More than 1,000 attend Troy Davis funeral

Funeral directors bring the casket of Troy Davis into the Jonesville Baptist Church before his funeral in Savannah, Ga., Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. Davis died by lethal injection for the 1989 slaying of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton) (CBS/AP) Last Updated 3:46 p.m. ET

SAVANNAH — More than 1,000 family members and supporters gathered in Georgia on Saturday to say farewell to Troy Davis, who insisted even until his execution that he was innocent. The funeral at Jonesville Baptist Church in Savannah opened with a slideshow of photos of Davis in his blue-trimmed prison uniform with his mother, sister and other family members. The service, which lasted three and a half hours, took on a political tone with speakers calling for the death penalty to be abolished. "Troy's last words that night were he told us to keep fighting until his name is cleared in Georgia," said Benjamin Jealous, head of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a leading civil rights group. "But most important, keep fighting until the death penalty is abolished and this can never be done to anyone else."

An undated photo of Death Row inmate Troy Davis. (Credit: AP/Georgia Dept. of Corrections) The 42-year-old Davis was executed Sept. 21 for the 1989 slaying of Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail. Courts ultimately upheld his death sentence, despite emotional pleas for his life from thousands across the globe. The Saturday funeral was also attended by Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International, and comedian and activist Dick Gregory. Davis' 17-year-old nephew, DeJaun Davis-Correia said his uncle, who spent hours helping him with homework over the phone, would want his loved ones to stay upbeat. "You really shouldn't be sad all the time, you should be happy and be positive. That's the attitude my uncle instilled in me," he said. Blue and white roses were placed on the casket because of Davis' love for the Dallas Cowboys pro football team. The Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor at Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist Church where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. preached, delivered the eulogy. "I did not come here all the way from Atlanta to tell you this is God's will," said Warnock, who served as a spiritual adviser to Davis on death row. "God's will is not revealed in this tragedy." On Friday at a church memorial Davis was remembered as a gentle man who faced his execution with grace and dignity. More than 250 people, including NAACP president Benjamin Jealous and comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory, jammed the New Life Apostolic Temple in Davis' hometown of Savannah for the memorial that served as a prelude to Saturday's funeral. Friends, pastors, anti-death penalty activists and Davis' lawyer all took turns at a podium behind his closed casket, decorated with a spray of white and purple flowers. Supporters remember Troy Davis at memorial Longtime friend Earl Redman, who said he'd known Davis since age 8, told the crowd Friday that during prison visits Davis would often say that he expected to die in the death chamber. "He looked me in the eye and he told me, 'Don't let me die in vain. Don't let my name die in vain,"' Redman said as a church usher tore paper towels off a roll for teary attendees to dry their eyes. The Rev. Randy Loney, a Macon pastor who often visited Davis in prison, said he was always struck by Davis' gentle nature despite the death sentence looming over him. Referring to the catchphrase adopted by his supporters — "I am Troy Davis" — Loney said he came to realize that "in a lot of ways, we are not Troy Davis." "We did not wake up every morning and go to sleep every evening with the specter of the executioner in our eyes," he said.

A line of people wait outside the Jonesville Baptist Church before the funeral of Troy Davis in Savannah, Ga., Saturday, Oct. 1, 2011. (Stephen Morton/AP Photo)

Big Boi, Killer Mike Protest Troy Davis Death Penalty [Photos + Video]

Big Boi Documents Troy Davis Execution Protest ~ September 22, 2011

PHOTOS & MORE: http://tinyurl.com/6gorwhy Antwan "Big Boi" Patton leads the protest in Jackson County, Georgia in an attempt to stop the execution of Troy Davis. Full Story: http://StraightFromTheA.com

Artist Chaz Guest paints Troy Davis

http://www.amnestyusa.org/troy Artist Chaz Guest is known for painting the portrait of Thurgood Marshal that hangs in President Obama's private study as well as the portrait of Obama that was used for part of his inauguration. Now he focuses his artistic talent on Troy Davis, a man on death row in Georgia. Troy Davis was convicted of murdering a Georgia police officer in 1991. Nearly two decades later, Davis remains on death row — even though the case against him has fallen apart. This film was directed by David Serota and produced by David Serota, Allison Behrstock, and Roger Wolfson. It was shot on location in the studio of Chaz Guest.

