When discussing appellate courts I mention that a key difference between a trial and an appeal is the former focuses on facts while the latter is concerned with procedure. If there are no procedural violations, appellate courts -- those that practice judicial restraint at least -- see no reason to order new trials on the basis of new evidence. This is true even for death penalty cases. Such is the case of Troy Anthony Davis.
The 1991 death sentence against Davis came under scrutiny after seven of nine witnesses who helped convict him recanted their testimony or changed their statements. Several told of being pressured by police to tell them what they wanted to hear. Three other people have said a man who identified Davis as the killer had confessed to being the triggerman.
The case has become a cause celebre for death penalty opponents, including the human rights group Amnesty International, which has launched a campaign on Davis's behalf. Among others, Pope Benedict XVI, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former president Jimmy Carter and the Council of Europe have urged Georgia authorities to spare Davis's life. Even some supporters of the death penalty, notably former FBI director William S. Sessions and former congressman Robert L. Barr Jr. (R-Ga.), have called for a reexamination of the case.
However, relatives and supporters of the victim, off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail, insist that police got the right man when they charged Davis with murdering MacPhail in the early hours of Aug. 19, 1989, when MacPhail tried to stop Davis and two friends from brutally beating a homeless man in a fast-food restaurant parking lot.
Amnesty International said yesterday that it was "truly shocking" that the Supreme Court has effectively ruled out the presentation of new evidence favoring Davis.
"Faulty eyewitness identification is the leading cause of wrongful convictions, and the hallmark of Davis's case," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA.
The condemned man's sister, Martina Correia, also denounced the Supreme Court's action. "The Supreme Court doesn't know everything," she said. "They make mistakes, too, and that's what we're trying to avoid here, a mistake that you can't take back."
But MacPhail's sister, Kathy McQuary, said her family believes Davis should be executed. "I'm just ecstatic that after 19 years, this is finally going to be over and we can have peace in our family; we can have closure," she said. "My brother was a police officer. That's why we are so adamant about the death penalty. They do risk their lives."
