Georgia Department of Corrections

Troy Anthony Davis

Troy Anthony Davis is a 38-year-old African American man from a large, middle class, churchgoing family in Savannah. When he was younger, he was the type who would buy the kids in the neighborhood ice cream when the ice cream truck came around. He was the type who went to night school so he could care for a paralyzed sister during the day. In 1989 he was planning to join the Marines. That year he got caught up in a police investigation.

Troy Anthony Davis is a model prisoner on death row in Georgia who has steadfastly maintained his innocence. He is preparing himself to be killed by the state, and he is relying on other people to tell his story and plea for his last chance.

In 1989 an off-duty police officer was shot dead in a dark parking lot. Both Sylvester “Red” Coles and Troy Davis were near the scene. The next day Coles showed up at a police station with his lawyer and told the police that Davis had been the shooter. After that, the police investigation seemed to focus on Davis. Witnesses who pointed to Red Coles as the killer were ignored and Coles became a key eyewitness in the case against Davis.

In the years since Davis’ conviction, trial witnesses and new witnesses have come forward and signed affidavits saying that Red Coles had been carrying a gun that night and that he hid his guns after the shooting. In one affidavit a former friend tells how Coles confided that he had killed a police officer and let Davis take the fall for it. Another affidavit reveals that the shooter was holding the gun in his left hand. Coles, not Davis, is left-handed.

Troy Davis with his family during a recent visit.

When Davis heard there was a warrant for his arrest, he turned himself in to the sheriff’s department. The police found no gunshot residue on him, and they never found a murder weapon. As a result, the prosecutor had to rely on witness testimony to convict Davis.

Already at the trial the witness testimony showed inconsistencies. In the years since Davis’ conviction, seven out of the nine non-police prosecution witnesses who were the heart of the state’s case against him recanted or contradicted their testimony. One remaining witness is Red Coles; the other can only identify the color of the shooter’s clothes.

The affidavits tell a story of fear and coercion. Witnesses say they lied when they said Troy Davis was the shooter that night. Under pressure from the police, one witness signed a statement although he could not read. Another, pregnant and on parole, was scared that she would be thrown back in jail unless she told the police what she thought they wanted to hear, that Davis was the murderer. One 16-year-old was made to believe that he would be charged as an accessory to the murder if he didn’t implicate Davis.

I hope you get a chance to hear Troy Anthony Davis tell his story. I imagine inviting him to Athens to tell how he struggled for justice with the help of fellow Georgians and concerned citizens around the world, and how he eventually was freed from his nightmare. But the happy end is not guaranteed.

Troy Davis’ last chance comes on July 16 when the five-member Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers clemency for him. The board has the sole authority to prevent the execution. For more information about the case and actions you can take, see www.amnestyusa.org/troydavis. Contact the State Board of Pardons and Paroles (the fax number is 404-651-8502), and let them know that Georgians still believe in proof “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Laura Tate Kagel

Laura Tate Kagel is Amnesty International’s State Death Penalty Abolition Coordinator for Georgia. She lives in Athens.