The Only Woman Electrocuted in Georgia's Electric Chair

The Only Woman Electrocuted in Georgia's Electric Chair Such is the story of Lena Baker, an African-American mother of three, who was electrocuted at the Georgia State Prison in Reidsville. She was convicted for the fatal shooting of E. B. Knight, a white Cuthbert, Georgia mill operator she was hired to care for after he broke his leg. She was 44 and the only woman ever executed in Georgia’s electric chair. For Baker, a Black maid in the segregated south in the 1940’s, her story was a tough sell to a jury of 12 white men. And rumors that she was romantically involved with victim E. B. Knight did not help. Her murder trial lasted just a day, without a single witness called by her court-appointed lawyer. She was convicted and sentenced to death. John Cole Vodicka, director of an Americus-based inmate advocacy program known as the Prison and Jail Project, said Knight had kept Ms. Baker as his "virtual sex slave." She was his paramour, she was his mistress, and, among other things, his drinking partner. If you read the transcript and have any understanding of black-white relations, Black women were often subjected to the sexual whims of their white masters, their white bosses, or some white man who had control over their lives or the lives of their families. "Here is one who resisted and paid the price.” The undertaker who brought her body back to Cuthbert buried her in a grave that went unmarked for five decades, until the congregation of Mount Vernon Baptist Church raised $250 for a concrete slab and marker. Relatives are still trying to clear her name with the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole. Lena Baker, who had a sixth-grade education, stated publicly her innocence to the very end. “What I done, I did in self-defense," she said in her final statement. "I have nothing against anyone. I am ready to meet my God.” A novel, The Lena Baker Story, authored by Lela Bond Phillips, chronicles her life. This book was the basis for a screenplay by actor/director Ralph Wilcox filmed in 2007 in Southwest Georgia. The film, also entitled "The Lena Baker Story," stars Tichina Arnold in the title role, Peter Coyote, Beverly Todd and Michael Rooker and is due for theatrical release in Spring 2009. 'The Lena Baker Story,' by Lela Bond Phillips

[video] Mother of Slain's man reaction of Troy Davis put to death in Georgia CNN

States that she can't believe it's over after 22 years. She say's it's a relief that justice has been served. She know's that Troy Davis's family is suffering now. Mother states that's the way he did it so that's the way it ended now.

[video] Mother of slain cop on execution of Troy Davis

Mother of Slain Son ask's for peace. States that she will NOT be present for Troy Davis's Execution

[video] Murder of Troy Davis - Rally for Life

The sister of Troy Davis, the Georgia man executed Wednesday night, said her brother was calm and treated his last moments with his family like any doting uncle would: he watched his 3-year-old niece's latest ballet moves. "Our last moments were joyous. My brother was giving us charge as to what he wanted us to do, telling us to hold our heads up, telling my nephew to continue to be all that he could be... My niece was showing him her ballet shoes and telling him to stand on his tippy toes like a ballerina," said Kimberly Davis from her Savannah, Ga., home. Davis' family last saw him between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesday when there was still hope that his execution might be stopped. The execution was postponed briefly by the Supreme Court for a legal review, but at 11:08 p.m., Davis, 42, was dead from lethal injection. "When we left my brother yesterday, my brother told us to hold our heads up and be strong because if the state of Georgia did succeed in executing him, they would only take his physical body and not his soul," she said, crying at times. "My brother said he only wanted to be a free man and right now, he is free." Davis was convicted of the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail and sentenced to the death penalty. Members of the MacPhail family are convinced Davis was guilty, but many other observers are not Before being executed, Davis said, "I'd like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I'm not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent." Witnesses said Davis' eyes fluttered as he received his first injection and lost consciousness, and that the entire process of lethal injection lasted about 15 minutes. Following Davis' death, the Twitter and Facebook world buzzed with the lyrics of Strange Fruit, the poem sung by Billie Holiday about the lynching of black men in the South. Some felt Davis' death equated to a modern day lynching. "That's what it is--a lynch mob in the state of Georgia, Chatham County," said Kimberly Davis. "We're going to carry on and continue to fight to bring down the death penalty," she said. "This fight didn't start with him and it's not going to end with him." Davis had his execution stayed four times over the course of his 22 years on death row, but multiple legal appeals during that time failed to convince a court of his innocence. Public support grew for Davis based on the recanted testimony of seven witnesses from his trial and the possible confession of another suspect, which his defense team claimed cast too much doubt on Davis' guilt to follow through with an execution. On Wednesday, busloads of Davis supporters gathered outside the White House and outside the Georgia State Prison in Jackson. Davis' 17-year-old nephew, Anthony, helped lead a group of men from Morehouse College to the prison, Kimberly Davis said. "One college student drove in from San Francisco by herself," Ms. Davis said. "So many people said that we're part of your family, we've been fighting the cause for your brother and we'll do whatever to continue the cause." The protesters, wearing t-shirts that said "I am Troy Davis" and holding signs that said "Too Much Doubt," cheered when the execution was briefly halted and cried when it was carried out. The family of MacPhail feels that justice has been served.

