Epress.am News from Armenia
The Telegraph published a timeline of the main events in a legal saga that has dragged on for more than two decades and made Davis a poster child for death penalty abolitionists:
August 19, 1989: Off-duty white police officer Mark MacPhail is working as a security guard at a Burger King in Savannah, Georgia when he intervenes in an argument between several men in the parking lot. He is shot in the heart and face without having drawn his gun and dies instantly.
August 23, 1989: Troy Davis, a 20-year-old unemployed black man, is arrested after being implicated by a witness.
April 1990: Davis pleads not guilty at a preliminary hearing.
August 1991: The trial begins with prosecutors seeking the death penalty.
August 28, 1991: The jury, composed of seven blacks and five whites, finds Davis guilty after less than two hours of deliberation.
August 30, 1991: Davis has testified during the sentencing phase of the trial, maintaining his innocence, but the jury recommends the death penalty and he is sentenced to death.
March 1992: A first request for a new trial is denied.
March 1993: Georgia’s Supreme Court upholds the conviction and the sentence.
December 2001: Davis files an appeal with the US federal district court saying seven of nine original witnesses have recanted their testimony.
May 2004: A judge declines to consider the claim and rejects other claims about unfair jury selection, ineffective defense counsel and prosecutorial misconduct.
September 2006: The 11th Circuit Court upholds this decision on appeal saying Davis has failed to substantively prove his innocence or show his original trial was constitutionally unfair.
June 2007: Davis’s execution is set for July 17, 2007.
July 16, 2007: After appeals rain in from notaries including Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Pope Benedict XVI, the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles grants a 90-day stay of execution at the 11th hour.
August 2007: The Georgia Supreme Court grants Davis a discretionary appeal for a new trial on the basis of mistaken identity.
March 17, 2008: The Georgia Supreme Court denies the appeal by a 4-3 majority.
July 2008: Davis’s second execution date is scheduled for September 23, 2008.
September 23, 2008: The US Supreme Court issues a last minute emergency stay less than two hours before he is due to be put to death.
October 14, 2008: The US Supreme Court declines to hear Davis’s petition and sets a third execution date of October 27, 2008.
October 21, 2008: Lawyers for Davis request an emergency stay as rallies are held worldwide pleading for clemency.
October 24, 2008: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issues a stay of execution to consider a newly-filed habeas corpus petition.
December 9, 2008: A three-judge panel hears oral arguments at a hearing in Atlanta.
April 16, 2009: The panel denies Davis’s application by a 2-1 majority.
May 19, 2009: Davis files a petition for habeas corpus with the US Supreme Court.
August 17, 2009: In a rare move the US Supreme Court orders a Savannah federal district court to open a new hearing.
June 2010: A panel dismisses the appeal with Judge William Moore finding only one of the witness recantations wholly credible.
January 2011: Davis files a new appeal with the US Supreme Court.
March 2011: The appeal is rejected.
September 7, 2011: Georgia sets Davis’s fourth execution date for September 21, 2011.
September 20, 2011: The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles denies Davis’s last-ditch bid for clemency.
September 21, 2011: The five-member board refuses to reverse its decision and also denies a request to allow Davis to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence.
– 7:00 pm (2300 GMT): Davis scheduled time to be put to death is delayed by the Supreme Court, as the nine justices weigh a final stay of execution, which they deny three hours later.
– 11:08 pm (0308 GMT) Davis is pronounced dead after receiving a lethal injection, with MacPhail’s relatives looking on.