Troy Davis Story: Georgia Inmate in Final Hours as Thousands Rally to Stop Execution
The hours are dwindling for death row inmate Troy Davis as hundreds of thousands from all over the world voice their support for a stay of the Georgia prisoner's execution, which is scheduled to take place Wednesday, Sept. 21.
A number of anti-death penalty groups gathered Sunday for a 24-hour vigil for Davis, sentenced in the death of a police officer.
Following the vigil, a large group of supporters chanted loudly on the sidewalk in front of the Sloppy Floyd building in downtown Atlanta, which houses the parole board.
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Former President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Joan Baez, John Legend, R.E.M., Russell Simmons as well as Mia Farrow, are just a handful of individuals in a groundswell of supporters lending their voices on behalf of the condemned man.
The case of 42-year-old Davis has captured a considerable amount of attention because of doubts raised over whether he killed Georgia police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989.
The U.S. Supreme Court has granted the death row inmate a hearing to prove his innocence, but he was unable to convince a judge to grant him a new trial.
Supporters have become more insistent in their calls for clemency due to the fact that witnesses have recanted previous statements and have sworn through affidavits that they were pressured or coerced by police into testifying against Davis. Other witnesses have also said the murder was committed by another man.
"This is a particularly unique case, we believe that Troy Davis is innocent, and we believe that if this state is prepared to execute Troy Davis, they will be executing an innocent man," said Edward DuBose, Georgia's NAACP president.