[video] Rev Al Sharpton on Troy Davis

As Sharpton summarized it, there is no weapon, DNA or fingerprint evidence tying Davis to the scene of the crime. In addition, seven of the nine witnesses whose evidence was used to convict Davis have since recanted their stories. People from Desmond Tutu to Pope Benededict have called for a new trial, and Amnesty International has denounced the impending execution

[video] Troy Davis Rally Atlanta September 16 2011 | NAACP, Amnesty, National Action Network

Friday September 16, 2011, NAACP, along with Amnesty International, the National Action Network and many other allies will hosted a march and prayer vigil to stop Troy Davis's execution and move for clemency. After the march Ben Jealous, President NAAACP joined with Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International, Rev. Al Sharpton, and Rev. Dr. Raphael Gamaliel Warnock of Ebenezer at a rally at the Ebenezer Baptist Church to continue shining a light on the appalling injustice that Troy Davis is facing. Concerned citizens came from neighboring cities and states to march for Troy Davis. The video captures the march and speech held before the prayer vigil. For more information on how to help save Troy Davis visit www.troyanthonydavis.org or www.amnestyusa.org/TroyDavis The Clippings — You just got the buzz from www.DryerBuzz.com — Combing the headlines. Transforming the way we look — at life.

[video] Judge Mathis Speaks about the execution of Troy Davis

Audio recording from Troy Davis, who faces execution despite the fact that there was no physical evidence and 7 out of 9 non-police witnesses have recanted or contradicted their testimony.

Troy Davis speaks from death row

[video] Troy Davis' Sister, Martina Correia, Vows To Carry On Fight Against Death Penalty

By RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The older sister of Troy Davis says she's not angry following his execution in Georgia, but she's determined to keep fighting the death penalty in her brother's memory. Martina Correia (KHOR-ray-yuh) of Savannah told The Associated Press on Friday she's proud of the way her brother used his last words to stand by his claims of innocence Wednesday before being put to death by injection. Davis had long insisted his conviction for the 1989 slaying of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail was a case of mistaken identity. Correia says her family is grieving but holding up better than many of Davis' thousands of supporters who were outraged by his execution. She says she's glad their mother, who died in April, did not live to see Davis put to death.

[video] Race Matters??: Georgia Didn’t Spare Troy Davis’ Life, But Check Out What They Did For Samuel David Crowe A Few Yrs Back… And He Confessed!

Posted on September 23rd, 2011 - By Bossip Staff They cannot be serious… The parole board in the state of Georgia spared a convicted killer from execution hours before he was due to die by lethal injection on Thursday and commuted his sentence to life in prison. The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles made its decision less than three hours before Samuel David Crowe, 47, was to be executed, according to a spokeswoman for the state’s prisons. “After careful and exhaustive consideration of the requests, the board voted to grant clemency. The board voted to commute the sentence to life without parole,” the parole board said. What? Requests?? What about all of the requests they got to re-consider Troy Davis’ case? There’s got to be something else to it. Crowe’s death would have marked the third execution since the U.S. Supreme Court lifted an unofficial moratorium on the death penalty last month. Crowe was not present at the parole board hearing in Atlanta. He had already eaten his last meal and was preparing to enter the execution chamber at the prison in Jackson, Georgia, Mallie McCord of the Georgia Department of Corrections said. In March 1988, Crowe killed store manager Joseph Pala during a robbery at the lumber company in Douglas County, west of Atlanta. Crowe, who had previously worked at the store, shot Pala three times with a pistol, beat him with a crowbar and a pot of paint. Crowe pleaded guilty to armed robbery and murder and was sentenced to death the following year. “David (Crowe) takes full responsibility for his crime and experiences profound remorse,” according to Georgians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, an advocacy group, who welcomed the board’s decision. At Thursday’s hearing, his lawyers presented a dossier of evidence attesting to his remorse and good behavior in jail, according to local media reports. The lawyers also said he was suffering from withdrawal symptoms from a cocaine addiction at the time of the crime. Wait, what??? So, the guy who confesses gets commuted to a life sentence. But the guy who says he’s innocent gets put to death? What part of the game is this?
SOURCE

