Troy Davis innocence claim denied

Sad news for those of us who seek true justice: Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge William T. Moore Jr. ruled that Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis failed to prove his innocence in a special hearing held in June which had been ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Moore wrote that the new evidence presented by the defense was "largely not credible or lacking in probative value."

This baffles me, because Davis's original trial was flawed; most of the witnesses have since recanted or contradicted their stories, with many claiming that they had been pressured or coerced by police; and there is no physical evidence linking Davis to the crime.

Unfortunately, unlike Davis's original trial, in which the prosecution (theoretically) had to prove guilt, in the evidentiary hearing the onus was on Davis's attorneys to clearly disprove guilt. In other words, they had to prove a negative. Amnesty International has admitted that the legal standard here was extremely high. But was it fair?

"Nobody walking out of that hearing could view this as an open-and-shut case," said Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. "The testimony that came to light demonstrates that doubt still exists, but the legal bar for proving innocence was set so high it was virtually insurmountable. It would be utterly unconscionable to proceed with [Davis's] execution, plain and simple."

Julien Ball, of the Campaign To End The Death Penalty, said, "With this ruling, Judge Moore has decided that the multiple witnesses who had nothing to gain years later by recanting their testimony under oath are lying or misremembering; and that their original testimony pointing to Troy Davis, under pressure from the police and prosecution, was correct. Once again, the courts have denied justice to Troy."

According to the Associated Press, Davis plans to appeal the ruling. Stay tuned, with fingers crossed. This is literally a matter of life or death.