.

Visit our multi-media Troy Davis page for updates from the U.S. Supreme Court, excerpts from the affidavits of trial witnesses who recanted their testimony, and slideshows and video of the grassroots movement to bring awareness to the case.

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Though a decision was expected today, the U.S. Supreme Court instead will meet on Friday to discuss whether to hear the 11th-hour appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis. At least that’s what the high court’s docket says.

Davis has twice seen his execution delayed — both times within hours of his scheduled death. In the 17 years since Davis was convicted of murdering Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, his attorneys have unearthed evidence suggesting another man committed the crime. But lower courts, including the Georgia Supreme Court, have ruled that the evidence is inadmissible.

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UPDATE: U.S. Supreme Court will convene for the Davis case on Friday.

According to AJC.com, the country’s highest court needs more time to decide whether to hear the appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis. But CBS 46 reports that the U.S. Supreme Court will not intervene — which would pave the way for a new execution date.

The CBS post attributes the breaking development to CNN, though as of now, I don’t see any mention of it on CNN.com.

Davis’ case has attracted international attention because newly discovered evidence suggests that someone else killed Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court delayed Davis’ execution less than two hours before it was scheduled so that the justices could decide whether to take up his appeal. A decision was expected today.

The AJC reports:

The U.S. Supreme Court apparently needs more time to look at an appeal from death-row inmate Troy Anthony Davis, whose claims of innocence have attracted international attention.

“It’s obviously a very important case and the justices are still considering it,” Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor, said. “Maybe the justices are split about it and want more time to consider it.”

It is not unusual, Tobias said, particularly given the backlog of cases appealed during the summer months, for the court to take several weeks to decide whether to hear an appeal such as Davis’.

According to CBS:

The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday that it won’t intervene in the Troy Davis murder case, according to CNN.

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The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide by next Monday whether to hear the appeal of Georgia death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis, AJC.com reports today. Last week, the high court granted Davis a stay — less than two hours before his scheduled execution — to give the justices time to decide if his innocence claims warrant further review.

According to the AJC story:

The high court’s granting the stay at such a late hour, while not unprecedented, indicates the case has the justices’ interest, court watchers said.

“The court can grant a stay and then refuse to hear a case, but they don’t issue the stay lightly,” said Thomas Goldstein, a Washington lawyer who specializes in arguing cases before the high court. “They are thinking about it hard.”

Last week’s U.S. Supreme Court order stated that if the justices opt not to hear the appeal, “this stay shall terminate automatically” — meaning Davis’ execution would again be imminent.

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Former Georgia Congressman and current Libertarian presidential nominee Bob Barr has been an outspoken supporter of Troy Davis, the death row inmate who received an eleventh-hour stay of execution from the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday.

Here’s Barr’s reaction to the stay

“While the death penalty is an important tool in our legal system, it should only be used in cases where there is absolutely no doubt of a person’s guilt. This was not the case with Troy Davis.”

“I hope the facts in Davis’ case can be reexamined in order to address the unanswered questions before once again deciding his fate. As a strong supporter of the death penalty, I do not advocate for clemency lightly.  However, in the case of Troy Davis, the broader questions of fairness and public faith in criminal justice deserved another look.”

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STAYING ALIVE: Troy Davis is alive this morning, thanks to a last-minute stay granted by the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices will reconvene Monday, and if they don’t decide to hear his case, he’s back in Georgia’s clutches.

CHECK IS IN THE BAIL: Congress is listening to growing outcries to limit Wall Street executives’ lavish salaries and perks as part of the bailout. Counters one trade lobbyist: “It is not appropriate for government to be setting the salaries of executives.” Not appropriate like, say, using taxpayer money to save a corporation from its own bad investments.

WARREN PEACE: Warren Buffet soothes the weary minds of investors by throwing in on Goldman Sachs.

FUELISH HUMANS: The 2008 Atlanta Gas Crisis! is still going strong, despite the EPA’s move to allow local stations to sell heavier-polluting fuel. The AJC interviews an Emory behavioral psychologist, who reminds us that we’re panicky nitwits.

GAS FIGHT! Society is always three meals, or one tank of gas, away from anarchy.

FLORIDA: Decides it will accept Clayton students to its colleges after all.

DEKALB PLANE CRASH: One person is killed when a plane headed from Jacksonville, Fla., to Michigan crashes in a residential neighborhood near PDK.

TYLER PERRY: The Atlanta movie mogul/maven, who was once homeless himself, donates enough food to feed 1,000 Atlanta families for two weeks, helping address the recent food-donation shortage in the city.

ZOONOTIC SUGGESTION: Advocates of relocating the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility to Athens contend it would foster increased scientific collaboration on treating diseases that start in animals and spread to humans, like avian flus.

BLACK MARKET: The announcement that UGA’s high-stakes showdown with No. 8 Alabama Saturday will be the blackout game has sparked the Athens economy with a black-clothes-buying frenzy.

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The U.S. Supreme Court has granted a stay of execution to Troy Davis — less than two hours before he was scheduled to die by lethal injection, according to Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.

This is the second time that Davis has been granted a stay less than 24 hours before his scheduled execution.

GFADP and Amnesty International will host a celebration at 6:30 p.m. at the Georgia State Capitol downtown, near the corner of MLK Drive and Washington Street.

More details to come …

UPDATE: According to CNN.com:

Troy Anthony Davis first learned that his execution had been stayed when he saw it on the news, he told CNN’s Rusty Dornin in an exclusive phone interview minutes after the stay was announced.

UPDATE: According to AJC.com:

The U.S. Supreme Court’s justices are scheduled to decide Monday whether to hear an appeal of a ruling issued in March by the Georgia Supreme Court. In that 4-3 decision, the state Supreme Court rejected Davis’ request that he be granted a new trial or a court hearing to present new evidence.

In its order, the U.S. Supreme Court said if the justices decline to accept Davis’ appeal, “this stay shall terminate immediately.” If the appeal is granted, the stay will remain in force until the high court issues its ultimate ruling on Davis’ appeal, the order said.

(Photo courtesy Georgia Department of Corrections)

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TROY DAVIS: Will be killed by Georgia tonight, barring a stay from the U.S. Supreme Court.

BAILOUT: What at first seemed like a tourniquet is starting to look more like a feather pillow for Wall Street, and congressional leaders are pointing out that we’ve been notoriously fooled before by this administration under guise of looming disaster.

BLAME: More Americans, by a 2-to-1 margin, blame Republicans over Democrats for the financial crisis.

STONEHENGE: British researchers determine it was a pilgrimage site for the sick.

BRIAN NICHOLS TRIAL: Is under way, with the defense portraying Nichols as lost in fantasy during his notorious 2005 killing spree, and the prosecution arguing he knew what he was doing.

GAS SHORTAGE: Ten percent of the country’s refining capacity is still down post-Ike, leading to major gasoline shortages, especially in the Southeast.

A BLEND IN NEED: The shortage here is compounded by environmental rules requiring the metro area to use a special type of gas known as “the Atlanta blend,” which includes oxygenates such as ethanol that help fuel burn more cleanly.

LARRY MUNSON: The inimitable voice of Georgia football, who has suffered from health problems in recent years, announced his immediate retirement Monday.

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