Troy Davis executed in Georgia

(AP Photo/CBS News) (CBS/AP) JACKSON, Ga. - Defiant until the end, Troy Davis was executed Wednesday night for the murder of an off-duty police officer. He convinced hundreds of thousands of people around the world, but not a single court, that he was innocent. As he lay strapped to a gurney in the death chamber, the 42-year-old told relatives of Mark MacPhail that he was not responsible for his 1989 slaying. "I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun," he insisted. "All I can ask ... is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth," he said. Davis was declared dead at 11:08 p.m. The lethal injection began about 15 minutes earlier, after the Supreme Court rejected an 11th-hour request for a stay. "Justice has been served for Officer Mark MacPhail and his family," state Attorney General Sam Olens said in a statement. The high court did not comment on its order, which came about four hours after it received the request and more than three hours after the planned execution time. U.S. executions, by the numbers Polygraph for Troy Davis blocked, attorney says Troy Davis clemency bid denied on execution eve Hundreds of thousands of people signed petitions on Davis' behalf, and prominent supporters included an ex-president and an ex-FBI director, liberals and conservatives. His attorneys said seven of nine key witnesses against him disputed all or parts of their testimony, but state and federal judges repeatedly ruled against him -- three times on Wednesday alone. Davis asked his friends and family to "continue to fight this fight." Of prison officials he said, "May God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls." MacPhail's widow, Joan MacPhail-Harris, said there was "nothing to rejoice," but that it was "a time for healing for all families." "I will grieve for the Davis family because now they're going to understand our pain and our hurt," she said in a telephone interview from Jackson. "My prayers go out to them. I have been praying for them all these years. And I pray there will be some peace along the way for them." Davis' supporters staged vigils in the U.S. and Europe, declaring "I am Troy Davis" on signs, T-shirts and the Internet. Some tried increasingly frenzied measures, urging prison workers to stay home and even posting a judge's phone number online, hoping people will press him to put a stop to the lethal injection. President Barack Obama deflected calls for him to get involved. "They say death row; we say hell no!" protesters shouted outside the Jackson prison before Davis was executed. In Washington, a crowd outside the Supreme Court yelled the same chant.

A Georgia State Patrol trooper watches over demonstrators calling for Georgia state officials to halt the scheduled execution of convicted cop killer Troy Davis at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison in Jackson, Georgia, on Wednesday, September 21, 2011. (Credit: Getty Images) As many as 700 demonstrators gathered outside the prison as a few dozen riot police stood watch, but the crowd thinned as the night wore on and the outcome became clear. The scene turned eerily quiet as word of the high court's decision spread, with demonstrators hugging, crying, praying, holding candles and gathering around Davis' family. Laura Moye of Amnesty International said the execution was "the best argument for abolishing the death penalty." "The state of Georgia is about to demonstrate why government can't be trusted with the power over life and death," she said before Davis was put to death. About 10 counterdemonstrators also were outside the prison, showing support for the death penalty and MacPhail's family. Members of Davis' family who witnessed the execution left without talking to reporters. MacPhail's son and brother also attended. "I'm kind of numb. I can't believe that it's really happened," MacPhail's mother, Anneliese MacPhail, said in a telephone interview from her home in Columbus, Ga. "All the feelings of relief and peace I've been waiting for all these years, they will come later. I certainly do want some peace." Of Davis' claims of innocence, she said, "He's been telling himself that for 22 years. You know how it is, he can talk himself into anything." Davis' execution had been stopped three times since 2007, but on Wednesday he ran out of legal options. The pardons board rejected him, and Georgia's governor does not have the power to grant condemned inmates clemency. As his last hours ticked away, an upbeat and prayerful Davis turned down an offer for a special last meal as he met with friends, family and supporters. "Troy Davis has impacted the world," his sister Martina Correia said at a news conference. "They say, `I am Troy Davis,' in languages he can't speak." His attorney Stephen Marsh said Davis would have spent part of Wednesday taking a polygraph test if pardons officials had taken his offer seriously. "He doesn't want to spend three hours away from his family on what could be the last day of his life if it won't make any difference," Marsh said. Davis' supporters include former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI, a former FBI director, the NAACP, several conservative figures and many celebrities, including hip-hop star Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. "I'm trying to bring the word to the young people: There is too much doubt," rapper Big Boi, of the Atlanta-based group Outkast, said at a church near the prison. At a Paris rally, many of the roughly 150 demonstrators carried signs emblazoned with Davis' face. "Everyone who looks a little bit at the case knows that there is too much doubt to execute him," Nicolas Krameyer of Amnesty International said at the protest. The U.S. Supreme Court gave Davis an unusual opportunity to prove his innocence in a lower court last year, though the high court itself did not hear the merits of the case.

