Troy Davis Case Back in Court

12.09.08

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments today in the case of Troy Davis, who has been on Georgia’s death row for nearly two decades for a murder he has always said he didn’t commit. Davis has come within hours of execution three times before receiving a stay.

The federal appeals court today will hear arguments on Davis’ request for a new trial based on evidence of his innocence developed since his conviction.

Now Davis’ lawyers insist a new trial is needed because seven of nine witnesses have either recanted or are now uncertain of their testimony about MacPhail’s August 1989 murder in a Savannah Burger King parking lot. The lawyers have produced affidavits from witnesses who say they are no longer sure of what they saw that morning or say their testimony was a lie.


Read today’s full story here

. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 12/09/08)

Eyewitness identification testimony was the key evidence against Davis at trial, and this type of evidence has been shown to contribute to wrongful convictions. In this case, the Innocence Project and Innocence Network together filed a

friend-of-the-court brief

in the 11th Circuit Court pointing to the unreliability of eyewitness testimony.

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