URGENT Adventist Believer condemned to die

[carolaa]

Here is an open letter that Troy Davis wrote to Amnesty International:

To all,

I want to thank all of you for your efforts and dedication to Human Rights and Human Kindness, in the past year I have experienced such emotion, joy, sadness and never ending faith.

It is because of all of you that I am alive today, as I look at my sister Martina I am marveled by the love she has for me and of course I worry about her and her health, but as she tells me she is the eldest and she will not back down from this fight to save my life and prove to the world that I am innocent of this terrible crime.

As I look at my mail from across the globe, from places I have never ever dreamed I would know about and people speaking languages and expressing cultures and religions I could only hope to one day see first hand. I am humbled by the emotion that fills my heart with overwhelming, overflowing Joy.

I can't even explain the insurgence of emotion I feel when I try to express the strength I draw from you all, it compounds my faith and it shows me yet again that this is not a case about the death penalty, this is not a case about Troy Davis, this is a case about Justice and the Human Spirit to see Justice prevail.

I cannot answer all of your letters but I do read them all, I cannot see you all but I can imagine your faces, I cannot hear you speak but your letters take me to the far reaches of the world, I cannot touch you physically but I feel your warmth everyday I exist.

So Thank you and remember I am in a place where execution can only destroy your physical form but because of my faith in God, my family and all of you I have been spiritually free for some time and no matter what happens in the days, weeks to come, this Movement to end the death penalty, to seek true justice, to expose a system that fails to protect the innocent must be accelerated.

There are so many more Troy Davis'. This fight to end the death penalty is not won or lost through me but through our strength to move forward and save every innocent person in captivity around the globe. We need to dismantle this Unjust system city by city, state by state and country by country.

I can't wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form, I will one day be announcing, "I AM TROY DAVIS, and I AM FREE!"

Never Stop Fighting for Justice and We will Win!

-- Troy Davis

[Lauralea]

The United States Supreme Court ruled in a special emergency session last week to stay his execution until they could review his case. They will rule on whether he gets a new trial on Monday October 6. Five justices voted for the stay. He needs 4 votes for a new trial. There is hope. Please pray that God's will will be done, and that he will receive a new trial if this is the Lord's will. I pray also that the Lord will help the family of the police officer.

Lauralea

[rush4hire]

I appreciate your interest in getting us the information, Carolaa.

I couldn't help but trying to decide if this guy is probably an SDA or not. It's seem like not.

I can't wait to Stand with you, no matter if that is in physical or spiritual form..

If he was SDA, it seems like he would say something like: "I'll see you at the resurrection", or "I'll see you when Jesus comes", or something like that.

[John317]

I agree. I did a search of everything I could find on him, and I saw nothing indicating or suggesting that he is or ever was a Seventh-day Adventist.

[Amelia]

There is nothing noting Troy as an SDA, that I could find either. Terry Benedict is planning to film a documentary on him though.

[carolaa]

General comment:

Please note it was not I who said Troy Davis was SDA. I had not heard that before, and I don't know if it is true. But I will see what I can find out this week.

[Woody]

General comment:

Please note it was not I who said Troy Davis was SDA. I had not heard that before, and I don't know if it is true. But I will see what I can find out this week.

[Amelia]

General comment:

Please note it was not I who said Troy Davis was SDA. I had not heard that before, and I don't know if it is true. But I will see what I can find out this week.

Sorry Carol, I didn't mean to imply that you had made the statement. Mine was just a general post following Johns general post and I failed to mark it so. My apologies.

[carolaa]

OK, you can give me a hard time, but I was saying that in response to someone else who made the claim.

[Amelia]

Oh and I have noticed that other boards are also scratching their heads as to where the Troy Davis/SDA connection evolved.

[carolaa]

It's no problem. I knew you were not responding to me. It was someone else who actually responded to me, and I just wanted to clarify.

[Woody]

OK, you can give me a hard time, but I was saying that in response to someone else who made the claim.

You is Cool Girl.

[carolaa]

The Supreme Court declined to hear the Troy Davis appeal. That means it is back in the State of Georgia's hands, and they will probably set an execution date fairly soon.

[Amelia]

Quote:

The Long Road To The Davis Case

Oct. 14, 2008

(AP) Attorney Andrew Cohen analyzes legal issues for CBS News and CBSNews.com.

The decades-long, law-and-order-fueled trend toward restricting appellate avenues in criminal cases may be reaching its gruesome but inevitable conclusion in the case of Troy Davis, a death row inmate who apparently will be executed soon despite a series of post-trial revelations about his lack of culpability that ought to shock the conscience of even the most ardent supports of capital punishment.

Davis, who is black, was charged, tried and convicted in Georgia for murdering a white police officer. He was sentenced to death in 1991. There was no physical evidence linking him to the crime. There was no DNA. There was no murder weapon found on him. Since his trial, seven of the nine main prosecution eyewitnesses against him have recanted their trial testimony. Some of these witnesses claim police coercion or harsh interrogation tactics caused them to be untruthful at trial.