Troy Anthony Davis enters a courtroom for a hearing Jan. 16, 1991, during his trial for the shooting death of off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail. (Credit: AP Photo) He was convicted in 1991 of killing MacPhail, who was working as a security guard at the time. MacPhail rushed to the aid of a homeless man who prosecutors said Davis was bashing with a handgun after asking him for a beer. Prosecutors said Davis had a smirk on his face as he shot the officer to death in a Burger King parking lot in Savannah. No gun was ever found, but prosecutors say shell casings were linked to an earlier shooting for which Davis was convicted. Witnesses placed Davis at the crime scene and identified him as the shooter, but several of them have recanted their accounts and some jurors have said they've changed their minds about his guilt. Others have claimed a man who was with Davis that night has told people he actually shot the officer. "Such incredibly flawed eyewitness testimony should never be the basis for an execution," Marsh said. "To execute someone under these circumstances would be unconscionable." State and federal courts, however, have repeatedly upheld Davis' conviction. One federal judge dismissed the evidence advanced by Davis' lawyers as "largely smoke and mirrors." "He has had ample time to prove his innocence," MacPhail-Harris said. "And he is not innocent." The last motion filed by Davis' attorneys in Butts County Court challenged testimony from two witnesses and disputed testimony from the expert who linked the shell casings to the earlier shooting involving Davis. Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson and the Georgia Supreme Court rejected the appeal, and prosecutors said the filing was just a delay tactic. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which helped lead the charge to stop the execution, said it considered asking Obama to intervene, even though he cannot grant Davis clemency for a state conviction. Press secretary Jay Carney issued a statement saying that although Obama "has worked to ensure accuracy and fairness in the criminal justice system," it was not appropriate for him "to weigh in on specific cases like this one, which is a state prosecution." Dozens of protesters outside the White House called on the president to step in, and about 12 were arrested for disobeying police orders. Davis was not the only U.S. inmate put to death Wednesday evening. In Texas, white supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was put to death for the 1998 dragging death of a black man, James Byrd Jr., one of the most notorious hate crime murders in recent U.S. history. Davis' best chance may have come last year, in a hearing ordered by the U.S. Supreme Court. It was the first time in 50 years that justices had considered a request to grant a new trial for a death row inmate. The high court set a tough standard for Davis to exonerate himself, ruling that his attorneys must "clearly establish" Davis' innocence -- a higher bar to meet than prosecutors having to prove guilt. After the hearing judge ruled in prosecutors' favor, the justices didn't take up the case.

[video] Innocence Matters: Meet Troy Davis

Interview with Troy's sister Martina Correia explaining the Life of Troy Davis

[video] Martina Correia: Sister of Death Row Prisoner Troy Davis is "Appalled" By U.S. Supreme Court Ruling

DemocracyNow.org - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear the appeal of well-known Georgia death row prisoner Troy Anthony Davis, likely setting the stage for Georgia to schedule his execution. Davis was convicted in 1989 of killing an off-duty white police officer, Mark MacPhail. Since then, seven of the nine non-police witnesses who fingered Davis have recanted their testimony. No physical evidence ties Davis to the crime scene. With his legal appeals exhausted, Davis' fate rests largely in the hands of Georgia's Board of Pardons and Parole, which could commute his death sentence and spare his life. Democracy Now! interviews Troy Davis' sister, Martina Correia. "No one wants to look at the actual innocence, and no one wants to look at the witness recantation as a real strong and viable part of this case," Correia says. "I think there needs to be a global mobilization about Troy's case." For the video/audio podcast, transcript and to sign up for the daily news digest, visit http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/29/shocked_and_appalled_sister_of_death For additional interviews about Troy Davis' case from the last several years, see the Democracy Now! news archive: http://www.democracynow.org/tags/troy_davis FOLLOW US: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/democracynow Twitter: @democracynow Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today, visit http://www.democracynow.org/donate/YT

[video] Trailer: Examining the Troy Davis Case

http://www.amnestyusa.org/troy Troy Davis is at risk of execution as early as September 2011, even though grave doubts about his guilt remain. With all legal appeals exhausted, Davis' fate will be in the hands of Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles. Once his execution date is scheduled, they will be presented with the option of permanently preventing his execution.