Troy Davis Put To Death in Georgia

[Greenday]

I don't know that he was innocent. I do think he was involved. However, the issue here is that there is entirely too much doubt as to whether he was the one to pull the trigger, which is what he was executed for.

Exactly. There's so much doubt that he did it that the death penalty shouldn't be an option anymore. The Justice System fails again.

[Tanasi]

Ignore the retoric and read this
I know most if not all dislike her but it looks like she has some knowledge that doesn't appear to be widely known.

[Andara Bledin]

She's got as large an agenda and is as biased as those who mis-report on the other side. I particularly like the "so anxious to return him to the street" line. What part of "life without parole" returns him to the street? Lovely inflammatory rhetoric to stir up her followers and tar those she she writes against. Her article is long on hyperbole and righteous indignation and almost devoid of any sort of supporting citations, just refuting bad journalism with more bad journalism.

According to Amnesty International, who posts actual names and quotes, ten witnesses who had signed affidavits had recanted (most of whom were badgered for hours before giving in and signing statements, including one who was illiterate), and nine more people had either recanted or come forward to implicated Coles, not Davis. And these were collected in 2007. Four years ago.

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[AdminAssistant]

Yeah, there was no way I could even get past Coulter's first sentence.

[Rageaholic]

According to Amnesty International, who posts actual names and quotes, ten witnesses who had signed affidavits had recanted (most of whom were badgered for hours before giving in and signing statements, including one who was illiterate), and nine more people had either recanted or come forward to implicated Coles, not Davis. And these were collected in 2007. Four years ago.

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But amnesty international is a liberal organization!! They lie!!!

Seriously, I had a hard time getting past her "evil liberal conspiracy" rant. Though to be fair, she did present a few good points (that perhaps some of the witnesses were friends of his covering his ass). But we'll never know. And she still failed to realize that not getting the death penalty, does not mean back on the streets.

[HYHYBT]

We don't, and can't, know that he was innocent... that witnesses were coerced means that their statements at trial are useless, not NECESSARILY that the accused wasn't guilty. Chances are, if the police did use coercion to convict someone of killing one of their own, it was because they were pretty sure (not NEARLY good enough, of course, and not an excuse) that he was guilty, but could not otherwise prove it.

[Gravekeeper]

Ignore the retoric and read this
I know most if not all dislike her but it looks like she has some knowledge that doesn't appear to be widely known.

That vile woman is incapable of stringing two words together without pushing an agenda to sell one of her "books". I refuse to even reward her with a page view.

[Andara Bledin]

Chances are, if the police did use coercion to convict someone of killing one of their own, it was because they were pretty sure (not NEARLY good enough, of course, and not an excuse) that he was guilty, but could not otherwise prove it.

Chances are, as in these cases, and these, the police involved made up their minds about who did it and then proceeded to try to find and twist facts to fit their judgments.

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[Greenday]

We don't, and can't, know that he was innocent... that witnesses were coerced means that their statements at trial are useless, not NECESSARILY that the accused wasn't guilty. Chances are, if the police did use coercion to convict someone of killing one of their own, it was because they were pretty sure (not NEARLY good enough, of course, and not an excuse) that he was guilty, but could not otherwise prove it.

Or chances are more likely that they wanted to case solved now instead of looking bad by not being able to solve the case so they just picked a likely candidate, then did everything they could to prove him guilty instead of doing better policing.

[Canarr]

That woman is incredible...

Fifty-nine percent of Americans now believe that an innocent man has been executed in the last five years. There is more credible evidence that space aliens have walked among us than that an innocent person has been executed in this country in the past 60 years, much less the past five years.

[HYHYBT]

That woman is incredible...

Fifty-nine percent of Americans now believe that an innocent man has been executed in the last five years. There is more credible evidence that space aliens have walked among us than that an innocent person has been executed in this country in the past 60 years, much less the past five years.

Even that guy in Texas where there hadn't even BEEN a crime committed? Convicted of murder by arson, when it was a natural (for lack of a better word) fire, if I remember rightly?

[linguist]

Even that guy in Texas where there hadn't even BEEN a crime committed? Convicted of murder by arson, when it was a natural (for lack of a better word) fire, if I remember rightly?

it was a fire started by a space heater, if i recall correctly. but yes, apparently she's so dead certain that everyone who is sentenced to death is guilty that she will continue to believe so even in the face of proof otherwise.

given the number of death row inmates who have been freed based on dna evidence just in the past 10 years, the sad statistical probability is that since 1950 (or whatever arbitrary date she chose for her ravings) we have likely executed dozens of innocent men.

[Andara Bledin]

Even that guy in Texas where there hadn't even BEEN a crime committed? Convicted of murder by arson, when it was a natural (for lack of a better word) fire, if I remember rightly?

Cameron Todd Willingham. His case has been brought up here before, and I link to the details of an outstanding article on his case in the OP of the thread I started about the DP being too far to go when we are so provably fallible.

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[HYHYBT]

Thanks; I knew someone had recently in one of the threads around here.

Still (unless the argument is that there is plenty of evidence of space aliens) how can that be reconciled with the claim that there is more evidence of space aliens than that anyone innocent has been executed in the last however many years?

[Andara Bledin]

Still (unless the argument is that there is plenty of evidence of space aliens) how can that be reconciled with the claim that there is more evidence of space aliens than that anyone innocent has been executed in the last however many years?

It can't.

Not unless you stick your fingers in your ears and shut your eyes and go "LALALALALALA" in the face of reality, anyway.

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