Troy Anthony Davis executed
Millions protested to no avail
After 20 years on death row and three previous death warrants, Troy Anthony Davis was executed by the state of Georgia on Sept. 21.
Millions of people across the world protested the death sentence, petitioning a re-trial and for authorities to review the evidence in favor of Davis.
The Savannah native was convicted of the 1989 murder of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer, but advocates and critics of the trial were concerned an innocent man would be put to death.
In the 1991 trial, seven witnesses testified against Davis, saying they saw him shoot the officer, while two others testified he confessed to the murder. However, the police never recovered the murder weapon. Ballistic evidence from a previous shooting linked Davis to the murder.
On August 1991, he was sentenced to death.
Seven of the nine witnesses eventually recanted their testimonies, admitting they were intimidated by police to speak mistruths at the trial.
Maintaining his innocence, Davis rallied support from around the world with the help of family and supporters.
Former President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu publicly expressed their discontent over the case. Others, including former Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) and former F.B.I. director William S. Session, also shared their concerns.
Many advocates believed race was a major factor in the conviction and execution of Davis, since judges stayed the execution of Cleve Foster, a White man who was convicted of the 2002 rape and murder of a woman he met in a Fort Worth bar in 2002.
Additionally, in 2008, two hours before his execution, Samuel David Crowe, a White man who confessed to killing a retail manager, was saved and his sentence was changed to life in prison.
Jury deliberations will continue in the trial of Donald Bottoms, Christopher Shrauger, Steven Burns and Christopher Crews, four inmates charged with murder and conspiracy in a race riot that left a Black inmate dead at a county jail facility in Castaic recently. Four other inmates, David Reynoso, Osbaldo Valenzuela, Enrique Reyes and Andres Madrigal, are also charged.
Despite calls for leniency from a group of South Los Angeles clergy and activists, Michael Jackson’s personal physician was sentenced to four years behind bars for the singer’s June 2009 death from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol. During sentencing, the judge blasted the doctor for engaging in a “money-for-medicine” experiment that killed the entertainer.
Conrad Murray, 58, was convicted Nov. 7 of involuntary manslaughter.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Michael Jackson’s personal physician was sentenced today to four years behind bars for the singer’s June 2009 death from an overdose of the powerful anesthetic propofol, with the judge blasting the doctor for engaging in a “money-for-medicine” experiment that killed the entertainer.
Dr. Conrad Murray, 58, was convicted Nov. 7 of involuntary manslaughter.
Former Bay Area Rapid Transit Police officer Johannes Mehserle, convicted of killing unarmed passenger Oscar Grant, was released after serving only 11 months in jail of a two-year minimal term sentence. Mehserle claimed Grant was resisting arrest, and as a result he attempted to taze the 22 year old, who was already face down and unarmed. Mehserle said he mistook his tazer for his firearm and opened fire striking Grant in the back.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—In a roller-coaster day in court, actress Lindsay Lohan was sentenced today to 120 days in jail and 480 hours of community service for violating her probation in a 2007 misdemeanor DUI case.
Lohan, who is accused of stealing a necklace priced at $2,500 from a Venice jewelry store on Jan. 22, was taken into custody at the Airport Branch Courthouse, but she was expected to quickly post bail, which she is permitted to do since her attorney announced plans to file an appeal.
