ATLANTA \u2014 Troy Davis, whose death row case ignited an international campaign to save his life, has lost what appeared to be his last attempt to avoid death by lethal injection on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Rejecting pleas by Mr. Davis\u2019s lawyers that shaky witness testimony and a lack of physical evidence presented enough doubt about his guilt to spare him death, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles ruled on Tuesday morning that Mr. Davis, 42, should die for killing Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer, in a Savannah parking lot in 1989.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has had ample time to prove his innocence, and he is not innocent,\u201d said Mr. MacPhail\u2019s widow, Joan MacPhail-Harris. \u201cWe have laws in this land so that there is not chaos. We are not killing Troy because we want to. We\u2019re trying to execute him because he was punished.\u201d<\/p>\n
She, Mr. MacPhail\u2019s mother and the couple\u2019s two grown children were tearful after the hearing on Monday, pleading exhaustion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not for blood. I\u2019m for justice,\u201d said his mother, Anneliese MacPhail. \u201cWe have been through hell, my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
The case has been a slow and convoluted exercise in legal maneuvering and death penalty politics. It has included last-minute stays and a rare Supreme Court decision. <\/p>\n