104 replies to this topic

[Zimbochick]

With so much doubt, and so many questions surrounding the Troy Davis case, I am astounded they are going ahead with this execution.

http://www.cnn.com/2...tion/index.html

http://www.ajc.com/n...-a-1185523.html

Here's an interesting video:

[PERM BANNED]

From what I've read, there's not really much doubt. The man was convicted and no new evidence has come forward to shed doubt on his original conviction. Just a bunch of people latching on to a cause without really looking at all the facts if you ask me. There has yet to be proven one instance in modern history of an innocent person being put to death. I doubt this one will live up to that hype either.

[Zimbochick]

You've got to be fucking kidding me? The recantation of 7 of the 9 witnesses who testified against him at his trial raises a huge amount of doubt.

[PERM BANNED]

There were 34 witnesses, not 9. And 3 of your 7 were his friends who originally testifed against him, and have made marginal adjustments to their story. The dude shot a cop, a shit ton of people saw it and identified him as the killer. Shell casings from a shootout he was identified from earlier in the night matched the same there. The guy is as guilty as they come. And no amount of altering the facts is going to change that.

[artcinco]

COP-KILLER IS MEDIA'S LATEST BABY SEAL

[TAP]

There has yet to be proven one instance in modern history of an innocent person being put to death. .

Hmm....I don't doubt you're right in a literal sense but there are plenty of instances of innocent people being reprieved from death row. Once someone is executed there probably isn't too much political will to find them posthumously innocent but statistically it's extremely likely that innocent (in the sense of not having done it) people have been executed given the number of reprieves.

[Felina]

There was no physical and no scientific evidence involved in the conviction of Troy Davis. No scientific evidence at all. None. The conviction was based solely on witness testimony. The prosecution's star witness - "the only person to have claimed to seen the entire incident"* - has admitted to three sworn witnesses (separate from the original witnesses) that he murdered Mark MacPhail. I fail to see where even the most miniscule doubt of guilt does not warrant a stay of execution.

How can one be convicted and sentenced to death solely based upon witness testimony of people who subsequently admit they lied but yet not be exonerated by separate witness testimony?

Randall, could you please cite a [court]source where it's confirms that a "shit ton" of people saw the entire incident? Are you saying that there were 34 trial witnesses?

[Felina]

COP-KILLER IS MEDIA'S LATEST BABY SEAL

Do people actually believe the ridiculous nonsense she writes? Easy enough to read the court documents rather than rely on her 'emotional' writings.

[artcinco]

Coulter is Coulter and all that, but I imagine she is using facts about the case around her snark or she would not still be on the scene after all this time.

[Felina]

Coulter is Coulter and all that, but I imagine she is using facts about the case around her snark or she would not still be on the scene after all this time.

No, she's actually misstating facts - deliberately. I've read the amici curae (SP??) submitted to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals and she's just using bits and pieces of the truth heavily doped with snark. You know, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.....epic fail on her part.

[artcinco]

^ Could you give me a specific example.

[PERM BANNED]

You do know what recanted means don't you? It doesn't mean that they completely alter or dimiss what they originally said. Saying that the defendant was wearing a brown shirt instead of white as originally claimed falls under a testimony being recanted. How many times has this case been observed and monitored by the justice system? How many on the jury were black? How many withnesses were black? This isn't some racist good ol' boy system. It's been reviewed by the highest courts in the land and no one has found him innocent. If you go back to news articles in years past, you will see that there were numerous witnesses as stated in the coulter article. The number 9 comes from the amount of non-police witnesses the prosecution called. And again, altering a statement does not completly invalidate the original testimony in its entirety. That's why our justice system still holds this man behind bars. Though of course anyone with any understanding of the justice system and this case would know that. But people use a term like "recant" without knowing what it really means and claim that the whole thing was fixed.

[Zimbochick]

Here is the appeal:

http://www.ca11.usco...00816009ord.pdf