Moreover, a handful of witnesses have stepped forward to claim that another man has confessed to the crime. This “other man,” according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is one of the two remaining trial witnesses who, not surprisingly, still claims that Davis shot the officer. The final eyewitness (of the nine we are concerned with) initially told the police that he could not identify Davis at the crime scene before later changing his tune at trial and incriminating Davis. Even during this new age of DNA there has been no great movement to resolve these legal and factual conflicts.

Short of seeing a videotape of that other fellow’s confession, it’s hard to imagine a scenario that more clearly calls out for a full and independent evidentiary hearing, or even a new trial, to assess the validity of the changed narrative about Davis’ role in the crime. And, indeed, in an earlier time in our history it is quite likely that the federal courts would have ensured such a review. No more. The highly-politicized, step-by-step closing of the courthouse doors to appeals like this-the intentional restriction of meaningful appeals rights-may send an innocent man to his death.

When Davis’ appeal on these issues made it to the Georgia Supreme Court the judges there denied him any relief and declared in a 4-3 vote that there must be “no doubt of any kind” but that the trial testimony was of the “purest fabrication” in order to warrant interceding on Davis’ behalf. Got that? It takes only the absence of “reasonable doubt” to convict someone of murder but in Georgia to properly investigate a condemned man’s strong claim of innocence judges have to have “no doubt” at the outset of the inquiry that the inquiry will prove his innocence. How, one dissenting Georgia justice asked, can anyone ever meet such a standard?

It’s a game that Davis can’t win; and that’s precisely how leaders of the anti-appeal movement have wanted it. As the criminal justice system has become more conservative, the courts and the Congress have relentlessly created (or recognized) barriers to meaningful appellate review. The stated reason, of course, has always been to diminish frivolous appeals by prison inmates who have nothing better to do with their time than test the judicial system. But today the barriers are so high that they are keeping beyond the reach of substantive review the sorts of vital questions raised by Davis and his attorneys.

Having lost in Georgia, and at the lower federal court level, the defense then asked the United States Supreme Court to declare that the State violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment when it executes an innocent man (or doesn’t even hold a full hearing on his strong claims of innocence). At a minimum, the defense believed, the Justices would look closely at the stringent, new “pure fabrication” rule the Georgia High Court came up with in the Davis appeal.

But it isn’t going to happen. The same Supreme Court in Washington, which delayed Davis’ execution last month, announced on Tuesday that it would not, after all, take the case on its merits. This virtually guarantees that Davis will be executed despite the grave doubts about his guilt. There will be no evaluation of the Eighth Amendment in these circumstances; no considered review of the new Georgia rule; no ardent discussion between Justices Scalia and Stevens about when, if ever, a defendant like Davis can ever get that meaningful new look from the courts.

Why the Justices turned away from a case they had sniffed at last month may forever remain a mystery. But what is perfectly clear is that Georgia has now created a virtually unassailable bar to criminal defendants whose shaky convictions are later subverted through the discovery of new evidence or the dissolution of the accuracy, reliability and credibility of important trial evidence. After decades of success, subtle and otherwise, the anti-appeal movement has just now reached its crescendo or, depending upon your point of view, its nadir.

[phkrause]

unreal!!!! I will continue to pray for him and his family.

pk

[carolaa]

The State of Georgia has set an execution date of October 27.

[phkrause]

that's really sad

pk

[aldona]

It's not too late to do something...

Visit this link and send a message. I have just sent mine.

http://www.iacenter.org/troydavis

Pass this on to as many people as possible and encourage them to send emails too.

And, of course, keep praying.

Until I joined Amnesty I never realized how effective this kind of action was. Each time we have a meeting there are "good news" stories of people who have been freed or saved because of "international pressure" (a.k.a. thousands of people writing letters).

The pen can sometimes truly be mightier than the sword.

aldona

[Woody]

Thanks Aldona ... Is there a place where we can send emails to? I went to the site you listed. But I don't want to give out my private info to some organization and be flooded with info for the rest of my born days.

[aldona]

When you submit your details there is a box you can "uncheck" to say that you don't want to receive any more information.

You submit your message to the campaign website, and they forward copies to all the people listed on the left (senators, governors, parole review board, etc.)

I just got a message in my email inbox from the White House thanking me for my email. I feel really important now.

I have found the International Action Center to be a responsible website and they usually do not bombard you with tons of spam. (And I am signed up to receive information, meaning I left the box checked!)

But seriously, no system is going to be perfect when it comes to international electronic communication. It would be sad to let "fear of spam" be the reason to refuse to get involved in this kind of action. It is somebody's life at stake, after all.

Aldona

[Woody]

Quote:

But seriously, no system is going to be perfect when it comes to international electronic communication. It would be sad to let "fear of spam" be the reason to refuse to get involved in this kind of action. It is somebody's life at stake, after all.

I repent ...

[phkrause]

thanks for the site info. I just sent mine off.

pk

[Guest truthseeker007]

It s sad. At college they teach us that human rights are an essential part of the US identity. I really feel bad for this guy...

[Woody]

Okay. I hope I can be forgiven. I sent off the letter. Hope it helps since I put my private info on the line ...

[carolaa]

It s sad. At college they teach us that human rights are an essential part of the US identity. I really feel bad for this guy...

It's a sad day for the U.S., as well.