Supreme Court delays Troy Davis decision

[The Watchmen]

Courtesy of The Associated Press, Tuesday, June 30, 2009

SAVANNAH — Death row inmate Troy Anthony Davis got another legal break Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court recessed for summer without acting on his latest appeal, likely delaying any developments in his case until fall. Earlier, his supporters presented Savannah’s district attorney with 60,000 petition signatures urging him to reopen the case.

Davis has spent nearly 18 years on death row after his conviction for killing an off-duty police officer, and his case has become a rallying point for death penalty opponents worldwide. His attorneys say Davis is innocent of killing officer Mark MacPhail and deserves a new trial after several prosecution witnesses reconsidered testimony given at his 1991 trial.

Davis has been spared from execution three times since he was first scheduled to die by lethal injection in 2007, as various courts have weighed and ultimately rejected his appeals.

Davis’ attorneys filed his latest appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court after the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected their request for a new trial in April. The Supreme Court had not decided whether it would hear Davis’ appeal when justices recessed for the summer Monday. They won’t reconvene until September.

“It’s definitely good news,” said Jason Ewart, Davis’ attorney, who interpreted the court’s inaction as a sign it wants to take a closer look at the case. “It’s not just a move buying more time.”

While the Supreme Court’s in recess, the next move would be up to Chatham County District Attorney Larry Chisolm.

There’s no stay of execution preventing Chisolm from seeking a judge’s order to move forward with Davis’ death sentence. The prosecutor released a brief statement Monday that stopped short of saying he would wait for the Supreme Court before acting.

“As previously stated, the Chatham County District Attorney’s office has no comment on the substance of this case until all appeals are exhausted,” Chisolm said.

Chisolm’s spokeswoman, Lydia Sermons, declined to comment further.

Davis’ supporters say Chisolm has another option. They’re working to pressure Chisolm to reopen Davis’ case without waiting for the courts.

“He doesn’t have to wait for them,” said Martina Correia, Davis’ sister. “He could still open this case at any time.”

About 25 people from the NAACP, Amnesty International and other groups supporting Davis held a news conference Monday outside the Savannah courthouse to present Chisolm’s office with 60,000 petition signatures urging the prosecutor to seek a new trial for Davis.

They said about 11,000 signatures came from Savannah and surrounding Chatham County, where black voters were key to Chisolm’s election as the county’s first African-American district attorney last fall. Davis is also black.

“We have sufficient evidence, we believe, to show that Troy Anthony Davis is innocent,” said Prince Jackson, president of the NAACP’s Savannah branch. “We are asking that he be given a chance. After all, his life is at stake.”

Sermons, who accepted the petitions on Chisolm’s behalf, has previously said the district attorney wasn’t sure he has the legal authority to halt Davis’ execution. She declined to elaborate Monday.

Chisolm’s predecessor, Spencer Lawton, was district attorney when Davis was convicted. Prosecutors under Lawton, who retired last year, rejected Davis’ claims of innocence and labeled statements by recanting witnesses as “suspect.”

MacPhail was slain 20 years ago while working off-duty as a security guard at a bus station. He had rushed to help a homeless man who had been pistol-whipped at a nearby parking lot, and was shot twice when he approached Davis and two other men. Witnesses identified Davis as the shooter at his 1991 trial.

But Davis’ lawyers say new evidence proves their client was a victim of mistaken identity. They say three people who did not testify at Davis’ trial have said another man confessed to the killing. But in an interview with the Associated Press, the jury foreman at the trial said he had no doubts about Davis’ guilt.

The case has attracted worldwide attention, with calls to stop Davis’ execution from former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Desmond Tutu. Rallies have been held as far away as Paris.