Troy Davis innocent say congressmen Lewis Johnson



They say they’re committed to saving life of accused cop killer

By ERRIN HAINES

Associated Press

Friday, May 29, 2009

JACKSON, Ga. — After meeting for nearly two hours with death row 
inmate Troy Davis on Friday, two Georgia congressmen and the 
president of the NAACP said they are convinced of his innocence and 
committed to saving his life.

Congressmen John Lewis and Hank Johnson said they plan to return to 
Washington to pursue other legal means to resolving Davis’ case, 
which is currently back in the U.S. Supreme Court on appeal. NAACP 
President Ben Jealous said the case is now a national priority for 
the organization.

“This case stands out,” Jealous said during a news conference after 
he met with Davis. “Something’s wrong in Chatham County.”

Davis was convicted in the 1989 killing of Savannah police officer 
Mark MacPhail but his guilt was put in question after several 
witnesses from his trial changed their testimony. Supporters are 
calling for a new trial for Davis, 40, who has been incarcerated for 
nearly two decades.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, consider the case closed and cast doubt on 
the new evidence. Former Savannah District Attorney Spencer Lawton 
has said the new testimony is “very difficult to believe” because it 
could have been manipulated.

Lewis said he has considered asking for a presidential pardon for 
Davis, but has not yet spoken to President Barack Obama about 
intervening in the case. When he returns to Washington next week, 
Lewis said he plans to talk to the chairmen of the House and Senate 
Judiciary Committees to discuss possible legislation related to 
Davis’ case.

On May 22, two dozen congressmen — including Lewis and Johnson — sent 
a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder about Davis’ case, 
asking him to “take any action, open any investigation or simply use 
the persuasion of your office to ensure that a grave injustice is not 
done in Georgia” and said MacPhail’s death “brought the ire and rage 
of a city that still bore the scars of segregation, Jim Crow and the 
Civil Rights movement.”

“One man cannot stand in the place of another to placate some generic 
cry for quick justice through abbreviated investigation,” reads the 
letter, which was also sent to Chatham County District Attorney Larry 
Chisholm and Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker.

MacPhail, who was working off-duty as a security guard at a bus 
station, rushed to help a homeless man who had been pistol-whipped at 
a nearby parking lot. The 27-year-old was shot twice when he 
approached Davis and two other men. Witnesses identified Davis as the 
shooter in the 1991 trial. He was convicted of murder and sentenced 
to death.

Johnson, who wrote a letter to the state parole board in 2007 asking 
for clemency for Davis, said on Friday that Davis encouraged the 
group who came to visit him, and led them in prayer.

“There was a railroading of Troy Davis, but we got our own train 
now,” Johnson said. “The train is picking up momentum. We can’t bring 
Officer MacPhail back, but we can prevent a diabolical injustice from 
taking place.”

Jealous said Davis’ case would be on the NAACP’s agenda leading up to 
their annual convention in July, adding that the organization has 
contacted more than 400,000 activists online.

Davis’ sister, Martina Correia, said she was encouraged that others 
were now telling his story.

“For almost 20 years, I’ve been trying to get somebody to listen,” 
said Correia. “Now we have the world watching and the state of 
Georgia still wants to be defiant.”


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