43 Facts About Troy Davis

Troy Anthony Davis was a man convicted of and executed for the August 19,1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail in Savannah, Georgia.

Troy Davis was convicted of murder and various lesser charges, including the earlier shooting, and was sentenced to death in August 1991.

Some writings disavowed parts of prior testimony, or implicated Sylvester "Redd" Coles, who Troy Davis contended was the actual triggerman.

Troy Davis did not call some of the witnesses who had supposedly recanted, despite their presence in the courthouse; accordingly their affidavits were given little weight by the judge.

Troy Davis's family began negotiating with police, motivated by concerns about his safety.

The couple divorced when Troy Davis was very young, and Troy Davis grew up with four siblings in the predominantly black, middle-class neighborhood of Cloverdale in Savannah, Georgia.

Troy Davis attended Windsor Forest High School, where one teacher described him as a poor student.

Troy Davis dropped out in his junior year so he could drive his disabled younger sister to her rehabilitation.

Troy Davis obtained his high-school equivalency diploma from Richard Arnold Education Center in 1987.

In July 1988, Troy Davis pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon; he was fined $250 as part of a plea agreement in which a charge of possession of a gun with altered serial numbers was dropped.

Troy Davis's boss commented that while Davis was a likeable and good worker who appeared to have positive life goals, his job attendance was poor; by Christmas 1988, he had stopped coming to work.

Troy Davis returned to the job twice in the following months but neither time remained for long.

Troy Davis was a coach in the Savannah Police Athletic League and had signed up for service in the United States Marine Corps.

Troy Davis was the son of a US Army colonel, was married, and was father to a two-year-old daughter and an infant son.

Troy Davis had joined the Savannah Police Department in 1986 following six years of military service as an Army Ranger.

The prosecution claimed that Troy Davis had shot Cooper in Cloverdale, then met up with Redd Coles at a pool hall, pistol-whipped the homeless man Larry Young in the parking lot, and then killed Mark MacPhail.

Two witnesses to whom Troy Davis was claimed to have confessed were called at trial:.

Troy Davis testified to having seen Coles assault Young, and Troy Davis said that he had fled the scene before any shots were fired and, therefore, did not know who had shot MacPhail.

Six witnesses, including Troy Davis, testified at trial for the defense.

In 1994, Troy Davis began habeas corpus proceedings, filing a petition in state court alleging that he had been wrongfully convicted and that his death sentence was a miscarriage of justice.

Troy Davis alleged that the use of the electric chair during executions in Georgia constituted cruel and unusual punishment.

In December 2001, Troy Davis filed a habeas corpus petition in the United States District Court.

Antoine Williams, Larry Young and Monty Holmes stated in affidavits that their earlier testimony implicating Troy Davis had been coerced by strong-arm police tactics.

On September 26,2006, the court affirmed the denial of federal habeas corpus relief, and determined that Troy Davis had not made "a substantive claim of actual innocence" or shown that his trial was constitutionally unfair; the circuit court found that neither prosecutors nor defense counsel had acted improperly or incompetently at trial.

Troy Davis's case gained increasing public exposure and support from organizations and prominent individuals.

An appeal to Governor of Georgia Sonny Perdue urging him to spare Troy Davis's life was sent on behalf of Pope Benedict XVI.

Representatives from the Council of Europe and European Parliament spoke out on Troy Davis's case, asking US authorities to halt the planned execution and calling for a new trial.

In July 2008, Troy Davis's lawyers filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the US Supreme Court, seeking review of the Georgia Supreme Court decision and arguing that the Eighth Amendment creates a substantive right of the innocent not to be executed.

Lawyers for Troy Davis argued that lower courts had failed to permit a hearing to carefully examine the recanted testimony and four witnesses who implicated Coles.

On October 21,2008, Troy Davis's lawyers requested an emergency stay of the pending execution, and three days later the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of execution to consider a newly filed federal habeas petition.

Troy Davis's supporters continued their appeals and actions; these included rallies held worldwide, a petition with 140,000 signatures presented to the state Board of Pardons and Paroles, and an appeal from the European Union calling for the death sentence to be commuted.

In contrast, the Chatham County prosecutors asserted that Troy Davis was guilty and deserved the death penalty.

Judges Dubina and Marcus rejected the petition, stating that Troy Davis's claims having been reviewed and rejected in the past, and that the recantations were not persuasive.

Judge Rosemary Barkett, in dissent, expressed her belief that as Troy Davis might prove his innocence, it would be wrong to execute him.

Troy Davis filed a petition for habeas corpus with the US Supreme Court on May 19,2009.

The witnesses variously described their previous testimony against Troy Davis as being the result of feeling scared, of feeling frightened and pressured by police or to get revenge in a conflict with Troy Davis.

One of Troy Davis's lawyers stated that the day before they had been unsuccessful in serving a subpoena on Coles; Moore responded that the attempt had been made too late, given that the hearing date had been set months in advance.

In July 2010, Troy Davis's lawyers filed a motion asking Moore to reconsider his decision to exclude testimony from a witness to a confession by Coles, but in August 2010, Moore stood by his initial decision, stating that in not calling Coles, Troy Davis's lawyers were seeking to implicate Coles without desiring his rebuttal.

Troy Davis did not consider Coles' alleged confessions because of the failure of Davis's lawyers to subpoena Coles, and suggested that Davis should appeal directly to the Supreme Court.

Troy Davis filed a request with the US Supreme Court to stay his execution.

Almost an hour after Troy Davis's scheduled execution time, the Supreme Court announced they would review his petition, thereby postponing the execution.

Twitter recorded 7,671 tweets per second in the moments before word of Troy Davis's execution, making his death the second-most-active Twitter event in 2011.

Troy Davis's funeral was attended by more than 1,000 people in Savannah, Georgia, on October 1,2011.