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According to CNN, the Supreme Court granted a stay of execution to Troy Davis two hours before he was scheduled to be executed. A petition to the SCOTUS for a new trial for Davis is pending. Just to reiterate, Davis was convicted of killing Georgia Police Officer Mark MacPhail. Since Davis' original trial, seven of the nine witnesses have recanted, some have implicated the ninth witness, and others have said they were coerced by police. There was no physical evidence, and no murder weapon, so the fact that the prosecution's case was based entirely on witness testimony suggests that Davis did not commit the crime. The circumstances are even more troubling when you consider that eyewitness misidentification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions. This was the reaction of the McPhail family to the stay:
--A. Serwer
"I am angry as can be. I'm disgusted. It should have been over by now," MacPhail's mother, Anneliese MacPhail, told CNN. "Nobody thinks about what the victims' family has gone through again and again. I was hoping it would be over today," she said. Earlier, she said, "There is no possibility he's innocent, not according to what's been said in court."Obviously, the desire of MacPhail's family for closure is understandable. But that cannot take precedence over a man's life. There has been enough doubt raised about the way the state put together its case against Davis that his guilt is anything but a certainty. Also, I have trouble believing that Davis' execution will be comforting in the long run, given that the most likely scenario is that Mark MacPhail's killer is still free.
--A. Serwer
