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A Global Day of Action will be held this Friday for Troy Davis, a death row prisoner in the state of Georgia. Troy Davis was convicted in 1989 of killing an off-duty police officer in Savannah, Georgia. In the ensuing 20 years Davis has maintained his innocence and the case has garnered international attention. During Davis’ trial nine witnesses placed him at the scene. Seven have since recanted their testimony, with some saying they were subjected to intense pressure by police to testify against an innocent person. At least two have named another man as the killer. No physical evidence linking Davis to the scene has ever been found. A coalition of prominent individuals and groups pleading for clemency includes former FBI director William Sessions, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the NAACP, and Amnesty International. Davis has been given three execution dates, but each was postponed as his case was reviewed. It has been before the Georgia Board of Pardon and Parole, the Supreme Court, and lower courts since the initial conviction, but no ruling has granted Davis a new trial. In 2009 the Supreme Court ordered a Federal Judge to review whether the defense’s new evidence would likely result in a different verdict. On August 23, U.S. District Judge William T. Moore Jr. ruled against Davis, writing in a 172 page order, “[t]he state’s case may not be ironclad,” but a new jury would likely not find Davis innocent. Troy Davis is set to be executed on September 21st . Two days before that, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole will hear a final argument, this time for clemency, from Davis’ legal team.

GUEST: Laura Moye , Director of the Death Penalty Abolition Campaign at Amnesty International USA

Listen to Martina Correia’s plea for her brother Troy Davis here: http://www.prisonradio.org/audio/
mumia/2011MAJ/Sept2011/TroyDavis.mp3

Find out more about the petition to stop Troy Davis’ execution and the Global Day of Action this Friday at www.justicefortroy.org. Follow Amnesty’s twitter feed here: @amnesty and @lauramoye.