Apenas hoje tomei conhecimento do caso de Troy Davis. E longe estou de conhecer os inúmeros Troy Davis que andam por aí...
A minha posição relativamente à pena de morte ganha ferocidade perante casos destes. Uma pessoa está no corredor da morte 20 anos, é inocente, e negam-lhe tudo!
A prova testemunhal - posteriormente retractada!!! - bastou para condenar um homem com a pena máxima: a morte. Não se descobriu arma do crime, não há qualquer prova, além daquela, que ligue Troy Davis ao crime: nada!
Anos depois, testemunhas que prestaram depoimento no processo vêm dizer que foram forçadas a depor naquele sentido. O depoimento das que tentaram no processo dizer a verdade não foi permitido. A família de Troy Davis foi impedida de assistir a todas as audiências, excepto a 1.
Onde está a Justiça?
Aparentemente, como se pode ler em «20 years on, US death row inmate seeks to show innocence», o Supremo Tribunal dá-lhe uma oportunidade sem precedente.
Será que será feita Justiça?
SAVANNAH, Georgia — After almost two decades on death row in the southern US state of Georgia, convicted murderer Troy Davis has a rare second chance Wednesday to show he is innocent.
The US Supreme Court ordered a new hearing for Davis, who has been on death row since 1991 for murdering a policeman, because seven of the nine witnesses against him have recanted their testimony in the years since his trial.
After a series of failed appeals, the Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling last August, allowing Davis, who is now 41, to present what he claims is exculpatory evidence that was not reasonably available during his trial.
The highest US court's decision was unusual, in part because it was issued during an official recess, but also because the bar to ordering new consideration of evidence is extremely high.
"This hearing is both historic and unprecedented," Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Never before has the US Supreme Court ordered a hearing to determine if it is unconstitutional to execute someone who is innocent," he said, adding that "while this hearing is of the utmost importance to Davis and the entire Savannah community, it also carries great legal significance."
Davis, who is black, was sentenced to death for the 1989 Savannah murder of Mark Allen MacPhail, a white policeman. He has always maintained his innocence.
His conviction rested on the testimony of nine witnesses, with no physical evidence such as DNA or fingerprints offered to support his guilt.
But in the years since his trial, seven of the witnesses against him have recanted their testimony, saying they were pressured by police to inculpate Davis.
Cox said the case against Davis had "unravelled," but even the shifting stories presented by witnesses may not prove sufficiently new and different evidence to convince Judge William Moore that Davis should avoid execution.
The law is also unresolved on whether a showing of innocence would even save Davis from the death penalty if his original prosecution did not violate constitutional fair trial standards.
"Because this case presents novel questions of law and requires factual findings, the court will accept both factual evidence and legal briefing," Moore instructed the lawyers.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court ordered the hearing to "receive testimony and make findings of fact as to whether evidence that could have been obtained at the time of the trial clearly establishes petitioner's innocence."
"The substantial risk of putting an innocent man to death clearly provides an adequate justification for holding an evidentiary hearing," the Supreme Court wrote.
Virginia Davis, Troy Davis's mother, told AFP on Tuesday she was "very optimistic."
"We've been waiting a for a long time, it's been years and year and it's never been heard. We want everyone to say they recanted and they were coerced," the 65-year-old said. "Justice will prevail."
Martina Correia, Davis's elder sister, said she was "really excited" for the hearing, though she added it was "disappointing" that her brother would be forced to wear prison garb rather than a suit to court.
"They want him to be in his prison uniform, to make him look, you know, guilty," she said.
With its racial overtones and Davis's continued claims of innocence, the case has triggered an international outcry, including from the European Union, whose member states oppose the death penalty, as well as from Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu of South Africa, and Pope Benedict XVI.
Anti-execution campaigners from as far away as France and Britain joined US activists at a vigil late Tuesday near the courthouse where the hearing was to take place.
Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved.»
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